Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Venus Transit Finished

Posted by michael on from the all-summer-in-a-day dept.

KjetilK writes "Venus is just about to cross the solar disc. Direct from the control room in the Frogner Park in Oslo, I'm pleased to inform you that we have a great webcast, and as far as we know, it is the only webcast that still stands upright... Slashdotters, do your worst! ;-) A Venus transit is one of the most unique astronomical events in our time, in fact, no living person has witnessed it before today. And today, more people have seen it from the park where I'm sitting that in the rest of human history. Also, it had tremendous importance for the development of science, as it gave the first absolute measurements of distances in the solar system. Especially in 1769, a transit made science take huge leaps forward. And BTW, New Zealand and Australia were 'discovered' in the process" Some nice photos from the UK, photos from vt-2004.org, and if you missed it, it'll be eight short years till you can try again.

11 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Another article by Mz6 · · Score: 5, Informative
    For those insterested, the poster really didn't leave any links to explain some of his claims about distances and the discovery of NZ and Australia.. This article I found explains most of it in detail.

    Snippet:

    How transits can determine distances:

    In 1716, Edmond Halley was the first astronomer to suggest transits could be used to work out how far away the Sun is - also known as AU. Once this was known, the distances to all the other planets in the Solar System could be calculated.

    If the transit was measured from several different places on earth, Halley reasoned, there should be a slight difference in the visible track across the sun. But this shift is so slight it is difficult to measure directly. Instead, the time at four different points during the transit can be noted down. These are: the first moment when Venus touches the Sun's disc, the moment when it is completely inside the disk, the moment when it makes contact with the other side of the disk on its way out, and the last moment of contact.

    Astronomers can then compare these four timings as seen from different locations, a known distance apart. Using some fairly simple geometry the distance between the Earth and the Sun can be calculated.

    --
    Hmmm.
    1. Re:Another article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Uh... everyone knows the sun is exactly 1 AU away... by definition. That was hard! :)

  2. Simultaneous Transit with the Space Station by lecithin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you were lucky, you may have been able to see the ISS transit the sun at the same time. Details on Thomas Fly's site: http://iss-transit.sourceforge.net/IssVenusTransit .html

    --
    It could be worse, it could be Monday.
  3. Site down so here's an ASCII pic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny



    .)

  4. pics i took by rexguo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just wanna share with you folks some pics I took using nothing but the most basic equipment, including using a piece of Epson inkjet paper for projecting the image...

    --
    www.rexguo.com - Technologist + Designer
    1. Re:pics i took by Sir+dies+alot · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I just wanted to tell you that those poor man's images of the transit impressed me far more than the professional ones I saw earlier. Keep up the great work and thanks for recording it all, as I missed it myself.

      --
      The stupidity of your average American is just about the same as the average European, we simply show it off better.
  5. Not quite finished. by philntc · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can still see it everytime I close my eyes...

  6. The great indicator... by D-Cypell · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wasnt aware this was happening until I work this morning and switched on the news.

    It amuses me that any channel that covers these kind of events spends 2% of their times covering the basics of astronomy and why this event is quite rare.

    The other 98% is spent explaining the danger of staring directly at the sun.

    Then... I go to the park to eat my lunch in the sunshine (rare in the UK) only to see hoards of people doing exactly this (or thinking that cheap sunglasses will protect them). Worse is mothers trying to show their kids ("Mummy, mummy, I cant see anything... and my eyes hurt"... "Just keep looking sweety... you will see it when your eyes lose sensativity!").

    So a further warning to slashdotters...

    Dont stare directly at the sun...

    Just get someone else to do it and descibe it to you ;o)

  7. Re:urp. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny


    There once was a transit of Venus
    That in the States went quite unseen-us
    But in the UK
    I watched it all day
    And made a sundial of my penis

    (posting AC because I hate to cheat in my limericks. "Unseen-us?" Blech...)

  8. Best transit photo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here is the best photo you'll see of this morning's transit. Taken by Jerry Zhu a member of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh.

    LINK

    Look down the page to see the "ring of light" images which prove Venus has an atmosphere (as if we didn't already know).

    -berek halfhand

  9. 19th Century Venus Transit Quote by Titanium+Angel · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I posted this when Slashdot ran the previous Venus transit story, but I'm afraid that not many people had the chance to read it, because I was pretty late into the discussion. Anyway, you don't get to read something like this every day, and the quote can be read in context now, this month, and never again.

    "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." - William Harkness, USNO, 1882.