Astronomy
Title: Transit of Venus
Information: On June 8th, 2004 the transit of Venus will occur when the silhouette of the planet Venus crosses the face of the Sun as seen from the Earth. This event or transit of Venus last occurred in 1882, so no one alive today has ever witnessed the transit of Venus. The next occurrence will be in 2012 but after that, it won't happen again until 2117. The spacing between the transits is consistent: 122 years, 8 years, 105 years and 8 years, and so on. When scientists were able to observe the transits, it helped them make a very precise measurement of the distance between the Sun and Earth. This established the true physical scale of the entire solar system and the cosmos beyond, according to Sten Odenwald with Ask A Space Scientist. Some interesting sites you might want to visit are: Sun-Earth Day Venus Transit 2004 http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/sunearthday/2004/index_vthome.htm The Chasing Venus Educator's page from the Smithsonian Institution is: http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibitions/chasing-venus/teachers/ Many other resources are found at the Transit of Venus site: http://www.transitofvenus.org/index.html There are some fun kids activities at this site too: http://www.transitofvenus.org/kids.htm This site from NASA has answers to questions about the transit of Venus http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/venus/TransitFAQs.html answered by a Space Scientist Another NASA site has more information including how you can watch the transit on a Webcast: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/watchtheskies/venus_transit.html There is a Sky & Telescope article you might find helpful: http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_1021_1.asp Think Safety! Never observe the sun or events around the sun without the proper protection! This site has more information about safety while you enjoy watching the transit of Venus: http://www.transitofvenus.org/safety.htm
Category: Astronomy