Topic: Transit of Venus

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft to take first images of Saturn’s Transit of Venus from deep space

December 21, 2012 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – Last June, astronomers urged sky watchers to observe the transit of Venus. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, they said. The black disk of the second planet wouldn’t crawl across the face of the sun again for more than 100 years.

In fact, it’s happening again this week–not on Earth, but Saturn.

“On Friday, December 21st, there will be a transit of Venus visible from Saturn, and we will be watching it using  the Cassini spacecraft,” says Phil Nicholson, a Cassini science team member from Cornell University. “This will be the first time a transit of Venus has been observed from deep space.”

A transit of Venus seen from Earth on June 6th, 2012. (Photo credit: Bum-Suk Yeom of Daejeon, South Korea)

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NASA prepares to study the Mysterious Arc of Venus during it’s Transit of the Sun June 5th

June 5, 2012 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – When Venus transits the sun on June 5th and 6th, an armada of spacecraft and ground-based telescopes will be on the lookout for something elusive and, until recently, unexpected: The Arc of Venus.

“I was flabbergasted when I first saw it during the 2004 transit,” recalls astronomy professor Jay Pasachoff of Williams College. “A bright, glowing rim appeared around the edge of Venus soon after it began to move into the sun.”

For a brief instant, the planet had turned into a “ring of fire.”

The Arc of Venus observed during the planet's 2004 transit by amateur astronomer André Rondi using a 10-cm refractor near Toulouse, France.

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NASA explains the fascination of Venus before it’s Transit of the Sun

June 3, 2012 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – A Venus transit across the face of the sun is a relatively rare event — occurring in pairs with more than a century separating each pair. There have been all of 53 transits of Venus across the sun between 2000 B.C. and the last one in 2004.

On Wednesday, June 6th (Tuesday, June 5th from the Western Hemisphere), Earth gets another shot at it – and the last for a good long while.  But beyond this uniquely celestial oddity, why has Venus been an object worthy of ogling for hundreds of centuries?

Artist concept of lightning on Venus. (Image credit: ESA)

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Radnor Lake State Park and Dyer Observatory Partner to Host Rare Viewing of Venus in Transit on June 5th

June 2, 2012 |

Nashville, TN – A rare sighting of Venus in transit will occur during the late afternoon of Tuesday, June 5th, and Radnor Lake State Park and the Vanderbilt’s Dyer Observatory are partnering to host a special viewing party to observe this unique planetary event.

The actual viewing will be held from 4:00pm to 6:15pm at the Dyer Observatory in Brentwood, in a specially designated area adjacent to Radnor Lake State Park. Vanderbilt’s Dyer Observatory will provide the appropriate solar telescopes and viewing apparatus, along with a number of experts in the field of astronomy to answer questions and to share their knowledge. «Read the rest of this article»

NASA announces Venus Transit of the Sun to take place June 5th

May 19, 2012 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – On June 5th, 2012, Venus will pass across the face of the sun, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again.

Transits of Venus are very rare, coming in pairs separated by more than a hundred years. This June’s transit, the bookend of a 2004-2012 pair, won’t be repeated until the year 2117. Fortunately, the event is widely visible. Observers on seven continents, even a sliver of Antarctica, will be in position to see it.

The Transit of Venus June 8th, 2012 taken by Paul Howell, George Whitney, Kirk Rogers, Cornish, Maine USA

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