It's pretty cloudy in Smyrna-Vinings, but there are other ways to watch the Transit of Venus.
The Transit of Venus is a once in a lifetime celestial event that won't happen again till 2117. But crummy weather in Smyrna-Vinings threatens to literally rain on Venus's parade. Weatherbug says there's a 45 percent chance of rain through the day, but even if we can't catch Venus's transit across the sun in person we don't have miss it altogether. NASA is streaming live webcasts of the event from 11 different observatories across the globe. Because the transit happens at different times for different locations, you can chose which broadcast to watch at your convenience. It's like TiVo for space.
You'll probably be dead the next time this happens, so watch it on Tuesday evening.
A little after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, residents of our area will have an opportunity to witness one of the rarest predictable celestial events: a transit of Venus. Often referred to as the "Evening Star" or "Morning Star," Venus is the brightest natural object in our sky after the Sun and the Moon. As the second planet from the Sun, it's closer to the Sun than the Earth is. A "transit" of Venus occurs when Venus passes between us and the Sun in such a way that we can see Venus's silhouette backlit by the Sun's brilliant light. It last happened in 2004, but it won't happen again until 2117. Unless you plan to shatter some human longevity records, this is probably your last chance. Were Venus either large enough or close enough to block out the…
Sydney Busby
9:14 am on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
It's pretty cloudy in Smyrna-Vinings today. Do you think the weather will clear up in time for the Transit of Venus? more ›