[ASC-list] Transit of Venus

[Jayne Keane]

You are invited to a Talk in the Queensland Museum Theatre on the
Transit of Venus.

 

Senior Astrophysics Professor Dr Stephen Hughes will be presenting a
lecture Wednesday the 30th in the Museum Theatre at 2pm on the Transit
of Venus and its history with the voyage of Captain Cook. This is a
preliminary to another event next Wednesday.

 

On 6th June 2012, just before 8:30 am in Brisbane, a tiny dot will begin
crawling across the face of the Sun. This dot will be due to the planet
Venus passing directly between the Earth and Sun. Transits of Venus are
relatively rare events with the next transit not occurring until 2117,
so 6 June would be a good time to see it if you really want to see it.
This event will be of particular significance to Australians since the
reason Australia became part of the British Empire is because Cook was
sent to observe the transit of Venus in 1769 from the South Pacific
Island of Tahiti. This illustrated public lecture will explore the
historical background to Cook's voyage, explain the nature of transits
using computer simulations and discuss  how astronomers in Cook's day
hoped to use the observations to calculate the size of the solar system.


 

Dr Jayne Fenton Keane

Manager, Inspiring Australia (Qld)

Chair National Science Week (Qld)

Chair Qld Science Communicators Network

PO Box 3300  | South Brisbane  bc  | Queensland  | Australia

jayne.keane at qm.qld.gov.au

+61 7 38429220

http://www.innovation.gov.au/Science/InspiringAustralia/Pages/default.as
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