Facts
Creating the Pentagram of Venus
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=4nI3Ky8mhj8 Watch an animation of the Venus transit: http:// upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ c o m m o n s / 2 / 2 6 / Venus_transit_2012_animation.gi f Watch a live webcast of the event: http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/ 2012/transit/webcast.php Read more: http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/ 2012/articles/ttt_73.php An excellent website on Venus by Nick Anthony Firenza: http://www.lunarplanner.com/ HCpages/Venus.html
Astronomy
Although Venus and sun meet up every couple of years, we have only witnessed this event six times in recent human history. (History says that Jeremiah Horrocks was the first human to ever witness a transit by Venus in 1639. The next transit on June 5, 6 will be our seventh observance.) Our ability to view this celestial event depends on whether Venus is positioned between the earth and sun, or on the far side of the sun: Earth, Venus, Sun: referred to as an inferior or inside conjunction; begins the cycle Earth, Sun, Venus: referred to as a superior conjunction; the midpoint of the cycle Venus orbits the sun faster than the earth does and because of this speed difference, Venus orbits 2.6 times around the sun before earth and Venus line-up again. Every 583.92 days, a new Venus/Earth Synodic cycle begins. (Synod: place of meeting.) The Venus/Earth orbital 3/2 ratio replicates the perfect symmetry we know as the Golden Mean. The 2/3 ratio of a Venus day to an Earth year replicates the harmonic interval known as the perfect musical fifth (3.2), which is considered as the most universally harmonic consonant. This frequency is received as most pleasing sound to the ear, and evokes a pleasing/welcoming emotional response. Within the 243 year primary Venus transit cycle is a sub-cycle marked by two Venus alignments spread 8 years apart with lengthy gaps between each pair. The time interval between one pair of transits and the next occur in repeating order: 121.5 years, 105.5 years, 121.5 years, 105.5 years etc. The last Venus transit occurred on June 8, 2004, the prior pair occurred Dec 9, 1874 and Dec 6, 1882. Following the Venus transit on June 5, 6, 2012 we will not witness another pair of transits until Dec 10/11, 2017 and Dec 26, 2025. Last Pair Current Pair Next Pair Event: Dec 6, 1882 June 8, 2004 - June 5,6, 2012 Dec 10, 11, 2017 Interval (121.5 years) (8 years) (105.5 years)
The importance of this transit has not been lost on science. Because of this Venus transit, astronomers were first able to accurately measure our solar system..