New Era of Discovery
New technologies, like the Transit of Venus phone app, will allow individuals to send their observations of the 2012 transit of Venus to a global experiment to measure the size of the solar system.
Please join this unique effort, spearheaded by the non-profit Astronomers Without Borders, as a supporter and a participant.
Rare Alignment
A transit of Venus occurs when Venus passes directly between the sun and earth. This alignment is rare, coming in pairs that are eight years apart but separated by over a century.
The most recent transit of Venus was a thrilling sight in 2004. After the June 2012 transit of Venus (the last one in your lifetime), the next such alignment occurs in 2117.
Global Expeditions
Observers from two locations on earth see two distinct paths (red and blue) of Venus across the sun. The slight difference in times Venus takes, moving from edge to edge, can mathematically unlock the distance from earth to the sun, and thus the size of our solar system.
Edmund Halley admonished nations to send expeditions around the globe to time future transits of Venus across the sun. For 17th & 18th century transits, intrepid explorers challenged both the risks and the frustrations to answer a leading question of mankind. Not all of them made the voyage back home.
2012 Doomsday & Solar System Alignment
Includes 2012 Survival Guide
Perhaps you have heard the suggestion that an alignment of earth and the sun is contributing to a doomsday scenario in 2012. When the page turns for the old Maya calendar and the solar system is aligned somehow, the world is supposed to end. In fact, there is a significant alignment of planets in 2012 that much of the world will be watching.Where to Be (and When)
(Click map to enlarge.)
Much of the world can witness the 2012 transit of Venus. The date depends on what side of the International Dateline you will be observing. Observers in North America will see the transit in the evening on June 5, 2012, through sunset, so you want to have a clear western horizon.
Recommended Links
This sight...is by far the noblest astronomy affords...
-Edmund Halley
Mystery of "Black Drop"
Just before or after the circular black dot of Venus seems to touch the edge of the sun, a peculiar "black drop effect" sometimes occurs between the contact points. A ligament of darkness smears the juncture of Venus and the sun.
You can see a similar anomaly if you almost pinch your thumb and forefinger together. Just before you sense contact, a black feature spans your two digits.
Treasure: TROVE
The Michiana area near the Michigan-Indiana border is a hub of activity related to the transit of Venus. Join us to celebrate the math, science, and art of this celestial phenomenon.
Safely See the Transit
Protect your eyes. There are several safe ways to watch Venus transit the sun.
- Rear projection screen
- Solar filtered telescope
- #14 or greater welding glass
- Disposable "eclipse shades"
- Live webcast
- More
Transits: Leading the Hunt
Once again, transits are on the leading edge of new discoveries. The NASA Kepler mission and others are using the transit method to find habitable planets around distant stars. The Kepler spacecraft monitors over 150,000 stars, looking for periodic dips in their light curves which reveal the presence of companion planets. You, too, can join this quest for new worlds.
Latest News
- Transit of Venus (TROVE) Art Exhibit
- Solar Eclipse Sunset: Lake Michigan on May 20
- Video: The Transit of Venus
- Sousa on March 8
- Events: APS Museum in Philadelphia
- Posters
- Call for Art: Transit of Venus in Pastel
- RASC 2012 Transit of Venus
- Archived Website From 2004
- Activity: Pixel Count
- PHM
- Harris Branch Library Hosts Art and Artifacts
A partial solar eclipse occurs on May 20, 2012, and could be a fascinating sight at sunset over Lake Michigan. Around 8:15 p.m. EDT (UT-4), the sun will be about six degrees (or a dozen of the sun's half-degree diameters) above the horizon when the encroaching moon first becomes apparent. Silhouetted in the foreground, the moon seemingly rises from the sun's lower right limb and moves across to the sun's left. The conjoined pair set concurrently around 9:00 p.m EDT.
The sun appears as a crescent because the foreground moon, moving basically from right to left from earth's perspective, obstructs light coming from the lower part of the sun. See http://youtu.be/tZQIGLL2BaA or click the YouTube video below to watch an animation of the sunset eclipse from the perspective of a viewer looking west over lower Lake Michigan.
Note: always use proper eye protection to view the sun safely. Failure to protect your eyes can result in vision impairment, eye injury, or blindness.
In the western United States, some people will see an annular eclipse as this celestial alignment is visible in its entirety from some discreet locations. As depicted in the visibility diagram at left, Lake Michigan just barely falls within the zone of visibility for the beginning minutes of the 2012 Annular Solar Eclipse. Details about the annular eclipse by Fred Espenak of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center are at http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2012May20Agoogle.html. 
The image at right shows the apparent shape of the sun as it nears the Lake Michigan horizon (green line). Members of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society are intending to set up telescopes at Warren Dunes State Park to witness this solar system alignment. The eclipse is a precursor to another celestial phenomenon happening on June 5, 2012--the rare Transit of Venus. Information about local events, dubbed TROVE, is at www.transitofvenus.org/trove. For a map of events worldwide, see the NASA Event Locations.
Destined to be a highlight of 2012 is the TROVE Art Exhibit, which celebrates the transit of Venus experience, past and future. Artists working in any two-dimensional media are invited to create works that have relevance to the transit of Venus, a celestial phenomenon both with a rich history in the quest to understand our place in the solar system and with a modern role in the hunt for new worlds around distant stars. 
The 2012 alignment of earth, Venus, and the sun on June 5 is the last transit of Venus in our lifetimes, not occurring again until December 2117.
TROVE (for TRansit Of VEnus) is a collection of regional attractions that complement this historic astronomical event. The venue for the TROVE Art Exhibit is the mezzanine gallery at The Livery, a microbrewery in the Arts District of Benton Harbor, Michigan. Enjoy this unique art space while quaffing a hand-crafted Venusian ale. The exhibit will be open seven days a week from May 6 until June 30, with a special party after sunset on June 5, 2012. Please join the multiple TROVE celebrations, whether by sharing your vision through the creation of art, or by embracing science and math in action as a supporter of the arts.
Call for Art
Artists are invited to create works related to Venus, the sun, astronomy, exoplanets, transit math, historical expeditions, gods and goddesses, the black drop effect, and other notions with a connection to the solar spectacle. Please state your intent to participate by April 15, and deliver your artwork to the site on May 5. Art must be ready to hang and may be sold with no commission. Insurance is the artist's responsibility. There is a $5.00 entry fee. Please fill out one entry form for each submission (limit two):
2012T0V-Call-for-Artists.pdf (PDF)
2012T0V-Call-for-Artists.docx (MS Word)
Coming Soon: Beer Art
The history, mystique, and promise of the transit of Venus has a parallel storyline with beer. The brewmaster at The Livery is crafting a special golden ale to commemorate the 2012 transit of Venus.
The Penn Symphonic Winds will perform the Transit of Venus March by John Phillip Sousa on March 8, 2012, at the Penn Fine Arts Festival Concert. Director Glenn Northern announced the performance will be in the Penn Center for the Performing Arts, at Penn High School (map) in Mishawaka, IN, USA. Sousa had a particular interest in the celestial phenomenon, writing both the Transit of Venus March and decades later a novel The Transit of Venus. Penn High School students also performed Sousa's march in 2004 when the transit of Venus occurred previously in the 21st century. 
The Transit of Venus is a 4-minute video in high-resolution soon to be a free download in full-dome video for digital theaters. The mini-show summarizes the history and significance of the transit of Venus while preparing viewers for the June 5-6, 2012, spectacle. The story segues from Jeremiah Horrocks' first sighting, to expeditions seeking to measure the size of the solar system, to the Kepler spacecraft detecting planets as they transit distant stars. With animation and video effects by Patrick McPike, Multimedia Artist and Technical Director at the Adler Planetarium, the dome master is readily compatible with digital systems. The original song Morning Star by the band Transit of Venus from New Zealand is also available for free download. Narrated by Douglas Osthimer. Written and directed by Chuck Bueter.
- Dome master
- High-resolution flat screen video
- YouTube video with narration
- YouTube video without narration
- Song: Morning Star by Transit of Venus
- Text for The Transit of Venus video
The American Philosophical Society (APS) Museum in Philadelphia will be presenting a variety of activities related to the Transit of Venus, beginning May 25, 2012, including a small exhibition featuring the telescope David Rittenhouse used for observing the 1769 Transit; hands-on activities with Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at The Franklin Institute; and a talk by Andrea Wulf, author of the new book Chasing Venus: The Race To Measure the Heavens. For details, please contact the museum:
American Philosophical Society Museum
104 S. Fifth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
www.apsmuseum.org
More Articles...
- Posters
- Call for Art: Transit of Venus in Pastel
- RASC 2012 Transit of Venus
- Activity: Pixel Count
- Plan a Community Celebration
- Harris Branch Library Hosts Art and Artifacts
- Transits of Venus: Looking Forward, Looking Back
- All-Aboard the Transit of Venus
- Spanish Version of Sun Funnel: El Embudo Solar
- TROVE: Celebrating the Riches of the TRansit Of VEnus
- Universe in the Classroom Features Transit of Venus
- Hubble Space Telescope to Target 2012 Transit of Venus
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