Venus Transit

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Dr. Sten Odenwald NASA
Library of Congress May 9, 2012
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Acknowledgments

• Music Division
• Ms. Susan Clermont
• Mr. Loras Schissel
• Ms. Jan Lauridsen
• Rare Books and Manuscripts
• Ms. Elizabeth Gettins
• Website
• Mr. Pat Padua
• Mr. Domenic Sergii
• Ms. Betsy Miller
• Ms. Moryma Andelott
• Network Development Team

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Galileo ca 1609.
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Galileo ca 1609.
Inappropriate use of Telescope
Probably illegal use in many countries
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Galileo ca 1609.
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1,500 BC Assyrian Venus Transit observation ? 
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Montezuma ca 1520?
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1631 Predicted but not visible in Europe
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1639 Jerimiah Horrocks correctly predicts, and
first observes, new Venus transit. William
Crabtree also sees it.
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December 4, 1639 June 5, 1761 June 3,
1769 December 8, 1874 December 6, 1882 June 8,
2004
122.5 years 8 years 105.5 years 8
years 122.5 years
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1761 Transit seen by 176 people. Atmosphere
discovered by Mikhael Lomonosov
Public reaction?
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1769 400 sightings published.
Captain Cooks Tahiti chronicles
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Le Gentils ill-fated expedition
New York Times August 30, 1874
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1769 Norringtons observation from Pennsylvania

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The next transit..?????
New York Times, January 8, 1857
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1874 December 8, Many photographs taken, few
useful. Congress allocates 75,000 for
international scientific expeditions.
Simon Newcomb
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New York Times, December 21, 1874
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New York Times, November 15, 1879
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No intelligent person who realizes its
importance will fail to do as much toward the
celebration of the rare event as to follow the
planets course with the aid of smoked glass, at
some point during its passage. It is the simplest
sight imaginable, a tiny black dot making its way
over the sun, but the solution of the great
problem of the suns distance may hinge on the
seemingly unimportant occurrence.
New York Times, November 27, 1882
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An image of the 1882 transit of Venus recorded
at Lick Observatory, California
Photograph of the 1882 transit of Venus taken at
Vassar College by Maria Mitchell and her
students. (Picture courtesy of Vassar College
Library)
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New York Times, December 23, 1882
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1882 December 7 Massive public interest.
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The Transit of Venus March
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The Venus Gallop
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The Venus Polka
The Venus Waltz
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Library of Congress - I Hear America Singing

• Sousas Transit of Venus March
• Additional VT theme-related sheet music
• Educational Activities

http//lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/venus/venus
-home.html
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Some things never change
Senator Chea Campaign Demagoguery Washington
Post September 27, 1884
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New York Times, April 26, 1894
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The Astronomical Unit
Tycho Brahe ca 1595.........................5,000,
000 miles Kepler ca 1610.........................
..........15,000,000 miles Giovanni Cassini
1672......................87,000,000 miles 1882
Venus Transit..........................92,720,000
miles 1960 Venus Radar studies..............92,
957,209 miles.
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There will be no other transit of Venus till
the twenty-first century of our era has dawned
upon the earth, and the June flowers are blooming
in 2004. What will be the state of science when
the next transit season arrives God only knows.
1882 William Harkness, USNO
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Bill never said anything about Cicadas!!!!
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First Webcast over 50 million viewers!
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European Southern Observatory - The VT-2004
project, 2763 participants - 1000 school
classes. 1 AU 149,608,708 km 11,835
km Adopted value 149, 597, 871 km
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NASA TRACE satellite Optical band
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NOAA - GOES-12 satellite soft X-ray imager
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Courtesy Fred Espenak (NASA)
Courtesy - Detlef Koschny
Courtesy - Astronomy Picture of the Day 6/8/2004
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So when will it happen?
Washington DC Area Start 603 PM Sunset
826 PM Ends Midnight
We see the first 2 hours
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Lots of places to view from this time!!!
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Yes There is an App for that!!! Timing the
transit of Venus with the Transit of Venus phone
app Steven van Roode
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If you miss the transit this time
you can try again in..2117 !