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Published byEleanore Washington Modified over 9 years ago
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WHAT IS A TRANSIT OF VENUS? The planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth Tiny Venus tracks across the face of our giant Sun Pairs of transits occur every 105.5 years to 121.5 years Last transits of Venus: June 5, 2012 June 8, 2004 Next transits of Venus: Dec 10-11, 2117 Dec 2125
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WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE
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HOW DOES A TRANSIT WORK? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehHY9fTrb7Q
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SOME HISTORY 1627 - Johannes Kepler became the first person to predict a transit of Venus, by predicting the 1631 event (not very accurately) 1639 – first scientific observation by Jeremiah Horrocks in England using a telescope projecting an image of the Sun onto a piece of paper 1761 and 1769 – scientists of the day proposed to use solar parallax to calculate the Astronomical Unit 1761 – scientists observed from: Siberia, Norway, Newfoundland, Madagascar & South Africa 1769 – scientists observed from: Hudson Bay, Baja California, Tahiti, Norway & from several locations in Russia 1874 & 1882 – scientists had accurately calculated the Astronomical Unit – 149.59 M kms
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POINT VENUS, TAHITI – JAMES COOK (1769)
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PLANNING FOR 2012
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WEATHER – TO TRAVEL…OR NOT We were having the worst weather for years in early June Do I run or do I stay? Drive the motor home to Redding, CA Fly to Las Vegas Fly to Yellowknife Fly to Maui Forget it…I’m staying!
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EQUIPMENT – BINOCULARS & SOLAR FILTERS
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EQUIPMENT –SOLAR FILTER GLASSES
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EQUIPMENT – TELESCOPE & SOLAR FILTER
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PHOTOS – SOLAR FILTER & TELEPHOTO LENS
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PREPARATION FOR THE BIG DAY
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THE START – FIRST CONTACT – 3:09:38PM
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MID-POINT BETWEEN CONTACT I & II – 3:10:47PM
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SECOND CONTACT – 3:27:34PM
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MID POINT - GREATEST TRANSIT - 5:29:36PM
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THREE QUARTER POINT - 8:00PM
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LAST GLIMPSE OF VENUS TRANSITING THE SUN - 8:37PM
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LOST IN THE TREES & CLOUDS
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JUST ABOVE THE TREES
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TRACKING ACROSS THE SUN
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NASA’S SOLAR DYNAMIC OBSERVATORY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z9rM8ChTjY
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WHAT’S NEXT? Transit of Mercury in May 2016 Entire transit visible in eastern North America and Western Europe & Africa Partially visible in western North America, Africa, Middle East, Russia, parts of Asia
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TRANSIT OF MERCURY – NOV 8, 2006
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RESOURCES eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov – click on Transit of Venus of 2012 www.transitofvenus.org en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus www.nasa.gov/sdo - NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory victoria.rasc.ca – click on Astronomy Day for copies of today’s presentations
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