Today’s transit of Venus: The sight of a lifetime

I’ve been preoccupied with the Venus transit and sometimes forget there are other things happening in the sky. Last night the rising moon brought this to my attention. Like an unexpected gift, it stood beautifully orange and oval last night … Continue reading →

The full moon rises over a hotel on Duluth's Park Point last night at 9:45 p.m. Photo: Bob King
I’ve been preoccupied with the Venus transit and sometimes forget there are other things happening in the sky. Last night the rising moon brought this to my attention. Like an unexpected gift, it stood beautifully orange and oval last night when I left work for home. Of course I had to change course and stop and enjoy the view.
Edmond Halley
In yesterday’s blog we looked at things to watch for during today’s passage of Venus across the sun. You might wonder if a transit is still of any scientific interest. It was Edmund Halley of Halley’s Comet fame who first suggested that Venus transits could help us determine Earth’s distance from the sun.
Back in the early 18th century astronomers using Kepler’s laws of planetary motion could only determine the relative distances of the planets from ...