Community Corner
Watch Venus Block a Small Part of the Sun Tuesday
You can look at the Transit of Venus 2012 Tuesday evening at Eastern and Villanova universities.
Venus will pass between earth and the sun Tuesday night a little after 6 p.m.
It last happened in 2004, but it won't happen again until 2117.
Assuming sufficiently clear skies, the transit will be visible for us starting at about 6:04 p.m. and will remain so until the sun sets.
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Local Places to Watch
Although the Bradstreet Observatory at is closed all summer due to renovations in the building, there will be three small telescopes set up between the school's soccer field and the gym for anyone to look through who wants to show up from 5:45 to 8:00 p.m.
Find out what's happening in Radnorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
People can just show up near Eastern's gymnasium and they'll be able to find Dr. David Bradstreet and others by the soccer field. No reservations are required. The actual transit starts around 6:03 p.m., and they'll keep watching it (weather permitting) until the sun sinks behind the trees around 8 p.m., according to Bradstreet.
Weather permitting, 's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics is setting up telescopes on the top of the Law School Parking garage this evening for the Transit of Venus. This will take place from around 6 p.m. through sunset.
How to Watch
Never look directly at the sun with your naked eyes. You can damage your eyes. Likewise, viewing the sun with either binoculars or a telescope can direct the sun's magnified rays directly into your eyeball and cause serious injury―think about what happens to ants under a magnifying glass.
Sunglasses do not provide sufficient protection. If you know someone who works in plumbing or construction, ask them if they have any #14 welder's glass. You can look directly at the sun through this material without risking injury.
Regional Places to Watch
The Delaware Valley Amateur Astronomers and the Upper Merion Township Library are each offering viewing events in Montgomery County.
- Colonial Middle School, 716 Belvoir Road, Plymouth Meeting. Go to the rear of the school, near the ballfield.
- IMAX United Artist Movie Theater, 300 Goddard Blvd, King of Prussia. Go to the parking lot west of the theater.
The Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society, in partnership with the DaVinci Science Center, will host a public viewing of the "Transit of Venus" on Tuesday.
Though it's not quite the same as viewing the phenomenon in person, there are several places to watch the transit of Venus online:
- The Slooh Space Camera will offer an 8-hour webcast of the transit that includes real-time video feeds from 10 telescopes around the world.
- Astronomers Without Borders will carry a video stream of the transit from the Mount Wilson Observatory in California.
- NASA will offer a live video feed from Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii with expert commentary.
- The San Francisco Exploratorium will host an online video stream from the Mauna Loa telescope in Hawaii.
Lastly, there's Don Pettit, an astronaut currently aboard the International Space Station. Pettit's not doing a video feed, but he will become the first person to ever photograph a transit of Venus from outer space.
Do you plan to watch? Are you excited about this once in a lifetime event? Tell us in the comments.
