A Spanish version of the instructions for building a Sun Funnel now accompanies the English version (April 2013).  Thanks go to Manuel Alvarez of Instituto de Astronomia Sede Ensenada B.C. for translating the original text and dividing it into two parts:

• Construcción de un Embudo Solar para observar manchas solares y el Tránsito de Venus
• Embudo Solar para observar manchas solares y el Tránsito de Venus

Alvarez writes, "We are planning to observe the Transit of Venus at the same place that Joaquín Velásquez de León and Abad Chappe d'Auteroche observed the transit on June 3rd. 1769; (243 years ago); (i.e. "Visita de Santa Ana", near La Paz in Baja California Sur (Velasquez) and "Misión de San José del Cabo", Baja California Sur),  (Chappe). At the same time, we are considering building some Sun-Funnels for people to observe the Sun and the Transit."

Several features make the region near the Michigan-Indiana border a favored destination. With the sun setting while the transit of Venus is still underway, the view over beautiful Lake Michigan is perhaps unrivaled.  Because no location in the mainland United States can guarantee clear skies, multiple transit of Venus attractions will give astronomy enthusiasts and casual observers alike plenty of reason to plan their visit here.  Among the anticipated highlights:

• Big Day Tour!  Exclusive motor coach tour all the regional highlights on a bus tour with expert commentary on June 5.  (Space limited.)
• Telescopes set up for safe public observing throughout the region on June 5, as was done for the transit of Venus in Mishawaka, IN, in 2004:
  • PHM Digital Video Theater (former Planetarium) in Mishawaka, IN (map)
  • Jordan Hall of Science on the campus of University of Notre Dame (map)
  • LaSalle Intermediate Academy in South Bend, IN (map)
  • New Carlisle Public Library, New Carlisle, IN (map)
  • Warren Dunes State Park, Sawyer, MI (map)
  • Andrews University on top of Price Hall (map)
• Transit of Venus art on display
  
  • Transit of Venus in Pastel at Harris Branch Library, Granger, IN, May 1-June 9
  • TROVE Art Exhibit at the Livery in Benton Harbor, MI, May 6-June 30
  • PHM Transit of Venus Art Contest at Penn High School, Mishawaka, IN, May 3-June 30
  • Historical images to be exhibited at select branches of MutualBank
    
  • ToV beer poster contest at the Livery
• Historical artifacts on display at Harris Branch Library and Hesburgh Library, from the US Naval Observatory and private collections
• Digital theater programs
  • Transit of Venus video (debuting as full-dome video in February 2012)
  • PHM's new Digital Video Theater
  • University of Notre's Dame Digital Visualization Theater
• Telescope workshops to build safe solar viewing devices and to prepare telescopes with solar filters
• Transit of Venus products
  
  • Hand-crafted Venusian beer from the Livery microbrewery
  • Black Drop Effect Coffee from Victorian Pantry
  • Transit of Venus pizza and Black Drop Effect pizza at Pizza Transit
• Lesson plans and classroom activities for all ages
• Participation in re-creation of international science experiment through Transit of Venus Phone App
• Commemoration of local observations of the 1882 transit of Venus
• Live broadcasts of transit of Venus from across the globe with others immersed in the transit of Venus, including
  
  • Local liaison Chuck Rupley from Hawaii
  • NASA's Sun-Earth Day webcast from Hawaii on June 5
• Telescope observing of the partial solar eclipse at sunset over Lake Michigan on May 20
• Buchanan Art Center will run Transit of Venus video all day June 5, offer solar shades, and guide kids in creating a "Black Drop" sticker.  10 AM-6 PM.
• TROVE Adventure, a regional treasure hunt to earn protective solar shades, May 1-May 31
• Thursday lecture series at PHM Digital Video Theater, Mishawaka, IN
  • You Can Learn a Lot From a Dot by Steven Williams of NASA, May 17
  • Experience the Transit of Venus by Chuck Bueter of Transitofvenus.org, May 24
  • Life in the Universe: From Viking to Kepler by Phil Sakimoto of Notre Dame, May 31

• AstroFest at Union Station on April 28, 2012, a free family-oriented event
• Performance of John Philip Sousa's Transit of Venus March on March 8 by Penn Symphonic Winds (details)
• Transit of Venus Stained Glass Window Contest (online), from JINA/NDeRC at University of Notre Dame; entry deadline: Feb. 18.

Most people are not familiar with the transit of Venus, yet it has historically garnered tremendous popular appeal as the celestial alignment approaches.  The last transit of Venus was visible from the United States only on the eastern portion of the country moments after sunrise.  Yet Google's Zeitgesit feature, which aggregates search queries to take a pulse of global interests, declared Venus Transit to be the #1 Most Popular Event in the world for the entire month of June 2004!  This time, on the more favorable evening hours of June 5, the Michiana region will be well positioned to witness the 2012 transit of Venus.

Read more: TROVE: Celebrating the TRansit Of VEnus

The Fall 2011 issue of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) newsletter, The Universe in the Classroom, features the transit of Venus in Don't Miss the Transit of Venus in 2012: It's Your Last Chance Until 2117.  The article, authored by Chuck Bueter, recounts historical expeditions and technological gains through the centuries while looking forward to Kepler Mission findings using the transit method.  The article is complemented with links to hands-on activities and online resources.

The Hubble Space Telescope will be aimed at the moon to detect dips in brightness during the 2012 transit of Venus.  In an interview explaining how the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) allocates time on the telescope, Dr. Matt Mountain, STScI Director, describes a clever, high risk project with potential for high return that was selected among the 1,000+ proposals.

Alfred Vidal-Madjar, CNRS, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, submitted the proposal entitled Venus observed as an extrasolar planet.

While astronomers can discern the atmosphere of big planets 150 light years away, they seek to detect the atmospheres of smaller earth-size planets as well.  To mimic looking at a small exoplanet, the Hubble Space Telescope will measure small changes in light reflected off the moon as Venus diminishes the sunlight slightly when the inner planet passes between the sun and earth on June 5-6, 2012. 

"We don't know if it will work, but it's worth a shot," Mountain said. "If it does work, we'll get an idea of what earth-size would look like...It will guide us in the future if we ever see dip like it; we're seeing a very small planet...It's quite a risky project, but the payoff would be quite remarkable, for we'd actually be able to measure the atmosphere of Venus using the Hubble Space Telescope."

Read more: Hubble Space Telescope to Target 2012 Transit of Venus

I invite you to share the QR Code for www.transitofvenus.org, either in print or electronically.  Smart phones can read this 2D barcode with a Bar Code Scanner app, which then quickly takes user to the website.  Simply copy and paste this barcode into your own transit of Venus materials as a service to your audience. 



Because the barcode-reading software employs error correction, I can overlay a semi-transparent image and still get accurate barcode reader results.  The image below is from SOHO spacecraft with a silhouette of Venus and black drop added manually, though admittedly in the 2004 orientation for now. 

Read more: QR Code for Transit of Venus Website