Celebrate the 
    Transit of Venus!    

Transit of Venus Main Observing Site 
is near the 
P-H-M Planetarium & Air/Space Museum
55860 Bittersweet Road
Mishawaka, IN 46545

(just north of Penn High School)

Sunrise    5:09 a.m. EST		Sun's altitude = zero degrees Sun's azimuth approx. 57 degrees (6:09 a.m. EDT, 5:09 a.m. CDT)
Third contact  6:05 a.m. EST		Sun's altitude approx. 8 degrees Sun's azimuth approx. 66 degrees (7:05 a.m. EDT, 6:05 a.m. CDT)
Fourth contact  6:25 a.m. EST		Sun's altitude approx. 12 degrees Sun's azimuth approx. 70 degrees (7:25 a.m. EDT, 6:25 a.m. CDT)

(Mercury, above and to right of sun, is shown along the ecliptic here for reference only.)

Look for the "black drop" effect, third contact, egress across the sun's limb, the halo from Venus' atmosphere, fourth contact, and Venus in the chromosphere (through H-alpha filter) before Venus  slips back into the darkness. 

Image courtesy of NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.

Thursday, June 3

5:00-7:00 p.m. 
Artists’ Reception at Glance Eyewear Gallery, 1639 N. Ironwood Dr., Suite 2, South Bend, IN.

Saturday, June 5

8:30-10:30 p.m. 
Matt Rumley, the featured musician on the Transit of Venus planetarium program, performs at The Pub, which serves Transit of Venus Sunrise Ale.  The Pub is located on the northwest corner of Grape Rd. and Cleveland Rd. (S.R. 23), behind the MFB Bank.  

Sunday, June 6

1:00 p.m. 
Transit of Venus program at the PHM Planetarium & Air/Space Museum, 55860 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, (in Bittersweet School); FREE and open to the public.

Monday, June 7 

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Transit of Venus Art Exhibit at Glance Eyewear Gallery; FREE and open to the public.

6:00 p.m
Transit of Venus program at the PHM Planetarium & Air/Space Museum; FREE and open to the public.

8:00 p.m. 
Transit of Venus program at the PHM Planetarium & Air/Space Museum; FREE and open to the public.

9:00 p.m. 
The Sky Tonight program at the PHM Planetarium & Air/Space Museum; FREE and open to the public.

9:30 p.m. 
Stargazing with telescopes at the Main Observing Site, north of the Penn High School tennis courts; FREE and open to the public.

12:00 Midnight 
Live webcast will track the progress of Venus transiting the sun; shown at the Main Observing Site, north of the Penn H.S. tennis courts; FREE and open to the public.

Tuesday, June 8

(At Main Observing Site, north of the Penn High School tennis courts;
FREE and open to the public.)

12:00 Midnight 
Live webcasts broadcast from Greece will feature the start of the transit until Venus is within the sun (First through Second Contacts).  Internet connection is courtesy of Comcast.

1:00 a.m. to 4:30 a.m.
Unofficial downtime…

4:30 a.m.
Public welcome to gather as telescope and equipment preparations resume.  Free solar shades and transit of Venus flyers, courtesy of Jordan Toyota, will be distributed while supplies last. 

Intermittent narration throughout the morning will describe ongoing events and will address questions from the audience.  A limited number of NASA posters, CDs, stickers, 3D postcards, and flyers will be given away during the program. 

Webcast images of the transit continue. 

5:10 a.m.
Sunrise

5:38 a.m. (approx.)
The sun clears the distant tree line to the east northeast. 

Solar-filtered telescopes are available for viewing a magnified image of Venus in transit in “white light.”  Look for sunspots.

A hydrogen-alpha telescope equipped with a camera will display the solar image on a monitor.  Look for solar prominences along the sun’s edge and notice granulation of the sun’s surface.

As Venus nears the edge of the sun, look for the notorious “Black Drop Effect,” when Venus appears to stretch out and to touch the edge of the sun. 

Tuesday, June 8
(continued)

6:05 a.m.
Third Contact occurs when Venus touches the inside edge of the sun.    A WWV time signal will allow observers to time the instant of third contact for global projects to measure the distance to the sun.  

After Venus has “pushed through” the limb of the sun, look for a halo of light around Venus that indicates the presence of an atmosphere.

6:25 a.m.
Fourth Contact occurs when Venus no longer touches the outside edge of the sun.  The transit of Venus is technically ended.

Note that Venus may still be visible briefly outside the edge of the sun through the
H-alpha telescope; look for a partial outline of Venus in front of prominences.

9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Transit of Venus Art Exhibit at Glance Eyewear Gallery, 1639 N. Ironwood Dr., Suite 2, South Bend, IN; FREE and open to the public.  The art exhibit, which features The Sun as Art from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, continues through June.

June 6, 2012

The next transit of Venus, at sunset.

Taken from Douglas Rd., east of Capital Ave.; 
June 9, 2003, at 5:25 a.m. EST.

Taken from Buckeye Rd., just south of Cleveland Rd.
June 9, 2003, at 5:30 a.m. EST.

Taken from Currant Rd., just north of Cleveland Rd.
June 9, 2003, at 5:35 a.m. EST.

Taken from the campus of University of Notre Dame, with "Touchdown Jesus" in the left foreground.
June 9, 2003, at 6:00 a.m. EST (near time of third contact in 2004).

This part of Indiana observes Eastern Standard Time (EST), which coincides with Central Daylight Time (CDT).  For insight into that elusive Hoosier Time (tongue-in-cheek called HT) see http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/f.html.  

     

Jeremiah Horrocks was the first person to record a transit of Venus.  A stained glass window in St. Michael Church (in Hoole, England) celebrating his 1639 achievement envisions Horrocks looking at a projection of the sun on a large sheet.  (Actually, it was a 6-inch sheet of paper, so allow for artistic license.)

Create your own stained glass window to commemorate the transit of Venus.  Print the black and white template on a sheet of paper or a clear transparency.  Design and color your own image and words.  Fasten the transparency version of your stained glass to a regular  window.  For ideas of what to draw in the stained glass circle (the roundel), see Things Round.   As an alternative, simply color the window with Horrocks (horrocks_bw4.jpg) and add your own words of celebration.  For historic phrases that could fill the stained glass banners, see Quotes.  

In subsequent centuries, new stained glass windows have been added to St. Michael Church.  See hoole.htm for windows and scenes.