Now! The Transit of Venus, Last Night

As mundane the image may be, it is so mind-blowing that the advances of science allows us to see our celestial clockwork like early astronomers could only dream about. (It seems this feed is on New Mexico time.)

While it would be nice to expound philosophically, let's review Monty Python's "Galaxy Song":

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at 900 miles an hour.
It's orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it's reckoned,
The sun that is the source of all our power.
Now the sun, and you and me, and all the stars that we can see,
Are moving at a million miles a day,
In the outer spiral arm, at 40,000 miles an hour,
Of a galaxy we call the Milky Way.

Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars;
It's a hundred thousand light-years side to side;
It bulges in the middle sixteen thousand light-years thick,
But out by us it's just three thousand light-years wide.
We're thirty thousand light-years from Galactic Central Point,
We go 'round every two hundred million years;
And our galaxy itself is one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.

Our universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding,
In all of the directions it can whiz;
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth;
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!

6/5: See the Transit of Venus

And there is cheap fun through Monday on the calendar.

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TUES 6/5

6pm to Sunset
The Transit of Venus
at the Surface of the Sun
FREE

It all depends on how interested you are about the machinations of our solar system, but this is a cool moment that won't happen again in your lifetime*.

As planetary orbits go Earthlings saw Venus pass across the Sun in 2004, and we are going to wait 105 years before it will happen again.

It should be visible from 6pm until the sun sets. If you go to the Transit of Venus site, there are various safe viewing ideas to general information as well as a free smartphone app.

Please don't stare at the sun! If it's cloudy BU and Harvard below offer a video feed of the event. (From a satellite?)

There are a few options to see it with some professional assistance:

- #1 -

Rooftop Viewing
at Phillips Auditorium, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, Cambridge (between Porter Sq and Fresh Pond)

They say:

Attendees don't need to bring anything. We will offer filtered telescopes, solar projection, and a limited number of eclipse viewer glasses.
Parking is available at 60 Garden Street, 160 Concord Avenue, and the lot on Bond Street between Garden Street and Concord Avenue.

From personal experience, there's a lot of room on the roof even if a big crowd shows up.

- #2 -

Boston University Viewing Options
at Coit Observatory, rooftop of 725 Comm Ave, Boston
at 3 locations along Comm Ave, Boston

They say:

To enable the most people to view the transit safely, BU astronomers will staff telescopes across BU’s campus.

Underneath the observatory in Room 522, there will be astronomical smarty-pants to chat about the planets, stars, dark matter, and whatever else you like. (And this is where the video feed will be shown.)

- #3 -

Museum of Science Viewing (RSVP Required)
on the Garage Roof, 1 Science Park, Boston

Registration is FULL.

They say:

A number of telescopes will be set up[...] equipped with solar filters for safe viewing.

There are very few spots left, so hurry and RSVP!

* With advancements in science, some of us could be alive in 2117 -- if some other cataclysmic event doesn't occur first.

3/14 & 3/15: Cheap Astronomy

Cheapness for Pi Day and the Ides of March are on the calendar.

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WED 3/14

7:30pm to 8:30pm
Astronomy Open Night
at Coit Observatory, 725 Comm Ave*, Boston (BU campus)
FREE


THUR 3/15

7:30pm to 8:30pm
Observatory Night: "Happy Anniversary, Henrietta"
at Phillips Auditorium, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, Cambridge (between Porter Sq and Fresh Pond)
FREE

The forecast doesn't bode well for optimal gazing at heavenly bodies over the next 2 nights, but Venus and Jupiter (and Mars in the other direction) are looking rather bright at the moment.

They're visible by the naked eye, but it might be more interesting with a good telescope -- and someone to point it for you. Since they're all in the solar system, the detail should be rather good.

BU and Harvard have monthly observatory nights, and it seems they don't mind that students are on Spring Break at both schools.

This type of celestial activity often brings out the more of the general public, however the crowd will likely have fewer students.

It all depends on *IF* the clouds cooperate tonight and/or tomorrow.

The Coit Observatory at BU has a Twitter account to let you know if "systems are a go". At Harvard, there is usually a lecture whether or not sky conditions are right. For example, Henrietta Leavitt was a Harvard astronomer whose work 100 years ago is still the basis on how we measure distances and ages of stars

* The stairwell to the Coit Observatory is "on the fifth floor right next to room 520."