Transit of Venus is happening today

[Adam]

All,

Venus will transit the sun today, with the next occurrence being in 115 years. It will be visible to most of us (see PDF image here).

You can check it out online at the following link from NASA by reloading the page to get the latest image.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Meh, I'm busy.I'll catch it next time...

 

[markw]

Now, if this was being done by New Jersey Transit, you can bet it would be late.

 

[j_garcia]

I thought that already happened last month? There was video...hmmm

 

[Adam]

Venus is almost all the way across on the NASA feed. So, catch it now if you want to see it "live."

 

[majorloser]

Watching paint dry was more exciting than the NASA coverage.

 

[racquetman]

Watching paint dry was more exciting than the NASA coverage.

Out of curiosity, how exactly do you make this exciting?

Personally, I have been trying to figure out why people were excited about this. It's a black circle moving across a big yellow circle!!

I understand the lunar eclipse as that is relatively dramatic, but not this one.

 

[jamie2112]

I am a turtle kind of guy myself....

 

[majorloser]

Out of curiosity, how exactly do you make this exciting?

Personally, I have been trying to figure out why people were excited about this. It's a black circle moving across a big yellow circle!!

I understand the lunar eclipse as that is relatively dramatic, but not this one.

I just figured they'd have some images from the Hubble or zoomed in a little. Not just a little black blob moving across the sun.

I am a turtle kind of guy myself....

You still here? I thought you left.

 

[racquetman]

I just figured they'd have some images from the Hubble or zoomed in a little. Not just a little black blob moving across the sun.

Maybe this will be more to your liking:

NASA | SDO's Ultra-high Definition View of 2012 Venus Transit - YouTube

 

[Adam]

Personally, I have been trying to figure out why people were excited about this. It's a black circle moving across a big yellow circle!!

Granted, it's not that visually stunning...but astronomically, it's pretty cool. It was originally used to calculate the distance from the Earth to the sun. People went to extreme measures to observe this event hundreds of years ago to be able to make that calculation. Nowadays, it's easy to see.

 

[10010011]

Out of curiosity, how exactly do you make this exciting?

Personally, I have been trying to figure out why people were excited about this. It's a black circle moving across a big yellow circle!!

I understand the lunar eclipse as that is relatively dramatic, but not this one.

Well the fact that this will never happen again for over 100 years it is a once in a lifetime event makes it exciting.

But you have to have seen it in person, not "on TV" or a webcast.

My wife and I went to Paris to see the last one and we participated in a public event with our local astronomy club this time.

 

[Adam]

Another picture from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day today. Pretty cool, I think.