Today Venus passes between the earth and the sun. With proper eye protection you can see it with the naked eye, A little black dot crossing the sun. The last event of this kind occurred in 1882 and it won't happen again for another 122 years. It will be over by 13:23 in germany (7:23 EDT).
I am fortunate enought to be working in a physics building that has a raft of telescopes set up on the roof for viewing venus.
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
quote:With proper eye protection you can see it
You, meaning everybody in the freaking world but the Western US. Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Well technicall, only half globe can see it.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
That's technicallz
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
quote:The last event of this kind occurred in 1882 and it won't happen again for another 122 years.
Actually, it looks like it'll happen again in 2012. But then not for another hundred years or so.
Just found a site with some nice pictures.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Mike is correct, there are always 2 transits, approximately 10 years apart, and then 120 years or so of waiting for the next pair.
-Bok
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*agrees with Frisco*
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Mike is right, except that the transit in 2012 will be visiable primarily in the southern hemisphere rather then the northern hemisphere.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
I saw it.
I stared directly at the sun.
AIIIEEE! My eyeballs!
Posted by cochick (Member # 6167) on :
We were all set this morning - had binoculars ready to transfer mage onto piece of paper - damn sky clouded over all morning - typical English weather - we get a heat wave and no sun!
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
Yeah, I had cloud cover until about 7:00 AM. Got about 20 minutes of viewing though. I took some pictures through my telescope. I can't wait to see if they came out.
BTW I couldn't see it with my eclipse glasses. Either the dot was too small or too near the limb. It just didn't show up. But I saw it fine in the 'scope.
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
Check the Google homepage before they change it!
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
Thanks for the link, Mike. The pics are nice. Google was great, too - I love when they do that. Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
This meant big doings in the ancient Mayan world. I think it meant it was time to go to war.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
We got the jump on the gods then. . .
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Great pictures AK. Are they sunrise in America?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Here's a good article on it, with a pic... web page Posted by Happy Camper (Member # 5076) on :
So, I'm curious, has anyone figured out when the next time Venus and Mercury will pass in front of the sun at the same time? I'm at work now, or I'd search myself.
[fake eagerness]And, and then Mars can line up too, and all the other planets, and it can be like the climax of some bad mysticism movie. I actually think MacGyver or some show did it once.[/fake eagerness]
*edit* I decided to look it up anyway. And it turns out it'll never happen. All Mercury transits happen around 8 May or 10 November, and Venus transits will only happen in early December or early June. But the planets should still be able to be colinear in reference to the solar plane.
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