The Venus Transit 2004

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?"

Comments

OT: file extensions, ClearTweak

[Compact Dick]

1. Your screenshot is a PNG image, not JPEG.
2. If you use Windows XP, tune your ClearType settings using ClearTweak and enjoy crisper text.

Cheers,
CD

All I can think of is "King of Pain" by Sting!

[SnprBoB86]

There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
There's a flag-pole rag and the wind won't stop

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

There's a little black spot on the sun today
That's my soul up there
It's the same old thing as yesterday
That's my soul up there
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
That's my soul up there
There's a flag-pole rag and the wind won't stop
That's my soul up there

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall
That's my soul up there
There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall
That's my soul up there
There's a blue whale beached by a springtime's ebb
That's my soul up there
There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web
That's my soul up there

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread

King of pain

There's a red fox torn by a huntsman's pack
That's my soul up there
There's a black-winged gull with a broken back
That's my soul up there
There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday

I have stood here before in the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I always thought you could end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

King of pain
King of pain
King of pain
I'll always be king of pain

Wacko Conspiracy Theory #597

[dutky]

Of course, the best places to view this transit of Venus is in the middle east: Iran, Iraq and south-eastern Turkey. This is the real motivation behind the Bush administrations' efforts to destabilize the region and, essentially, prevent anyone (not a member of the right-wing, anti-scientific, anti-democratic cabal) from properly observing the transit.

Proper and accurate observations of the transit could provide crucial evidence that would undermine the doctines of the anti-intelectual, right-wing, pro-coporatist secret society whose members have taken over the U.S., British and Israeli governments. Any weakening of these doctrines would threaten the ...

Well, you get the idea. To really fill the theory out we need some mention of the Kennedy assasinations (amoung others), the Knights of the Templar, Free Masons, Yakuza, Tibetan Bhudist warrior-monks, Cabalist mysticism/numerology, international bankers (of whatever persuasion), and a sprinkling of Lovecraftian Elder-Gods.

The sad part is, however, it just couldn't be more frieghtening or depressing than the truth (and not nearly as romantic).