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.
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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.
Elaine Wilner
Jan 04
|15:29
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
The Northern Indiana Pastel Society (NIPS) announced a call for art for the Transit of Venus in Pastel exhibit. From the December 2011 Newsletter: Harris Branch
Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Library
51446 Elm Road, Granger IN 46530
May 1 to June 9, 2012
Reception 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Deliver art to the gallery 10:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. Saturday, April 28. Art will be released 10:30 to noon Saturday, June 9.
Entrants must be members of NIPS.
Scientists and astronomy enthusiasts are gearing up for this heavenly event, June 5, 2012, when the planet Venus passes between Earth and the sun. We will see the distant planet as a small dot gliding slowly across the face of the sun. Historically, this rare alignment is how we measured the size of our solar system. Visit www.transitofvenus.org for more information.
Members are invited to use ideas such as Venus, planets, sun, moon, stars, space, sky, sunset, new worlds, habitable planets or related themes. The art also will be featured in an online gallery linked to other Transit of Venus events around the world.
Cleveland Astronomical Society Meeting
Thursday, March 1, 2011
Speaker: Chuck Bueter
Observers on the North Coast are well-positioned to see the last transit of Venus in our lifetimes on Tuesday, June 5, 2012. The celestial phenomenon begins shortly after 6:00 p.m. EDT, when the inner planet appears to straddle the solar limb and is visible until the sun sets with Venus halfway across the sun. In past centuries, transits of Venus were significant as nations collaborated to quantify the size of the solar system and embarked on global expeditions. Today the rare alignment exemplifies how astronomers detect planets orbiting distant stars using the transit method. We have a front row seat, and can view with our eyes what the NASA Kepler Mission hopes to capture many light years away with its sensitive photometer. With some tips, caveats and legal disclaimers, Chuck's presentation will encourage you to do what Momma (and smart astronomers) generally advise against--stare at the sun. Bring safe observing opportunities to your community, participate actively in a transit of Venus experiment and marvel at the solar system in motion on June 5, 2012.
Details at http://www.clevelandastronomicalsociety.org/Mar%201%20Meeting.htm.
Year 2012
| January 30 | Added to Links: Video & New Media: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss/display.cfm?Year=2012&Month=6&Tab=Classrooms NASA Year of the Solar System Educational Resources offer data, downloadable products, images, video, podcasts, animations, interactives, and networks. Updated and added to Links: Teacher Resources:
http://eclipse-maps.com/Eclipse-Maps/Transits_files/ToV2012map_1.jpg Global map by Michael Zeiler depicts the zones of visibility for the 2012 transit of Venus. Added to Store:
Added to Links: The Arts: |
| January 26 | Added to Links: The Arts: http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/hope-a-d/the-transit-of-venus-0144007 The Transit of Venus, poem by A.D. Hope; from the Australian Poetry Library. |
| January 24 | Added to TROVE: education/the-arts/328-art-show The TROVE Art Exhibit puts out a call to artists to share their talent and enthusiasm for the transit of Venus. The exhibit will run May 6 through June at The Livery in Benton Harbor, MI. |
| January 23 | Added to TROVE: 80-trove/329-2012eclipse Solar Eclipse Sunset: Lake Michigan on May 20. Observe the May 20 annular solar eclipse as a prelude to the June 5 transit of Venus. For people looking west over Lake Michigan, the sun appears as a crescent at sunset because of the intervening moon. Added to The Arts: education/the-arts/328-transit-of-venus-art-show Transit of Venus Art Show calls all artists for two-dimensional artwork for display from May through June at The Livery in Benton Harbor, MI. Added to Books: The Astronomer of Rousdon by Barbara Slate; a published biography of Charles Grover, an amateur astronomer who was astronomical assistant to Sir Cuthbert Peek on the Royal Geographical Society's expedition to observe the 1882 transit of Venus at Jimbour on the Darling Downs in Queensland, Australia. |
| January 21 | Added to Video & New Media: http://vimeo.com/channels/ourlasttransitofvenus Our Last Transit of Venus is a documentary highlighting three groups: "scientists who will observe the Transit to study Venus and exoplanets, amateurs and students who will redo the experiment of determining the size of the Solar System and profession and/or amateur historians with the intention to observe the Transit with 18th and 19th century instruments." Added to Links: Teacher Resources:
http://www.astro-trails.com/index.php/destination/?d=annular-eclipse-2012 Astro Trails will visit the leeward side of the island of Hawaii. |
| January 15 | Added to Video & New Media: http://youtu.be/ehHY9fTrb7Q The Transit of Venus, a 4-minute video on the celestial event, its historical significance, and the value of the transit method in finding new planets. Soon to be available as full-dome video for digital theaters. Added to PHM 2012: PHM_DVT_Newsletter_12-01-13.pdf Video debuts at PHM Theater; Venus Shines in PM Sky; Conflict with Sports in the 17th Century; Treasure TROVE |
| January 11 |
Added to Links: Exoplanet Transits: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/ PlanetQuest Exoplanet Exploration is an engaging site for news and multimedia about NASA's search for new worlds. Keep pace with current tally of new and candidate planets; get your questions answered by Astronomer Steve; create your planet with Extreme Makeover; check out the great videos from multiple NASA missions, and always see the latest exoplanet news at the forefront of science. Added to Latest News: http://www.transitofvenus.org/misc/326-sousa-on-march-8 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 in Mishawaka, IN. Added to Transit Writings:
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Year 2011
A Special Session of the American Astronomical Society (AAS)
History of Astronomy Division (HAD)
Sunday, Jan 08, 2012, 1:00 PM - 3:40 PM
Details
The June 6, 2012, transit of Venus, completing the pair that began on June 8, 2004, will represent the last chance to observe one of these rare events from Earth until the next pair, December 11, 2117, and December 8, 2125. This year’s transit will be extremely advantageous as almost all the most populated areas of the Earth will be able to see at least some of the transit: the only land masses from which no part of the transit will be visible are the western Iberian peninsula, the western part of Africa, the eastern part of South America, and Antarctica. We invite presentations on both important historical aspects of the transits of Venus and modern applications. From a historical point of view, the occasion is of importance in providing a point of departure for a reconsideration of the singular importance of the transits in the history of astronomy and in the geographical exploration of the Earth, which led to massive preparations and far flung expeditions in the eighteenth century in pursuit of the Halleyan project of determining the solar parallax. The nineteenth-century transits also played out against a background rivalries among the great European world empires (England, Russia, France, and the U.S.) then at their height and then sliding imperceptibly but ineluctably toward the Great War. The 2012 transit offers an opportunity to revisit the important expeditions of the past—many of which have been catalogued and some noted by markers or restored—and to engage in “experimental archaeology,” the reconstruction of past observations, including of the Black Drop and luminous aureole, about which it was and is often mistakenly stated that, particularly for the earliest observations, it is produced by refraction by the atmosphere of Venus. Possible observations of special historical interest in 2012 could include some using historical instruments and techniques or observing from the same locations as earlier observers. But far from being an entirely retrospective exercise, the history of transit observations defines critical problems to be addressed by modern high-resolution observations from Earth and space. These include the detailed profiling of the atmosphere of Venus with ground-based and space-based observations (from satellites meant to study the Sun) and the study of a local analogue to exoplanet transits across their parent stars, the focus of many contemporary astrophysical investigations and space missions whose key astrophysical goals are to understand the prevalence and structure of planetary systems very different from our own solar system. In short, though often said to be of strictly historical interest owing to the fact that the Halleyan solar parallax method has long since been superseded, transits of Venus continue to be of great importance to astronomers and astrophysicists working at the cutting edge of important problems of our own day. See http://www.transitofvenus.info and http://www.transitofvenus.org.
See the archive of the 2004 website (http://old.transitofvenus.org) for additional diverse material, though many external links from 2004 may be inactive. Rather than waiting for perfection, we have re-launched this new transitofvenus.org for 2012.
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.
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.
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.
If you are preparing for a public event for the 2012 transit of Venus, your audience will likely want more printed information. Consider distributing an informational handout for the lay person, such as the version for USA observers at docs/Transit_of_Venus_Brochure.pdf. Please feel free to proofread and make suggestions, or use it as it is.For the day of the transit you may want to have certificates available that include a place for the participants to mark their observed times of internal contact.
Chuck Bueter
Jun 21
|15:33
If you are attending the 2011 Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) Meeting in Baltimore, MD, from July 30 to August 3, please join Rick Feinberg, Lou Mayo, and me for the Tuesday 10 AM workshop titled How, and Why, to Facilitate Group Viewing of the 2012 Transit of Venus. Each participant will make-and-take a rear projection screen so that your group can observe the sun safely through a telescope. On display at the poster session will be my Countdown to the Transit of Venus (left), which answers some common FAQs about the transit, addresses the June 5/6 confusion, and suggests some ways for educators and students to be active in the 2012 transit of Venus experience. Please introduce yourself to me during the dedicated poster time, or look for me during the rest of the conference. I welcome your input, suggestions, and corrections.
Jun 05
|15:20
The one-year countdown to the 2012 transit of Venus begins with the launch of a new portal to Transit of Venus projects and resources. Under the aegis of Astronomers Without Borders (AWB), Steven van Roode has configured www.transitofvenus.nl to capture the many events surrounding the 2012 celestial phenomenon. Featured activities include "the measuring of the solar system by timing the transit from widespread locations with a phone app, an archaeological experiment in which historic Venus transit observations are emulated using antique instruments, classroom activities for different levels of education, and the marking of significant sites of past transit expeditions...The home page will be a dynamic page, featuring blog posts from various authors, informing the public on the transit from different angles and disciplines."The Transit of Venus Project is organized by dedicated volunteers who seek sponsorship support for several aspects, including the Transit of Venus phone app. For a modest investment you can have front billing to what Google Zeitgeist deemed the #1 Most Popular Event in the the world in June 2004. Now is the time to step up, both for astronomy education and for corporate prominence.
Chuck Bueter
Jun 05
|00:00
Mark the date on your calendar – June 5, 2012. That Tuesday (for North American viewers) we have an unparalleled opportunity to promote astronomy education and public outreach as the last transit of Venus of our lifetimes takes place. This rare event has happened only seven times since the telescope was invented more than 400 years ago. The last Venus transit in June 2004 – the first since the 19th century – was such a global sensation that Google’s Zeitgeist proclaimed it the #1 Most Popular Event in the world for the whole month! With your participation and support we can surpass even that incredible success. Read on to see how you can contribute to an unprecedented effort to engage the astronomy community, educators and the public in this historic event.
Expeditions sent around the world during the 18th and 19th century to observe this rare event and to time its occurrence from widespread locations in an attempt to measure the scale of the solar system are the stuff of legend. In 2012, professional and amateur astronomers will replicate historic Venus transit observations, some using antique instruments at historic sites. There are several projects already being planned for locations where the transit is visible. For observers in the continental United States, Venus will appear on the Sun’s limb in the afternoon, slowly gliding across its face until the pair sets in the west.
Each century since Jeremiah Horrocks first recorded the 1639 transit of Venus, astronomers have developed new tools to tease more information from this rare dance of the planets. Great advances were made as telescopes, photography, and satellites were utilized, and the 21st century adds its own unique new technology. I and other volunteers are creating a phone app that observers worldwide will use to contribute their observations to the global effort to quantify the Astronomical Unit, the distance from Earth to the Sun that is the primary yardstick of the Solar System. The tap of a button is all that’s needed to mark the time of internal contact and send it, along with observer's location and local time, to a global database. The app will also help users find local observing events, live webcasts, online programming, and more from various social media. Developed under the aegis of Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) (http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/), the app will be widely distributed free to the public by AWB and others.
As of this writing there are no apps that address the transit of Venus among the hundreds of thousands of apps available, despite the event’s known popularity. The app and the programs that will utilize it will give you and your audience an easy, fun way to participate in this rare event. Just as previous transit of Venus expeditions (such as James Cook's first voyage) contributed to international efforts, the modern global astronomy community can measure the size of the solar system we inhabit – all without the difficulties, dangers and expense of the historic expeditions. This time, everyone can take part. It fits with the AWB slogan – One People, One Sky.
Be bold. While major funders are being sought, this volunteer effort needs the early support of those like you who understand the value of engaging the public during rare celestial events. With only one year remaining we need to keep the momentum going with the aid of those closest to the project. Send the major funders a message that the astronomy community endorses and supports this important effort.
Please support this important educational project by making a donation on the AWB web site. Your donation will be made via credit card through PayPal, but you DO NOT need a PayPal account to donate. If you or your organization prefers to donate by check, you can send a check made payable to Astronomers Without Borders to AWB, 26500 Agoura Rd., Suite 102-618, Calabasas, CA 91301.
With increased web traffic, major sponsors will have a chance to jump in as well. Steven Van Roode is developing a portal website at www.transitofvenus.nl to accommodate the high traffic that is expected. In 2004 my own website, www.transitofvenus.org, crashed after six million hits (!), so for 2012 we’re building more capacity and employing more robust internet practices.
Please contact me to discuss the transit of Venus phone app or any other aspects of this last transit of Venus in your lifetime. With the 2012 transit of Venus just one year away we need to act now – to prepare teachers at workshops, to ask bands to perform John Phillip Sousa's Transit of Venus March, to confirm unobstructed telescopic sight-lines to the sun, to get into printed community calendars, to register for astronomy conferences, to donate to the cause--I gotta get going!
Thanks for all you do to bring astronomy to the public, and for supporting our efforts to bring modern technology to the 2012 transit of Venus experience.
Chuck Bueter
NASA EDGE will be a leading venue for coverage of the 2012 transit of Venus. While the celestial event is predictable, the show and its hosts are not. In preparation for the transit, the NASA EDGE team has already been laying the foundation for fun and exciting coverage from a key astronomical site--Hawaii. Their promotional video anticipates live coverage from Hawaii, from which the 2012 transit will be visible from start to finish, as had been witnessed there in a previous century. 
Chuck
Feb 11
|00:00
Read more: Solar Dynamics Observatory to Witness the 2012 Transit of Venus
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