We here in Hawaii are lucky to be able to see a rare astronomical phenomenon tomorrow (June 5, 2012). The transit of Venus across the sun will be "visible" from about 12 noon to 6pm. With a pinhole camera, check it out!
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/transit/
Why is this such an important event? First, the next one won't happen until 2117. Second, historically the transit of Venus was used to measure the distance between the Earth and the sun, and Hawaii has played prominent roles in the 18th and 19th century transits.
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/transit/VenusTransitHistory.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment