Thanks to skidbladnir for the tip. Scope Mount Stromlo are advising that you can safely view Wednesday’s last-chance-to see transit of Venus with them:
On the 6th of June 2012, the planet Venus will pass directly in front of our sun and will be visible in Australia from 8:15am until 2:45pm.
The transit of Venus became of historical significance in the 17th century when it was realised that when observers on different sides of the Earth viewed the transit, they could calculate the distance from the Earth to the Sun for the first time. In 1769 James Cook sailed to Tahiti to observe the transit and on his way back discovered Australia!
The Mt Stromlo Observatory invites the Canberra public to join our astronomers to view the transit of Venus. The observatory will have solar telescopes available to view through and will be hosting a series of public talks during the day.
In addition, Questacon will be hosting exciting science shows for local school students and doing rocket demonstrations here at Mt Stromlo.
Come along to the Mt Stromlo Observatory from 11am – 3pm and see the transit of Venus for yourself. If you miss out, you’ll need to wait until December 2117 for the next transit to occur.
Photo by NASA Goddard Photo and Video CC BY 2.0
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