During the 20th century, the Chicago Cubs have won the World Series only twice. For astronomy, the event rarer even than the Chicago Cubs World Series wins is a Venus transit of the Sun. It has happened just once in the 20th century. But this month, that is changing.
A venus transit, when Venus can be seen as a black dot crossing in front of the face of the Sun, only happens rarely —– when our sister planet drifts directly between us and the Sun. Venus transits are rarer even than Solar Eclipses. But they occur in pairs; eight years apart, then separated by alternating periods of 105 and 121 years. Venus transited the Sun in 1882 and again in 2004. Eight years later, I am ready; because cloudy skies blocked the event from my view in 2004. The transit date is June 5, 2012!
Weather permitting, we should be able to see a good portion of the Venus transit, but not all of it. It begins on the east coast at 6:10 pm EDT, and 5:10 pm CDT, with first contact. By 6:30 pm, the entire disk of Venus will be in front of the Sun. It will reach the mid-point of the Sun’s disk around 9:30 pm, but that will mean it will be after sunset (8:28 pm EDT). But we should be able to see Venus clearly against the background of the Sun for an hour and a half or so. BUT EYE PROTECTION WILL BE REQUIRED!!
For naked eye viewing use either #14 welder’s glass(can be obtained in a welding supply store — but get #14, not #12), or by using special “eclipse glasses.” Both of these will block visible light and dangerous ultraviolet and infrared radiation. Eclipse glasses can be ordered on-line (many sources), ranging in price, but generally they are just a few dollars.
Pick a site where you can get maximum views to the Sun right down to sunset, because the timing for us will be late in the day. Your view to the Sun has to remain clear, and of course, we have to pray for clear, not cloudy, skies.
June also provides continued good views of several planets, with Jupiter re-appearing in the pre-dawn eastern sky. By the end of June too, Venus will have passed the Sun and begin coming up before sunrise in the East. Mars is on the move in its orbit pushing out of Leo and into Virgo around June 21st. Planets appear to us to orbit the Sun from west to east, which means they appear to move against the background stars of the Zodiac from our right to left, as we face south. Mars is in the southwest sky, and the brightest object there, about 1/3rd of the way up from the horizon.
The other evening planet Saturn remains to appear among the stars of Virgo as it has all spring. The gap separating Mars from Saturn closes this month because Mars appears to move so much faster because it is closer to us and indeed, it moves faster in its orbit than Saturn does. So the gap narrows from about 40 degrees down to about 25 degrees this month.
The Full Moon of JUne is early; June 4th, while the next First Quarter Moon will be on the 26th.
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