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Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Lt. James Cook & June 3, 1769 - ...transit of Venus

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/venus-04c.html]Read me

*Looks like there was more than just ONE sort of "transit of Venus" going on... <ahem>  Looks like Cook and his crew got a little side-tracked from astronomical pursuits once they landed in Tahiti.  Grass skirts and fire-water, what a combo.

--Cindy  :laugh:

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Shaun Barrett

Member

From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Registered: 2001-12-28

Posts: 2,843

Re: Lt. James Cook & June 3, 1769 - ...transit of Venus

Hmmm ... yes.
    I have to admit it's been quite a while since "three handsome women" came to "visit" me. It would probably tend to take one's mind off the study of heavenly bodies ... I suppose?
                        :;):   :laugh:

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The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down.   - Rita Rudner

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Lt. James Cook & June 3, 1769 - ...transit of Venus

*Oh bummer!!   

http://www.spaceweather.com/venustransi … if]Transit not visible in my area.  :down:

Damn...and I was anticipating getting my solar screen out that day, etc.    ::sigh::

Anyway, heres]http://www.spaceweather.com/venustransit/images/Map2004-2.gif]here's a GLOBAL map of transit visibility.

More information at http://www.spaceweather.com]www.spaceweather.com

Shaun, I checked Horwitz's book Blue Latitudes last evening (the information about James Cook in the article was obtained from that book)...Horwitz and some friends recreated the voyage of the Endeavor.  Apparently roughly 1/2 of all Tahitian jokes are sexually oriented (sounds familiar...) and IIRC most of the geography is referred to in terms of gender anatomy (ahem).

I am really unhappy about the transit zone!  I'm gonna miss out.  :-\ 

--Cindy   :bars:

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Lt. James Cook & June 3, 1769 - ...transit of Venus

*Venus is approaching Sun from the left, in ***this image, which is updated frequently***:

http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/]Venus transit via SOHO

The image above accompanied this article:

This from space.com's "Astronotes" (column format/frequent update...must copy and paste):

"SOHO Spots Venus Nearing the Sun

Venus is drawing closer to the Sun from our perspective as it nears a rare event June 8, when it will cross in front of the Sun. Venus is now disappearing from the evening sky and has just entered the view of the orbiting SOHO spacecraft.

The planet is entering the field of view from the left. The Sun's main disk is blocked out by a device in the spacecraft's camera that allows it to see the solar atmosphere and other nearby objects that would otherwise be overpowered by the bright light.

As seen from many parts of Earth, Venus will be visible in front of the Sun for more than 6 hours during the Tuesday transit. From SOHO's perspective -- 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth and slightly off the Sun-Earth axis -- the planet Venus will not pass in front of the Sun but glide beneath the solar disk.

However, Venus will be visible against the emission from the diffuse solar atmosphere, or corona. Scientists will be able to take advantage of this Venus transit to improve the quality of data gathered by SOHO, officials said in a statement today.

Other telescopes will webcast the transit live from planet Earth. For a complete list of webcasts, plus when and how to safely view the event yourself, see SPACE.com's Venus Transit Headquarters.

Interested viewers can watch Venus' progress starting now in regularly updated images on the SOHO site."

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Lt. James Cook & June 3, 1769 - ...transit of Venus

*Boy, some people sure have all the luck!

http://eclipse.astronomie.info/transit/ … Marseilles France - Canary Islands - Northern Italy

On June 8, folks living in those vicinities may also see the International Space Station crossing the Sun 4 times DURING the Venus transit!   

http://www.spaceweather.com]www.spaceweather.com is (today's date -- they update nearly daily) hosting this information with links and etc.  Practice eye safety and enjoy (for me, too).

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)