See Ya Next Time Around, Maybe Not

Transit of Venus begins, June 5, 2012

This evening was the Transit of Venus; an astronomical event that takes place rarely. The last time was in 2004 when no one living had seen the planet Venus come between Earth and Sun. Today, eight years later, Venus again passed between Earth and Sun. Next time will be in 2117, so, if you missed it, well …
Susan and I joined several hundred other astronomy enthusiasts at the brand spanking new 1100 acre, Observatory Park, part of the Geauga County Park System. The park will officially open June 16, however, today’s Transit of Venus event really opened the eyes of hundreds of people, especially those who thought astronomy was something that happens in the dark of night.
I was too busy tending my scope and talking with people to count the others doing the same, however, I’d guess there were at least 30 scopes available for people to witness this event. No one alive today—except maybe the babies in arms with some help from medical science—will see this phenomena again.



Transit of Venus across the Sun lasted until sundown at our latitude

Johannes Kepler, in 1627, is given credit for figuring out the whole transit thing on paper and called the shot for it to happen in 1639. The technology for actual viewing did not come along for many years. The transit of 1761 was the first viewed by a team of scientists around the world.
The day here was cloudy, threatening rain right up to the time we had to head for the park. We wisely made the decision to go for it and hope the sky would clear. We got lucky. Just as we got to the park the sky started to clear and although clouds did make the pictures a bit fuzzy, watching something happen 93 million miles away is too cool to let a few clouds get in the way. Venus is 67 million miles from the Sun so on those rare occasions its orbit comes between Earth and Sun.




In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Here, I get to dazzle four-year-old kids with my knowledge. (Photo by Susan Jones)



This was the Transit of Venus, June 2004, shot at sunrise from Marblehead, Ohio