|
Astronomical Observing at
Fishcreek
Observing event in the
field behind
Fishcreek Elementary School
5080 Fishcreek Rd
Stow, OH 44224-1998
.
.
Tuesday,
June 5, 2012 at
6:05PM
Join us for a VERY SPECIAL EVENT...
WATCH VENUS TRANSIT THE SUN!
No one on Earth will see this happen again for over 105 years
.
This computer-generated animation of the transit of Venus across the
face of the Sun compresses 2 hours and 50 minutes into seventeen 1
second frames, each resenting a 10 minute advance in clock-time, and
shows exactly what we'll be able to see of the Venus Transit.
The Altitude and Azimuth, along with the date and time (24 hour
format ie 18:00 = 6:00PM, 19:30 = 7:30PM, etc) are shown and updated
from frame to frame since the whole event is steadily sinking into
the west due to the Earth's rotation. The image is un-reversed
and un-inverted so you'll need to translate the view you'll see
through your inverting and/or reversing telescope.
.
We'll
watch the planet
Venus, one planet inward from the Earth toward the Sun, actually moving across
the disk of the Sun for 2½
hours of
its
total 6.9 hour trek. The last time a Venus transit
was visible anywhere from Earth was on June 8, 2004 and the next time
will be December 11, 2117 - 105½ years from now!
To observe this event,
specially equipped telescopes are absolutely required!
|
|
Data below
is for Stow, Ohio on Tuesday June 5, 2012 |
|
Event |
Time |
Altitude |
Azimuth |
|
First Contact: |
6:04:30 pm (EDT) |
29.7° |
275.5° |
|
Second Contact: |
6:22:11 pm (EDT) |
26.4° |
278.2° |
|
5° above horizon: |
8:20:43 pm (EDT) |
5° |
296.2° |
|
Sunset: |
8:58:28 pm (EDT) |
0° |
302.2° |
| |
|
Due to the 8:13 ratio of the orbits of Earth and Venus (the Earth
makes 8 orbits around the Sun in almost exactly the same time as
Venus completes 13 orbits), coupled with the
3.39° inclination of Venus' orbit
to the ecliptic, transits occur predictably, but with an odd
cadence; always in pairs whose elements are separated by almost
exactly 8 years and time between pairs alternating between 105½
years and 121½ years.
For
additional information, see the Wikipedia article available
here |
.
Chart of All Venus Transits
between 1527 a.d. and 2359 a.d.
Note: All dates and times are given in
UT
(Universal
Time)
EST = UT minus 5 hours
EDT = UT minus 4 hours
. |
|
Date and Time of the
Midpoint in Sequential
Venus Transits |
Total
Duration
of Transit |
Time to
Next Transit
within this Pair: |
Time to
First Transit of
Next Transit Pair: |
|
. |
|
Dec 7, 1631
(UT) |
05:21
(UT)
|
3.4 hrs |
7y 362d 19h 5m |
|
|
Dec 4, 1639
(UT) |
18:26
(UT) |
7.2 hrs |
121y 184d 4h 53m |
|
. |
|
Jun 6, 1761
(UT) |
05:19
(UT) |
6.8 hrs |
7y 362d 23h 6m |
|
Jun 3, 1769
(UT) |
22:25
(UT) |
6.6 hrs |
105y 186d 23h 42m |
|
. |
|
Dec 9, 1874
(UT) |
04:07
(UT) |
5.0 hrs |
7y 362d 18h 58m |
|
Dec 6, 1882
(UT) |
17:05
(UT) |
6.6 hrs |
121y 182d 9h 15m |
|
. |
|
Jun 8, 2004
(UT) |
08:20
(UT) |
6.4 hrs |
7y 362d 23h 10m |
|
Jun 6, 2012*
(UT) |
*01:30*
(UT) |
6.9
hrs |
105y 186d 19h 22m |
|
. |
|
Dec 11, 2117
(UT) |
02:52
(UT) |
5.9 hrs |
7y 362d 19h 14m |
|
Dec 8, 2125
(UT) |
16:06
(UT) |
5.8 hrs |
121y 183d 13h 36m |
|
. |
|
Jun 11, 2247
(UT) |
11:42
(UT) |
6.0 hrs |
7y 362d 23h
5m |
|
Jun 9, 2255
(UT) |
04:47
(UT) |
7.2 hours |
|
|
. |
|
*Note:
Jun 6, 2012 at
1:30 am is the UT designation for June 5,
2012 at 9:30pm EDT |
As you can see, Venus
transits don't happen often.
Let's hope
for clear skies since we won't get another chance!
Venus transit
*
Image of the last Venus transit captured by
attendee John Crilly at
6:56:32am EDT on 6/8/2004
Note:
All data
calculated using Guide9 software available from
www.ProjectPluto.com |
