Transit of Venus Excites New York Area's Star Gazers

Transit of Venus (black dot) across the Sun
(2004 photo from Scientific American)

The transit of Venus, in which the Sun, Earth, and herself are in alignment along the same plane, will take place starting tomorrow evening. The rare event will be theoretically visible from New York area vantage points. I say "theoretically," because the weather forecast features rain and clouds. That's not exactly an ideal formula for astronomical action.

Still, the event is an exciting one, and as The New York Times reported, many people are preparing their varieties of visually safe telescopes to view the transit. You want to get in on the event now; the next transit will occur in the 22nd Century.

According to NASA, there have been 53 transits since 2000 B.C. Yet, despite the rarity of the event, it remains very important for astronomers. In the 18th Century, scientists used the transit to rather accurately measure the distance between the Earth and the Sun, also known as the Astronomical Unit. In an age of computers and handheld calculators, it's refreshing to note that some sharp estimates about profound distances were managed without machine assistance.