Well, I told myself I would not post in this thread because we already had the answer way back in the beginning.
The object you are seeing in this particular image is Venus passing behind the sun.
This is not the first time it has been seen. In fact, the last time Venus was caught passing this view, it also had its friend Mercury with it. You
may even be able to catch Saturn crossing way in the background.
To see the images the last time Venus, Mercury, and yes, even possibly Saturn were caught by this satellite simply go to the following page and enter
the following information.
Site:
stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov...
Telescope: Ahead COR 2
StartDate: 20080720
EndDate: 20080816
Resolution: 256x256 (you can try others, but bigger than this will take a while to load, if at all)
Display: Slideshow
After this information is entered hit Search button on the right side.
Allow the images to load fully and enjoy the show.
What you will see
You will see Venus already in frame on the right hand side and moving slowly towards the left. You will then see Mercury also enter the frame, moving
rapidly and catching up with Venus. Mercury has a faster orbital velocity and thus why it seems to "catch up" with Venus. After all Mercury was
named after the swift-footed Roman messenger god, Mercury.
You may also catch Saturn in the background very faintly moving as well.
You can see these alignments easily using the Stereo location maps found here:
stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov...
Simply enter any date in between 7/20/2008 and 8/16/2008, be sure to choose the "Inner solar system (Mars)" option, and you will see the alignments
correlate with the telescope.
I am not certain why all the fuss of what is so obviously normal phenomenon that has occurred before, and is occurring again. It seems to me that
there are more motives at work in this thread beyond just the discussion of what we are seeing. It also seems to me that there may be some newer
members that may in fact be the same member(s) talking to themselves purely to keep this thread on the front page as long as possible.
And before it is questioned; Yes, I am a scientist and have attended University for my Bachelor of Science Degree. However it does not take a
scientist to see the substantial evidence that has been placed before us.
If you still do not believe that this is a normal planetary transit around the sun, then I am afraid there is nothing more I can do to convince you of
this, and I am more than happy to agree to disagree. I cannot and will not try to force anyone to believe something they have already dismissed as
being false. Doing so inevitably leads to bloodshed and war as has been shown throughout history on a wide variety of subjects.
Also a note on decorum for new members in this thread. Please, please, please respect one another, as it is mandatory on these forums. I have been a
member for a long time here (and lurked for a long time before that) and I implore you to please respect one another. We are a community here and
respect in the community is a must. I am afraid that if you do not heed these warnings, your stay with us may come to an abrupt halt.
On that note, I thank you for taking the time to read this and following the instructions I have posted above.
Edited for spelling.
[edit on 27-4-2010 by xmaddness]