October 16, 2011
Dear all,
Even though it’s still more than 230 days before the transit of Venus, one can notice only from the number of talks at conferences and the launch of new projects that we are becoming closer and closer. In this newsletter we’ll look back at the exciting things that happened in the first half of October.
Our Last Transit of Venus – teaser for documentary film
Last Saturday filmmaker Maarten Roos released a teaser for his documentary film on the 2012 transit of Venus. For this film, Maarten is going to follow three groups of people, preparing for the transit of Venus. First, a group of amateurs and professionals that plan to observe the transit with antique telescopes from the 18th and 19th century. This experimental archaeology project is part of our website. Next, the classrooms and amateurs worldwide that will participate in our Measure the Sun’s Distance project. Using the free phone app, they will time the moments of contact, from which the distance to the Sun can be derived. Finally, professional scientists who will observe the transit to study the atmosphere of Venus or to calibrate their methods for finding exoplanets. You can watch the beautiful 6-minute teaser at http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/2011/10/15/our-last-transit-of-venus/ or http://vimeo.com/channels/ourlasttransitofvenus
Talks at DPS-EPSC meeting (Nantes, France) and CAP 2011 (Beijing, China)
At two conferences, held in the last two weeks, different talks were devoted to the transit of Venus. At the DPS-EPSC meeting in Nantes, France (2-7 October) scientists Paolo Tanga, Jean-Eudes Arlot, Jay Pasachoff and Louis Mayo presented their own plans and explained which educational opportunities the transit has to offer. All four talks were video taped and can be viewed at http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/2011/10/16/four-giants-talk-about-transits/.
A week later, at the Communicating Astronomy with the Public (CAP) meeting in Beijing, China (10-14 October), Mike Simmons presented the transit of Venus programme of Astronomers Without Borders, entitled “A Global Education Program of Collaboration in Astronomical experiments”. You can read more about this exciting programme at http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/2011/10/12/a-yearlong-of-classroom-projects/ and http://transitofvenus.nl/files/AWB-Poster.pdf
Sun-Earth Day 2012 launched
Last Thursday, NASA launched the 2012 edition of its annual Sun-Earth Day. This flagship educational project popularises heliophysics and this year’s theme centres around the transit of Venus. On the accompanying website, educators can find lesson plans and public outreach specialists can get program ideas; scientists are called to be involved. The project culminates with the transit of Venus, an event NASA will cover live from Hawai’i. Make sure to visit http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/
New map showing visibility of 2012 transit of Venus
Michael Zeiler produced a wonderful new map for the 2012 transit of Venus: http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/2011/10/14/mapping-next-years-transit/ The map shows where the the transit of Venus will be visible and also explains the basic parameters of the event. In plain language that can be understood by lay people, the map makes clear where to be and what to watch for. You will see Zeiler’s excellent work not only at our website, but on other websites and in magazines as well (January issue of Sky & Telescope, for example). I encourage you to take a look at his website www.eclipse-maps.com
Test run of phone app
The phone app that classrooms and amateurs around the world will use to time the exact moments of interior contact and submit their measurements to our international database, will be tested in November or December. For this test run, we are still seeking volunteers who would like to test this basic version and give us suggestions for improvement. If you would like to participate in this test run, just contact Steven van Roode at s.vanroode@transitofvenus.nl
I invite you to follow us on Twitter or to join our group on Facebook to keep in touch with other transit enthusiasts. If this email was forwarded to you, and you too would like to receive our monthly newsletter, just send an email to info@transitofvenus.nl and we’ll keep you in the loop.