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Bird of Prey at Venus during Transit of 2012. Credit: John Chumack
“Okay, so it’s not a Klingon War Bird,” admits astrophotographer John Chumack, but it is a Sonoran Desert Bird of Prey swooping by Venus’ location in the sky during its transit across the face of the Sun in June 2012. And it is “freakin’ cool,” just as John describes it on Flickr.
John said he saw the “attack” live during his time on Kitt Peak in Arizona for the Transit of Venus observations, but just recently located and processed the footage. “The Sun was low to the horizon by this time…which accounts for the distorted looking Venus… Goes to show, you never know what will enter your field of view while imaging!”
The video of the event is below:
Thanks to John for sharing his image; see more of his work at his website, Galactic Images or his Flickr page.
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About Nancy Atkinson
Nancy Atkinson is Universe Today's Senior Editor. She also is the host of the NASA Lunar Science Institute podcast and works with the Astronomy Cast and 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts. Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador.
