Don't miss Venus as rare beauty spot on Sun

[Umma]

May 12, 2004

Don't miss Venus as rare beauty spot on Sun

By Mark Henderson

The planet?s passage was last visible from Britain in 1283 and the next will be in 2247

AN ASTRONOMICAL event so rare that no living person has witnessed it will be visible in the skies above Britain next month when Venus moves across the face of the Sun.

At 6.19am on Tuesday, June 8, shortly after sunrise, the planet will appear as a small black disc silhouetted against the Sun as it makes its first ?transit? since December 6, 1882.

For the next six hours the Earth?s nearest planetary neighbour will cut a slow left-to-right diagonal path across the southern part of the Sun before disappearing at 12.24pm.

Read the rest here

[Malicious Intent]

Excellent. I'll get my binoculars!

Seriously, i was going to post this earlier today, but forgot. How I'll remember the event, I don't know!

[jipper]

me and some mates were planning on taking a road trip to the sun to see it

[CTC Command]

That reminds me of this song we used to do in Exploding Pigs callled "Did I Tell You I Live On The Sun?"

Man were we fucking high when we wrote that one :gigglin:

Umma--we need to remember to jump start this thread about June 7 lest all our designs to watch this go poof in a fit of absentmindedness...

Plus I refuse to register to one more site to read something, so I found this:

[From Earth and Sky]People using telescopes or binoculars and special filter solar filters will have a good view of the small round globe of Venus inching for some six hours across the sun’s face. No one on Earth today has seen a Venus transit . . . although the other inner planet, Mercury, transits the sun 13 times in every century. The last Mercury transit was in 2003. There’s one thing you’ll need more than anything else to be able to watch the transit: daylight. If the sun is below your horizon, or behind clouds, while the transit is taking place, you won’t be able to see it. People in the eastern U.S. will have a shot at seeing the transit just after sunrise on June 8. For more about who will see the transit, look here. If you do want to watch it, could try projecting the sun’s image onto a sheet of white paper. For more about how to do that, look here. Or you MUST purchase a safe solar filter. For a link to suppliers of safe solar filters, look here.

[Umma]

That reminds me of this song we used to do in Exploding Pigs callled "Did I Tell You I Live On The Sun?"

Exploding pigs..... sounds like a good un :rotfl:

you can bump it CTC.... your memory is probably a lot better than mine.

[Potato]

If the sun is below your horizon, or behind clouds, while the transit is taking place, you won’t be able to see it.

No kidding.

[method77]

No kidding.

[CTC Command]

QUOTE

If the sun is below your horizon, or behind clouds, while the transit is taking place, you won’t be able to see it.

No kidding.

Maybe next they'll explain why how come for it's so dark after the sun sets... :psychofun:

Here's a neat little toy for anyone that wants to do the transit in style...looked pretty cool before the price downloaded, lol.

[desdemona]

cool, I was reading about this in the Farmer's Almanac too, I didn't register so I don't know what the rest of the article said, but we'll all be in direct alignment right? venus, mercury, earth, with the sun?

[Ken]

Man were we fucking high when we wrote that one

No other explaniation would fit!

[Ken]

Actually, I plan to stare directly at the sun. Seems like good logic to me.

[Malicious Intent]

Getting closer...

[Umma]

Actually, I plan to stare directly at the sun. Seems like good logic to me.

yep... you too could have eyes like your avatar

[Umma]

bumpity bump

it's tomorrow.... and true to form... I'm blanketed in a sea mist and cant see further than 20 yards :reallymad:

[Malicious Intent]

My fingers are crossed that it lifts for you. Keep this thread alive, else I will still forget!

[CTC Command]

I was just thinking about bumping this thread and Oop! There it is! Oop! There it is! Oop! There it is! Oop! There it is! Oop! There it is! Oop! There it is!

Uh, anyway, TWC says its gonna be nice tomorrow in New England. Just gonna have to get my photocopied ass outta bed to see it.

[slum_goddess]

totally missed it. i dint hear my alarm, duhhhhhh.

[Umma]

My fingers are crossed that it lifts for you. Keep this thread alive, else I will still forget!

It hasn't :(

Still a couple of hours to go... so who knows... I might catch a last blinding glimpse B)

[Potato]

Anyone see it?

[Malicious Intent]

Crap. I knew I'd forget. :angry:

[Umma]

Anyone see it?

Just the live web cast... not quite the same thing...

the annoying thing is.... the clouds broke and the sun was splitting the stones within half an hour of it finishing the transit :reallymad:

[Malicious Intent]

That is really cruel Umma. That's life I suppose.

[DudeAsInCool]

I kinda liked that pic umma, but here's another:

[Umma]

If you missed it, you can relive the event on 8 June at 11.20pm on BBC Two

Whoopee!