From: TerryMosel
aol.com
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 20:10:13 EDT
Subject: Next Venus Transits
Hi all,
OK, OK, I'm not being pessimistic, but I just thought I'd check local details
for susequent transits. Just out of curiosity.....
You probably all know that the next one will be on 6 June 2012, and that it
will be partly visible from Ireland. But how partly is partly? - Not much, I'm
afraid!
I haven't done any actual calculations, but I've run SkyMap Pro ( v. 8.0) for
that date, and it shows the transit ending at about 04.48 UT! The Sun rises
at 03.50 UT, so it's nearly over by sunrise.... In fact, the Sun's altitude
(Belfast) is only about 6 degrees at the time of 4th contact! And it will be only
a few degrees as 3rd contact begins. Not much good, I'm afraid.....
The next transit, on 11 December 2117 (well, I can hope, can't I?) is also
generally quoted as being partly visible from UK/Ireland. But unless SkyMap is
surprisingly inaccurate over such an interval, that one WON'T be visible from
these isles. It shows the transit ending at about 05.37, which is well before
Sunrise even in SE England!
Can anyone else confirm these rough details?
The next Transit which IS supposed to be completely visible from here is on
11 June 2247. So I checked that one too. SkyMap shows a Transit start at about
08.54, and ending at about 14.12, so that one WOULD be totally visible from
here. So it seems that SkyMap is OK for that one.
So what's the story about the one in 2117? - Is it visible from UK/Ireland or
not? - Over to the orbital dynamicists......
Terry Moseley
