Here are two graphics showing the aureole of light (the Sun’s illumination of Venus’ atmosphere from behind) as I saw it develop along the edge of Venus just before second contact with the Sun’s limb. I did not see any evidence of it from first contact up until about 4 minutes before second contact.
A thin, dim (as it appeared through the scope) arc of light began to develop first along the upper (northwest) edge of Venus and then along the lower (northeastern) edge until it looked something like the image above.
The two slivers gradually lengthened until they met to form a very slender “ring of fire,” as seen below. The aureole was very “faint” and did not show up on the photographs I took, but Melissa and I both saw it visually. I did not notice any brighter spots along the arc except it did appear to be brighter at the two ends near the Sun’s limb.
The curvature of the Sun’s limb is a bit exagerated in the above graphics but you should get the general idea. As I mentioned in my previous post, I did not see the teardrop (or black drop) effect just after second contact.
In 2004, when I witnessed the third and fourth contacts of that Venus transit, I did not see the aureole. I don’t know if I am just a better observer now (my eyesight is certainly not any better) or if this effect was not apparent then. In either case, I’m glad I got to see it this time. It made the whole fantastic event even more interesting. Also, since I have now seen the end of the 2004 transit and the beginning of this transit, I can say that I have seen nearly a full Venus transit. I’ll check that off my bucket list and look forward now to the total solar eclipse in 2017.
