Robert's Blog 6/5/2012
Updated: June 5, 2012
It seems that whenever there is a cool astronomical happening, we can count on cloudy skies preventing us from seeing it here in central Illinois. That's not the case today. Late this afternoon, Venus will pass between the Earth and the Sun, in an event called a transit. The setup is similar to a solar eclipse, but Venus is too far away to really block the solar disc.
The event will be visible around sunset for us, but the best view will be in the south Pacific. DO NOT look directly at the Sun to try and see this- you could cause permanent damage to your eyes, including blindness. The event will be streamed online, and Parkland College will have special telescopes set up for viewing the transit. If you can, try and get a look at this, it won't happen again until 2117!
The event will be visible around sunset for us, but the best view will be in the south Pacific. DO NOT look directly at the Sun to try and see this- you could cause permanent damage to your eyes, including blindness. The event will be streamed online, and Parkland College will have special telescopes set up for viewing the transit. If you can, try and get a look at this, it won't happen again until 2117!
