Written By:
Anthony R0bins - Date published:
10:33 am, June 6th, 2012 - 7 comments
Categories: science -
Tags: astronomy, captain cook, geekery, venus
The transit of Venus, as visible from NZ, got underway at about 10:15am, and should continue until around 4:43pm. If the cloud cover in your part of the country allows you a view, it’s probably your last chance to see this rare astronomical event (the next transit is not until 2117). If you do plan to have a look, mind your eyes, hints on ways to view safely are here. If you can’t take a look in person, there’s always the live webcast of course…
There’s a historical connection with NZ of course. The main purpose of Captain Cook’s voyage from 1768 to 1771 was to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from the Pacific. He went on to visit and map parts of Australia and New Zealand, and brought these “new” lands to the attention of Europe…
The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.
http://venustransit.nasa.gov/transitofvenus/
There’s a series of lectures that Radio NZ recorded back in 2004 from the first pair of transits. They’re very wide ranging lectures, covering the geological history of NZ, the history of scientific endeavour just to view the transits (including Cook’s voyage to Tahiti and NZ) and the way ancient peoples used astronomy as a way of tracking time and important events (a calendar).
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/lecturesandforums/transitofvenusarchives
I saw it for a couple of minutes and it was amazing. Sadly the clouds are too thick now so I guess that was it for me. I don’t think I’ll forget it anytime soon.
Cloud cover did not allow me to see anything! đ
However, thankfully, lots of people on Facebook put some great photos on!
I got up just before dawn and got a picture here in Oman http://omanholiday.co.uk/blog/index.php/transit-of-venus-from-oman/
Video of the transit
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