Transit of Venus
6th June 2012
Canossa online
John Williams relished being a member of the British Astronomical Association. His last act before leaving home for the hospice where he died was to complete a computer program. This was an implementation in Fortran to run on a PC of an existing algorithm to calculate important points in the orbits of Venus and Mars. To this author's knowledge, the programme is still used in the production of the BAA Handbook.
In 2012, one of these important orbital points will be unusual. The closest approach of Venus to the Sun will be so close that the planet will pass in front of it, an event known as a transit. The program, and therefore also the handbook, predicts this event for 6th June 2012, which will be exactly ten years since John Williams' death.
Transits are fascinating events to observe, but require care. Serious precautions are needed before looking towards the sun. The BAA can advise about suitable equipment. For the most recent transit, they supplied this author with a plastic-and-cardboard viewer from Thousand Oaks Optical Ltd for little over a pound. It is not worth damaging your eyesight even for an event this rare, especially when damage is easily avoided and you see better through the viewer than without it.
Please enjoy the event, take some trouble to find out about why a transit is important to astronomers, and while you watch it, spare an anniversary thought for John Williams.
