Simultaneous grating spectroscopy centered at 530 nm and broadband (adjacent) continuum CCD imagery of the transit of Venus is planned.  The spectrograph/imaging instrument module will be hosted on the Aristotileon University's Secretian refracting telescope.  The module employs a spectral pelical beam splitter to transmit a narrow wavelength region to the spectrograph while reflecting the adjacent broad continuum to a CCD imager.

Why 530 nm?  The spectrograph was optimized for observations of solar coronal 5303 Angstrom line emission.  Serendipitously, various allotropes of Sulfur, which might be found in the upper atmosphere of Venus (above the optically thick C02 haze layer) absorb optical radiation at nearly the same wavelength.  Schneider will be attempting to detect a signature of sulfurous absorption differentially in the solar spectrum (in and out of transit) as reflected off of the Moon (using a spectrophotometer on the Steward Observatory 2.3 meter Bok telescope at Kitt Peak).  By observing sunlight in reflection, the entire area integrated spectrum of the Sun is seen at once - mimicing the spatially unresolved spectrum of an extraosolar planetary transit, and testing the ability to detect a "Venus" around another star by this method.  The direct spectroscopy with the above instrumental set-up will be obtained while tracking the Sun, allowing Venus to drift across a 3" FOV, and obtaining drift-scan spectra across the disk (and atmosphere) of the planet as it transits the Sun.