Astronomers are interested in the transit of Venus, but I wondered about why? what is the scientific significance of Venus passing between Earth and the sun? What can we learn about the universe by observing it? For one thing, scientists are testing a prediction:
Today, astronomers hope that transits across other stars will aid the hunt for planets outside our Solar System. They should cause dips in stars' brightness that can be detected by sensitive orbiting telescopes. In a bid to prove this principle, astronomers at the European Space Agency will scrutinize next week's Venus transit for the predicted 0.0076% change in the Sun's intensity.More transit of Venus links:
Britain's National Maritime Museum has an exhibit Transit of Venus: the expeditions to measure the solar system which tells about the early attempts to estimate the size of the solar system by observing the transit of Venus from different places on earth.
Here's another resource in German: Venus Transit 2004 und die "Astronomische Einheit" - die Vermessung des Kosmos--eine Zusammenfassung [pdf -- English paraphrase of title: Venus Transit 2004 and the 'Astronomical Unit' - the measurement of the cosmos - a summary] by Dr. P. Sterzinger of the Kanzelhöhe Solar Observatory, University of Graz, Austria. Check out the other goodies to download in this directory at the Kanzelhöhe Solar Observatory [posters, press material, etc., all in German] Hmm... I just started downloading a massive pdf that will take 3 hours to download!??
I will not be able to view the event from the central US, but I'll try to post some pictures . . . there appear to be many places on the web to watch the transit of Venus live.
