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The Venus Transit 2004

Posted by timothy on from the romantic-encounter dept.

Walkiry writes "In just 47 days our friendly neighbour planet Venus will be passing right in between Earth and good ol' Sun, giving us the chance to see a small black spot going accross the disk (last one was in 1882). This is called the Venus Transit. The interesting thing is that there is a project asking for volunteers to perform their own measurements of the phenomena and submit their own results, in what will be the first accurate and public measurement of an extraterrestrial distance. Do you have a spare telescope and some free time on June 8th?"

11 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. A very cool book about the Transit by ChiralSoftware · · Score: 5, Interesting
    If you would like to read a book that is a brilliant mix of great writing, science, philosophy, conspiracies and the Transit of Venus, as witnessed in Africa, I highly recommend "Mason & Dixon" by Thomas Pynchon. It does take a while to get through it and you need to have Google and a dictionary handy to understand some of the more obscure references in it, but it is both funny and sad and very worth reading. Basically, Mason and Dixon, the two cartographers behind the Mason Dixon Line, are dispatched to various places in the world to make various observations, and the most interesting is their assignment to South Africa to observe the Transit.

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    Create a WAP server

  2. Not available in all areas by Viadd · · Score: 3, Interesting

    According to that website, this will be visible in parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. It is pretty light on detail, but according to this site parts of it will be visible from Australia and the eastern parts of North and South America.

  3. I see blind people by carcosa30 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why is it this reminds me of "Day of the Triffids?"

    There's a little black spot on the sun today...

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    Intolerance for ambiguity is the mark of the authoritarian personality.
  4. Projecting with cups by Bushcat · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I've had good luck projecting solar images using paper cups, though I don't know how big the image would have to be to see Venus in this instance.

    Find the biggest paper cup or popcorn bucket possible, tape thin paper over the top and poke a hole in the base. Point at sun, view image on paper. It's easy enough to teach the kids in the neighborhood when the parents wonder what the strange guy with the paper cup is doing.

    If the image isn't large enough, simply pull the paper off and project in the usual way. The paper cup is easy enough for kids to hold. For some reason, flat sheets turn into crumpled useless things when exposed to kids.

  5. An interesting quote from 1882 by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "There will be no other [transit of Venus] till the twenty-first century of our era has dawned upon the earth, and the June flowers are blooming in 2004.

    What will be the state of science when the next transit season arrives God only knows."

    1882 - William Harkness, USNO

    (Dunno about God, but I used Google to find that quote.)
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    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  6. Re:Of course we do by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 2, Interesting

    She was also a god plants and flowers, occasionally of female chastity, and war (War brings change, just like the seasons), so be careful there.

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    "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  7. A beautiful song for the occassion by bpiltz · · Score: 2, Interesting


    "There's a little black spot in the sun today..."

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    Goals for 2011: 1. Stop plate tectonics. 2. Prevent animal predation. 3. End supernovae now. 4. Rid the world of evil.
  8. polarizers by i_should_be_working · · Score: 3, Interesting

    the last time an eclipse was viewable in my area, i used a couple of polarizers to look at it and it worked pretty well

    you adjust the light that gets through easily by just turning them with respect to each other.

    might even work in front of a telescope

  9. Celestia Video by eingram · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I made a quick video using Celestia of the Venus transit. It requires Divx and it's about 330KB in size and runs for 18 seconds.

    Here is the link. Ugh, be gentle. :)

    This also just gave me an idea. Being in North America, I might use Celestia to watch this happen in real time on June 8!

  10. Re:A small black spot on the Sun by L7_ · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I can stare at the sun for 6 seconds. How long can you stare at it for?

  11. long range plans for viewing transits & eclips by chongo · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I have made the viewing special astronomical events a priority. As a pre-condition of employment I ask my prospective employer to ensure that I have will get time off travel and view:
    1. Total Solar Eclipses
    2. Planetary Transits
    3. Naked-eye visible Supernovas

    Not only do I get to see amazing astronomical events, while I am there I travel around and see wonderful and interesting parts of our own planet!

    To pay for my vacations to these selected events, I have established travel investment funds (setup many years in advance) for:

    I also keep an emergency fund that allows me go anywhere in the world at a moments notice to see a Supernova bright enough seen with the naked eye. I had such a fund in place which allowed me to rush from California to Australia some 21 hours after the discovery of 1987A (24 Feb 1987).

    Maybe next naked eye supernova viewable in my hemisphere. But if not, I have another supernova fund ready ...

    I first learned about the Transit of Venus, in the early summer of 1970, during a Morrison Planetarium program of the California Academy of Science. At the age of 9 I decided that I wanted to see next transit.

    I have waiting patiently for 34 years to make my transit observations. It is now only a few dozen days away!!!

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    chongo (was here) /\oo/\