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the last one was less than a decade ago

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before then

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and the next time

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it'll be 2117

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when few if any of us will be alive to

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see it

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among the most rare and predictable

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celestial events the sight of the planet

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venus slowly trekking across the face of

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the sun

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has been witnessed by humans only 53

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times since 2000 years bc

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what about the heavens have these

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phenomena taught us

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and what else might we discover about

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our place in the universe during these

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the venus transit 2012

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almost four hours into our 2012 venus

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transit you're looking at a live picture

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a live feed from norway cameras there of

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the venus transit you can see of course

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that dot

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across the sun the face of the sun and

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uh we've got about two hours and 45

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minutes left but for now let's come back

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here

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alphyberg nasa tv

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dwayne brown our science mission

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directorate lead public affairs officer

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in the office of communications and with

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us our planetary division uh director

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for nasa dr jim green uh we've got a lot

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of cool stuff to show you in the next

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few minutes we're going to go halfway

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around the world in a couple of minutes

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but first we're gonna go over to our our

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media maven our social media maven mr

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jason townsend who's got some really

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cool stuff to show us jason

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hi everybody how's everybody doing we're

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we're more than halfway through now at

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this point and we've got a couple of

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things that we wanted to share with you

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uh first up you know if you're following

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at nasa underscore sdo the solar

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dynamics observatory they are releasing

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images up there uh we've just got the

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latest one coming in um which shows it

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about halfway through if then we uh are

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also getting some video in from seo and

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this is really really cool stuff i mean

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this is some awesome video if we can

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if we can roll on the video here uh it's

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available on youtube we've tweeted it

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out it's on at nasa here it is and uh

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you can see this the venus is coming

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into the sun here for ingress

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it's going to cut away here in just a

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second to a what much wider shot so you

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can see the uh half the sun there and

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then

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it's gonna finish with the full disc

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here and so on so it's absolutely

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wonderful wonderful video coming in from

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uh

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the solar dynamics observatory other

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thing that we've got going on here we've

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got uh new images that people are

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uploading to our flickr group so if

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you're taking photos out there make sure

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to share them on flickr if you search on

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flickr for the group venus transit you

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can put your images up there here's a

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couple of the ones that we've got from

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that group

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first up

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got a wonderful picture of uh the sun

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with venus uh just beginning to appear

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there with a little bit of you know

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cloudiness the next one we've got going

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on here is a wonderful wonderful zoomed

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in view here that another user took on

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flickr and then our our final shot here

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is a different way of looking at the sun

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in that it's being um focused onto a

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piece of paper here so you're not

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actually staring at it remember if

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you're online or you are

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out looking at the venus transit to make

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sure you're doing it safely one of the

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big questions that we've been having is

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where can we just get pictures live of

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this so we've got tons of webcams from

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all over the globe if you check out

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venustransit.nasa.gov

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you can see all of those that are out

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there but make sure you're following

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along joining the conversation using the

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hashtag poundvenustransit

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so that's what we've got right now

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cooking on social media follow along

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with us on nasa nasa on facebook and

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nasa on google plus and we're going to

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turn it back over to these guys now

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thank you jason and gentlemen we are now

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going to go halfway around the world

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actually the other side of the world

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where it is probably close to one or two

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o'clock tomorrow afternoon in alice

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springs northern territory

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australia uh is michael johnson there

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the weather looks very nice out there

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those kids are from the centralia middle

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school springs welcome

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to from australia we're here it's now

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almost 11 30. we've just gone past the

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midpoint of the transit here i'm in

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beautiful alice springs uh australia

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here in the northern territory behind me

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i have students from centralian middle

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school who have been hosting us all week

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for activities say hi guys hi

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my name's phil

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there's bill and bob hey we're

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we picked us australia here for two

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reasons the first one was is that we can

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actually see the entire transit

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the second one was because of the

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weather it is absolutely gorgeous right

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now weather it's towards their their uh

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southern winter it's the temperatures

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perfect

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except this morning we had clouds so if

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you were watching our feed a little bit

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this morning you saw a little bit of

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clouds but there is just a few clouds in

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the sky and we are set up for an

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absolutely gorgeous first and second

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contact

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i

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want to let you know that we have been

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working with students all week we've

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been teaching them lessons we've been

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talking about what is a transit

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we've been showing them how to uh

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a little bit about the parallax angle so

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let me tell you a little bit about that

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now if you know that we actually measure

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the distance to the sun by using a

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parallax angle so we have two different

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positions that were on our expedition we

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have one in the gopi desert and one here

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in australia with these guys yeah again

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see with these guys here

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if you go ahead and take your thumb

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and place it out to an object far away

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and cover it close one eye and cover it

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and then blink back and forth

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you'll notice that your thumb will

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actually move position to where you can

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actually see the object well knowing

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that distance there we can actually do

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some trigonometry and find out the

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distance to the to the sun from the

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earth now that's already been done

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before so why do we want to redo it

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again well what's the best part of

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science replicating our data making sure

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that everything we do

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is consistently correct

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because if hey if we find something

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something wrong this time which i don't

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think we will

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but you know hey there may be something

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different we're looking our cameras

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right now you see this telescope is

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actually a calcium telescope so it's

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looking at the sun in the element of

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calcium in the in the uh

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in the scope

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what's really interesting is i don't

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know what's going to happen at third and

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fourth contact with that atmosphere some

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of you were watching before and you saw

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the with the nice hydrogen alpha you saw

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the the

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atmosphere of venus reflecting around

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and you saw the the black drop effect

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well that was all in kind of what's

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called a hydrogen alpha so it's looking

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at hydrogen this one's looking at

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calcium and since we missed it this

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morning i don't know what's going to

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happen with that black drop effect with

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that i'm hoping it's all the same it may

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be cooler i don't know that's the

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mystery of science

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again we're still we're here at alice

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springs check out our website for other

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for our other streams uh you can see

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stay tuned here on this webcast for uh

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updates and things i i'll come up to

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take a look at some of the other sites

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when you look at the other sites look at

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something in particular look at where

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the sun is or where venus is crossing

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the sun in each one i bet you that's a

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it's a little bit different also look at

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the time

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we're planning on it our exit our egress

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starts about 157 here in uh in alice

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springs in other places it actually

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happens a little bit later well when

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when you think of why it does that well

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it's because we're looking from all

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different angles and again those angles

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are how we measure those distances ready

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to wrap all right

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i'm glad you guys have joined us from

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alice springs one more time say bye from

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but uh you like our feed

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michael johnson from the coca-cola space

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science center columbus state university

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in georgia with the centralian middle

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school students in alice springs

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northern territory australia

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uh great time down there

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a lot of fun you know we're gonna uh

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we're joined again as we said earlier

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about with jim green but i want to send

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a shout out to all the nasa centers who

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have been participating holding events

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and clearly this thing and this this

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event is worldwide but at nasa centers

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across the country and all kinds of

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things going on they're doing some great

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things and if you guys are listening out

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there and i'm sure you are great job and

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uh we still have uh a lot more to go

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before we end up um jim

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a couple of things on what people are

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saying we in the previous segment we saw

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the little black dot

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uh explain to folks because uh when the

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when the um the telescopes look at the

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sun it's like flipped or there's

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something going on there where the dots

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should be here but it's there explain

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what what's going on in that situation

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well

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telescopes are a little bit different

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than binoculars you know with binoculars

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you can look through them and everything

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looks right it just looks magnified but

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with telescopes they actually

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flip things

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and that's why uh venus as it entered

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the disc wasn't exactly where everyone

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thought it was in addition to that as

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telescopes are are also rigged up with

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cameras and other types of feeds and

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they have a certain orientation and they

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track

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uh the sun across the sky

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then they're not actually looking at the

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sun

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and its rotational axis so sometimes

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north and south on the sun would exactly

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be north and south as you see it

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so when you look at the venus transit

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you have to really compare it to things

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like what sdo is is observing and

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posting that's uh that that's all been

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rectified and it looks beautiful

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you can also look at the set of sunspots

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the sunspots because we're going up to

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solar maximum

278
00:11:36,150 --> 00:11:34,240
increase

279
00:11:37,910 --> 00:11:36,160
and there there's typically a line of

280
00:11:40,310 --> 00:11:37,920
those sunspots

281
00:11:42,470 --> 00:11:40,320
at a certain latitude both in the

282
00:11:45,110 --> 00:11:42,480
northern and southern hemisphere and as

283
00:11:47,350 --> 00:11:45,120
you get down to solar maximum the

284
00:11:51,190 --> 00:11:47,360
latitude of those sunspots get closer

285
00:11:54,470 --> 00:11:51,200
and closer to about 20 or 15 degrees

286
00:11:57,110 --> 00:11:54,480
latitude on the sun and so consequently

287
00:11:59,590 --> 00:11:57,120
you don't really see sunspots along the

288
00:12:02,069 --> 00:11:59,600
equator so you add all those things up

289
00:12:04,870 --> 00:12:02,079
and you can actually tell and predict

290
00:12:06,310 --> 00:12:04,880
the orientation of the sun you can see

291
00:12:08,790 --> 00:12:06,320
how the

292
00:12:11,350 --> 00:12:08,800
optical systems have flipped it and then

293
00:12:13,750 --> 00:12:11,360
you can say okay venus is going to go

294
00:12:16,870 --> 00:12:13,760
from one side to another and then watch

295
00:12:18,790 --> 00:12:16,880
it over time and indeed that confirms uh

296
00:12:21,590 --> 00:12:18,800
uh actually what's going on with those

297
00:12:25,590 --> 00:12:21,600
particular images jim let's go right now

298
00:12:28,389 --> 00:12:25,600
to this image which is correct if i am

299
00:12:30,790 --> 00:12:28,399
correct this is our first look at mount

300
00:12:32,870 --> 00:12:30,800
wilson from mount wilson observatory in

301
00:12:35,750 --> 00:12:32,880
california in the angelis national

302
00:12:38,870 --> 00:12:35,760
forest in california 60 inch telescope

303
00:12:40,550 --> 00:12:38,880
and this is the venus transit 2012 live

304
00:12:42,150 --> 00:12:40,560
from that perspective we see some

305
00:12:44,150 --> 00:12:42,160
sunspots over to the right there's

306
00:12:46,629 --> 00:12:44,160
sunspots way over to the right but what

307
00:12:49,829 --> 00:12:46,639
you notice more than anything else is a

308
00:12:52,629 --> 00:12:49,839
lot of the atmospheric turbulence okay

309
00:12:55,829 --> 00:12:52,639
so this must be late in the day so we

310
00:12:58,790 --> 00:12:55,839
must be seeing the rising air currents

311
00:13:01,670 --> 00:12:58,800
that's uh moving up in the in

312
00:13:04,150 --> 00:13:01,680
in our view and consequently it changes

313
00:13:06,230 --> 00:13:04,160
the index of refraction

314
00:13:07,990 --> 00:13:06,240
but all it does really is move those

315
00:13:10,870 --> 00:13:08,000
images around a little bit so we don't

316
00:13:13,509 --> 00:13:10,880
really see a very crisp nice beautiful

317
00:13:15,910 --> 00:13:13,519
black dot the venus would be nor do we

318
00:13:17,670 --> 00:13:15,920
see exactly the sunspots the way they

319
00:13:20,790 --> 00:13:17,680
they would appear they don't really move

320
00:13:22,949 --> 00:13:20,800
like that now just does that affect our

321
00:13:25,190 --> 00:13:22,959
gathering of scientific data yes

322
00:13:26,230 --> 00:13:25,200
actually it does it changes our timing a

323
00:13:28,150 --> 00:13:26,240
little bit

324
00:13:31,910 --> 00:13:28,160
uh that's why one of the reasons why we

325
00:13:34,470 --> 00:13:31,920
do want to observe it uh off this planet

326
00:13:37,350 --> 00:13:34,480
and in fact don pettit is in the space

327
00:13:39,030 --> 00:13:37,360
station observing it now and and so he

328
00:13:41,189 --> 00:13:39,040
won't have any of the atmospheric

329
00:13:42,550 --> 00:13:41,199
effects that we have on the ground

330
00:13:44,949 --> 00:13:42,560
now what we've been doing is

331
00:13:48,389 --> 00:13:44,959
accumulating a lot of these images many

332
00:13:51,269 --> 00:13:48,399
of that we possibly can on our website

333
00:13:53,910 --> 00:13:51,279
venustransit.nasa.gov

334
00:13:55,829 --> 00:13:53,920
and uh what we'd like to do over time is

335
00:13:58,069 --> 00:13:55,839
be able to use that data that's come in

336
00:14:00,389 --> 00:13:58,079
from many different sources now yeah

337
00:14:02,150 --> 00:14:00,399
that's a beautiful one that's from sdo

338
00:14:04,150 --> 00:14:02,160
see that's just beautiful

339
00:14:06,710 --> 00:14:04,160
it's very close to white light if

340
00:14:08,389 --> 00:14:06,720
meaning how you would observe it if if

341
00:14:10,790 --> 00:14:08,399
you were at the right location at the

342
00:14:13,110 --> 00:14:10,800
moment seeing this but what's really

343
00:14:15,829 --> 00:14:13,120
spectacular about this one you know

344
00:14:18,389 --> 00:14:15,839
though it's very simple you see this you

345
00:14:20,550 --> 00:14:18,399
see the beautiful venus which is really

346
00:14:22,790 --> 00:14:20,560
look like it's carved out

347
00:14:25,110 --> 00:14:22,800
uh the light from the sun it's really

348
00:14:28,069 --> 00:14:25,120
blocked it well but then compare that

349
00:14:31,189 --> 00:14:28,079
against the sun spots you see the the

350
00:14:34,230 --> 00:14:31,199
dark area that's called the umbra of the

351
00:14:36,949 --> 00:14:34,240
sunspot and then around that is the

352
00:14:38,949 --> 00:14:36,959
penumbra and that is

353
00:14:40,629 --> 00:14:38,959
not quite as dark and that tells you

354
00:14:43,910 --> 00:14:40,639
this that gives you a great idea what

355
00:14:46,230 --> 00:14:43,920
the structure of the sunspots are how

356
00:14:48,310 --> 00:14:46,240
big would that sunspot be well if i if

357
00:14:51,350 --> 00:14:48,320
you took the earth and you actually

358
00:14:53,430 --> 00:14:51,360
moved it all the way to the sun

359
00:14:56,150 --> 00:14:53,440
yes any one of those little bitty

360
00:14:58,389 --> 00:14:56,160
sunspots off to the side would be about

361
00:15:00,470 --> 00:14:58,399
the size of the earth really so yeah so

362
00:15:02,389 --> 00:15:00,480
that larger one that's enormous that's

363
00:15:04,550 --> 00:15:02,399
much bigger than the earth

364
00:15:06,790 --> 00:15:04,560
uh and in fact

365
00:15:09,189 --> 00:15:06,800
we're coming towards solar maximum now

366
00:15:11,829 --> 00:15:09,199
so we would expect to see more and more

367
00:15:14,069 --> 00:15:11,839
magnetic activity we would expect to see

368
00:15:17,030 --> 00:15:14,079
bigger and larger sunspots

369
00:15:19,269 --> 00:15:17,040
and about every other cycle

370
00:15:20,389 --> 00:15:19,279
some of these sunspots get to be so

371
00:15:23,110 --> 00:15:20,399
enormous

372
00:15:25,829 --> 00:15:23,120
that they could rival the size of that

373
00:15:27,750 --> 00:15:25,839
projected image of venus on the sun and

374
00:15:29,749 --> 00:15:27,760
those are just enormous and that's why

375
00:15:31,749 --> 00:15:29,759
when you have the glasses

376
00:15:34,629 --> 00:15:31,759
even even though you may use these

377
00:15:37,030 --> 00:15:34,639
during venus transit you can use these

378
00:15:39,590 --> 00:15:37,040
anytime so you can really look at the

379
00:15:42,389 --> 00:15:39,600
sun particularly around solar maximum

380
00:15:44,629 --> 00:15:42,399
and you might be able to see sunspots

381
00:15:46,790 --> 00:15:44,639
nearly the size of the projected image

382
00:15:47,670 --> 00:15:46,800
of venus that we see here now

383
00:15:50,150 --> 00:15:47,680
and

384
00:15:50,949 --> 00:15:50,160
to keep things in perspective literally

385
00:15:52,150 --> 00:15:50,959
yeah

386
00:15:55,350 --> 00:15:52,160
venus

387
00:15:56,790 --> 00:15:55,360
is not nearly as big in actuality as

388
00:15:58,870 --> 00:15:56,800
those sunspots

389
00:16:01,350 --> 00:15:58,880
oh yeah venus is itty bitty compared to

390
00:16:04,389 --> 00:16:01,360
those if you move venus all the way to

391
00:16:07,269 --> 00:16:04,399
the sun now venus is like two-thirds of

392
00:16:10,629 --> 00:16:07,279
an astronomical unit you know we're one

393
00:16:13,509 --> 00:16:10,639
a you away that's 93 million miles venus

394
00:16:16,069 --> 00:16:13,519
is more like 67 million miles away from

395
00:16:18,389 --> 00:16:16,079
the sun so if you moved uh

396
00:16:20,870 --> 00:16:18,399
venus to the sun it would shrink and

397
00:16:22,550 --> 00:16:20,880
shrink and shrink and become

398
00:16:24,870 --> 00:16:22,560
about the size of one of those little

399
00:16:25,990 --> 00:16:24,880
bitty dots that that that are associated

400
00:16:27,829 --> 00:16:26,000
with that bigger

401
00:16:29,189 --> 00:16:27,839
sunspot here we're back at mount wilson

402
00:16:30,629 --> 00:16:29,199
with a wide shot you can see everybody

403
00:16:32,150 --> 00:16:30,639
with their telescopes they are they're

404
00:16:33,749 --> 00:16:32,160
enjoying that view i wonder if we can

405
00:16:34,790 --> 00:16:33,759
put on our glasses now would we say

406
00:16:37,189 --> 00:16:34,800
anything

407
00:16:39,269 --> 00:16:37,199
it'd be pretty dark they're designed to

408
00:16:41,990 --> 00:16:39,279
be that way by the way because the sun

409
00:16:43,670 --> 00:16:42,000
is indeed quite intense it's one of the

410
00:16:45,910 --> 00:16:43,680
reasons why you don't even want to look

411
00:16:48,389 --> 00:16:45,920
at it with your naked eye

412
00:16:49,990 --> 00:16:48,399
sometimes late in the late in the day

413
00:16:52,710 --> 00:16:50,000
you know where there's a lot of smog you

414
00:16:55,189 --> 00:16:52,720
might look and and and you know see see

415
00:16:57,509 --> 00:16:55,199
the sun but in reality you should avoid

416
00:16:59,189 --> 00:16:57,519
doing that it's uh it can be harmful to

417
00:17:01,829 --> 00:16:59,199
your to your eyesight

418
00:17:04,630 --> 00:17:01,839
and jim um take us back a little bit a

419
00:17:07,270 --> 00:17:04,640
little history lesson here being head of

420
00:17:09,270 --> 00:17:07,280
the planetary division and um the year

421
00:17:11,350 --> 00:17:09,280
of the solar system but you guys have

422
00:17:13,189 --> 00:17:11,360
been studying venus for many years can

423
00:17:15,110 --> 00:17:13,199
you give us a quick snapshot of the

424
00:17:16,789 --> 00:17:15,120
first mission of venus to the president

425
00:17:17,510 --> 00:17:16,799
and we've learned yeah i'll be delighted

426
00:17:19,029 --> 00:17:17,520
to

427
00:17:21,829 --> 00:17:19,039
in fact you know at the dawn of the

428
00:17:23,750 --> 00:17:21,839
space age right after sputnik uh you

429
00:17:25,590 --> 00:17:23,760
know this uh this nation

430
00:17:28,069 --> 00:17:25,600
and this and the soviet union decided

431
00:17:30,950 --> 00:17:28,079
they were also going to trek out into

432
00:17:34,070 --> 00:17:30,960
the solar system and so we had planned

433
00:17:36,870 --> 00:17:34,080
and launched four lunar probes lunar

434
00:17:40,789 --> 00:17:36,880
rangers one two three and four

435
00:17:44,230 --> 00:17:40,799
by 1962 every one of them failed

436
00:17:45,909 --> 00:17:44,240
by 1962 we also launched a mission

437
00:17:48,230 --> 00:17:45,919
called mariner 1

438
00:17:52,710 --> 00:17:48,240
to venus that failed

439
00:17:55,830 --> 00:17:52,720
but mariner 2 launched in august 1962

440
00:17:57,350 --> 00:17:55,840
nearly 50 years ago was successful and

441
00:17:58,789 --> 00:17:57,360
jim let me let me jump in here don't

442
00:18:00,549 --> 00:17:58,799
hold that story but we just got some

443
00:18:02,230 --> 00:18:00,559
breaking news we got an image from the

444
00:18:04,390 --> 00:18:02,240
international space oh this is wonderful

445
00:18:05,909 --> 00:18:04,400
don don's coming through

446
00:18:08,150 --> 00:18:05,919
don pettit uh

447
00:18:10,630 --> 00:18:08,160
well-known science geek right yeah

448
00:18:14,549 --> 00:18:10,640
and all the most positive uh way of

449
00:18:16,789 --> 00:18:14,559
putting that uh he is uh uh this is crew

450
00:18:18,710 --> 00:18:16,799
sleep as we mentioned earlier but don's

451
00:18:20,390 --> 00:18:18,720
not sleeping because don is so excited

452
00:18:22,630 --> 00:18:20,400
about this hey that's great maybe you

453
00:18:25,110 --> 00:18:22,640
heard that science never sleeps yeah i

454
00:18:26,789 --> 00:18:25,120
bet he's never seen that

455
00:18:29,510 --> 00:18:26,799
jason did you have something else for us

456
00:18:31,510 --> 00:18:29,520
yeah if you if you guys uh want to go

457
00:18:33,270 --> 00:18:31,520
and check it out you can uh hop on to

458
00:18:35,110 --> 00:18:33,280
the at nasa twitter feed you can hop on

459
00:18:36,950 --> 00:18:35,120
to nasa facebook or nasa on google plus

460
00:18:39,350 --> 00:18:36,960
we've just shared the link on flickr

461
00:18:41,590 --> 00:18:39,360
where you can go and get all of the

462
00:18:43,029 --> 00:18:41,600
different images that don pettit has now

463
00:18:45,029 --> 00:18:43,039
put up from the international space

464
00:18:46,470 --> 00:18:45,039
station and as they keep coming in we'll

465
00:18:47,830 --> 00:18:46,480
make sure that we keep uh getting them

466
00:18:49,750 --> 00:18:47,840
out there and sharing them so you guys

467
00:18:52,870 --> 00:18:49,760
can join the conversation just follow

468
00:18:54,950 --> 00:18:52,880
hashtag poundvenustransit so

469
00:18:56,710 --> 00:18:54,960
thanks jason okay so uh dr gray we

470
00:18:58,950 --> 00:18:56,720
wanted to get that that station but give

471
00:19:01,350 --> 00:18:58,960
us a quick again continue on the history

472
00:19:03,669 --> 00:19:01,360
lesson 50 years ago mariner 2 was

473
00:19:04,470 --> 00:19:03,679
successful flew by venus

474
00:19:07,830 --> 00:19:04,480
and

475
00:19:10,870 --> 00:19:07,840
really gave us a great view of it it

476
00:19:13,510 --> 00:19:10,880
tell told us that the clouds were really

477
00:19:16,070 --> 00:19:13,520
impenetrable we couldn't see down to the

478
00:19:18,549 --> 00:19:16,080
ground of venus from the earth and we

479
00:19:19,270 --> 00:19:18,559
couldn't do that from mariner 2.

480
00:19:21,350 --> 00:19:19,280
so

481
00:19:23,990 --> 00:19:21,360
that then launched a whole series of

482
00:19:26,230 --> 00:19:24,000
other scientific investigations and

483
00:19:29,750 --> 00:19:26,240
nearly 20 missions have been launched to

484
00:19:32,310 --> 00:19:29,760
venus over these last 50 years many of

485
00:19:35,669 --> 00:19:32,320
them unsuccessful venus turns out to be

486
00:19:37,990 --> 00:19:35,679
a hard object to really get to know

487
00:19:39,750 --> 00:19:38,000
but fortunately what's happened is

488
00:19:41,270 --> 00:19:39,760
many russian missions were very

489
00:19:45,029 --> 00:19:41,280
successful

490
00:19:46,150 --> 00:19:45,039
venera 13 and 14 actually landed on the

491
00:19:49,590 --> 00:19:46,160
surface

492
00:19:51,909 --> 00:19:49,600
and as lika mentioned earlier today

493
00:19:53,669 --> 00:19:51,919
the temperature of uh the surface

494
00:19:56,870 --> 00:19:53,679
temperature of venus is hot enough to

495
00:19:59,029 --> 00:19:56,880
melt lead the pressure is 90 times that

496
00:20:01,350 --> 00:19:59,039
of our own atmosphere you have to go way

497
00:20:03,270 --> 00:20:01,360
deep into the ocean to get that same

498
00:20:06,870 --> 00:20:03,280
pressure and so

499
00:20:09,750 --> 00:20:06,880
these two big these bathtub like

500
00:20:12,390 --> 00:20:09,760
battleships landing down on the surface

501
00:20:14,870 --> 00:20:12,400
of venus actually only survive for about

502
00:20:17,830 --> 00:20:14,880
an hour and 20 minutes but they gave us

503
00:20:19,990 --> 00:20:17,840
a fantastic view of what that

504
00:20:22,310 --> 00:20:20,000
atmospheric profile was all about and

505
00:20:25,190 --> 00:20:22,320
temperature and density all the way down

506
00:20:27,270 --> 00:20:25,200
to the ground now in addition to that

507
00:20:29,909 --> 00:20:27,280
the russians launched very successfully

508
00:20:33,270 --> 00:20:29,919
several more missions most notably

509
00:20:35,350 --> 00:20:33,280
vega one and two and vega actually

510
00:20:37,669 --> 00:20:35,360
launched balloons

511
00:20:40,470 --> 00:20:37,679
into the atmosphere of venus and you you

512
00:20:43,350 --> 00:20:40,480
watched from ground the balloons uh in

513
00:20:45,830 --> 00:20:43,360
that upper atmosphere uh and they lasted

514
00:20:48,710 --> 00:20:45,840
until they they went around in the in

515
00:20:51,110 --> 00:20:48,720
the super rotation of the wind speed in

516
00:20:53,270 --> 00:20:51,120
fact the wind speed at the the top of

517
00:20:54,710 --> 00:20:53,280
the clouds of venus

518
00:20:57,350 --> 00:20:54,720
is uh uh

519
00:20:58,470 --> 00:20:57,360
in four days can actually transit the

520
00:21:00,470 --> 00:20:58,480
planet

521
00:21:03,430 --> 00:21:00,480
so that's running at an average about

522
00:21:05,590 --> 00:21:03,440
250 miles per hour

523
00:21:07,830 --> 00:21:05,600
so we're talking about hurricane winds

524
00:21:09,190 --> 00:21:07,840
like you can't imagine you know force 10

525
00:21:12,070 --> 00:21:09,200
or something i don't know what it would

526
00:21:14,549 --> 00:21:12,080
be on the scale but

527
00:21:16,310 --> 00:21:14,559
and so those those balloons

528
00:21:18,870 --> 00:21:16,320
made atmospheric measurements and did

529
00:21:22,710 --> 00:21:18,880
wonderful but it really took

530
00:21:25,110 --> 00:21:22,720
the the u.s mission called magellan

531
00:21:28,149 --> 00:21:25,120
to be able to have a ground penetrating

532
00:21:29,590 --> 00:21:28,159
radar after it got in orbit to penetrate

533
00:21:32,870 --> 00:21:29,600
those clouds

534
00:21:34,549 --> 00:21:32,880
and really globally map what the surface

535
00:21:37,990 --> 00:21:34,559
of venus looked like and what year was

536
00:21:39,029 --> 00:21:38,000
that that was in the 80s sorry yes late

537
00:21:41,190 --> 00:21:39,039
80s

538
00:21:42,070 --> 00:21:41,200
and so what happened

539
00:21:45,510 --> 00:21:42,080
is

540
00:21:48,630 --> 00:21:45,520
we found well over a thousand volcanoes

541
00:21:50,549 --> 00:21:48,640
we recognized how volcanic

542
00:21:51,590 --> 00:21:50,559
the surface is

543
00:21:54,310 --> 00:21:51,600
in fact

544
00:21:57,669 --> 00:21:54,320
we believe venus is so volcanic that it

545
00:21:58,950 --> 00:21:57,679
actually resurfaces itself every 900

546
00:22:01,350 --> 00:21:58,960
million years

547
00:22:03,190 --> 00:22:01,360
so uh since it's beginning it may have

548
00:22:06,310 --> 00:22:03,200
done that several times not a place you

549
00:22:08,470 --> 00:22:06,320
want to take a family vacation

550
00:22:10,630 --> 00:22:08,480
it's a it's a pretty tough environment

551
00:22:13,110 --> 00:22:10,640
in fact some of these volcanoes are as

552
00:22:14,630 --> 00:22:13,120
high as our own mount everest

553
00:22:17,830 --> 00:22:14,640
and so

554
00:22:19,990 --> 00:22:17,840
that's just been a spectacular part also

555
00:22:23,430 --> 00:22:20,000
mentioned is there's a layer of sulfuric

556
00:22:26,230 --> 00:22:23,440
acid it's at about 60 kilometers up

557
00:22:28,310 --> 00:22:26,240
and that layer of sulfuric acid actually

558
00:22:31,510 --> 00:22:28,320
forms little rain drops

559
00:22:34,230 --> 00:22:31,520
and they begin to drop as they condense

560
00:22:36,070 --> 00:22:34,240
around dust and then end up actually

561
00:22:38,230 --> 00:22:36,080
evaporating as they get down into the

562
00:22:40,470 --> 00:22:38,240
higher temperature atmosphere and form

563
00:22:42,070 --> 00:22:40,480
this circulation pattern

564
00:22:44,149 --> 00:22:42,080
we got another picture here to show you

565
00:22:45,270 --> 00:22:44,159
and then we're going to uh

566
00:22:47,510 --> 00:22:45,280
bump out

567
00:22:50,070 --> 00:22:47,520
and come back at 12 30. and you're going

568
00:22:51,510 --> 00:22:50,080
to join us jim this is norway

569
00:22:55,029 --> 00:22:51,520
is that right we're going to show you

570
00:22:57,350 --> 00:22:55,039
norway on the way out and we'll be back

571
00:22:59,750 --> 00:22:57,360
at 12 30. jim will be here dwayne of

572
00:23:01,909 --> 00:22:59,760
course and myself al feinberg and jason

573
00:23:06,789 --> 00:23:01,919
and jason townsend so

574
00:23:11,750 --> 00:23:08,870
the future astronomical public will not

575
00:23:14,870 --> 00:23:11,760
be satisfied unless all practical use is

576
00:26:46,870 --> 00:23:14,880
made of the transits of venus of 1874

577
00:27:06,950 --> 00:27:00,710
uh

578
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:45,909
and that's what happened

579
00:27:45,919 --> 00:28:00,710
educational

580
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:27,269
pennsylvania

581
00:28:55,590 --> 00:28:31,430
venus is running on the black line

582
00:28:55,600 --> 00:29:05,990
like a silver flame

583
00:29:25,190 --> 00:29:08,549
she's got it

584
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:53,350
desire

585
00:29:58,549 --> 00:29:55,750
okay and so that's why this is slightly

586
00:30:01,510 --> 00:29:58,559
tilted oh i see so that the tilt is for

587
00:30:03,510 --> 00:30:01,520
uh venus's orbit yes okay

588
00:30:05,350 --> 00:30:03,520
and um

589
00:30:08,230 --> 00:30:05,360
there's a reason why the reason why we

590
00:30:09,750 --> 00:30:08,240
don't see a transit every three every

591
00:30:12,070 --> 00:30:09,760
late the cycle half

592
00:30:13,269 --> 00:30:12,080
years because of the tilt

593
00:30:15,669 --> 00:30:13,279
so um

594
00:30:18,310 --> 00:30:15,679
half of venus's orbit is above earth's

595
00:30:20,549 --> 00:30:18,320
orbit and half is below earth's orbit

596
00:30:22,549 --> 00:30:20,559
so uh two points are too high above the

597
00:30:25,830 --> 00:30:22,559
sun's disk to be seen and two points are

598
00:30:26,950 --> 00:30:25,840
too low uh too low on earth just to be

599
00:30:29,110 --> 00:30:26,960
seen

600
00:30:30,630 --> 00:30:29,120
wow okay my brain just folded but it

601
00:30:31,990 --> 00:30:30,640
could be altitude

602
00:30:35,750 --> 00:30:32,000
now

603
00:30:40,310 --> 00:30:38,710
i this right under the chair when you

604
00:30:42,230 --> 00:30:40,320
no okay so i

605
00:30:44,389 --> 00:30:42,240
one question i have right off the bat is

606
00:30:47,750 --> 00:30:44,399
is you've got this uh letter system a b

607
00:30:49,669 --> 00:30:47,760
c d e right yes so when they uh when

608
00:30:51,190 --> 00:30:49,679
they complete the cycle how many years

609
00:30:53,269 --> 00:30:51,200
would that represent total when they

610
00:30:55,669 --> 00:30:53,279
when they do one full rotation

611
00:30:57,669 --> 00:30:55,679
uh like when they meet back yeah okay so

612
00:31:00,630 --> 00:30:57,679
that would be eight years for earth and

613
00:31:02,950 --> 00:31:00,640
13 years for venus or venus years okay

614
00:31:04,470 --> 00:31:02,960
so now is that is that why we talked

615
00:31:06,789 --> 00:31:04,480
about earlier why we have two venus

616
00:31:08,470 --> 00:31:06,799
transits like in 2004 that would have

617
00:31:11,029 --> 00:31:08,480
been down here right

618
00:31:12,070 --> 00:31:11,039
and then 2012.

619
00:31:14,070 --> 00:31:12,080
i'm sorry

620
00:31:15,990 --> 00:31:14,080
okay

621
00:31:18,549 --> 00:31:16,000
see this this is why we do these

622
00:31:20,549 --> 00:31:18,559
activities okay so this kind of goes

623
00:31:23,269 --> 00:31:20,559
into the next point okay all right okay

624
00:31:25,430 --> 00:31:23,279
yeah sorry i'll step back venus uh is

625
00:31:28,789 --> 00:31:25,440
actually moving slightly faster than 8

626
00:31:31,269 --> 00:31:28,799
13 of an earth year okay so actually

627
00:31:33,909 --> 00:31:31,279
this we say this pentagon

628
00:31:35,350 --> 00:31:33,919
the the corners of the pentagon are

629
00:31:38,470 --> 00:31:35,360
where the

630
00:31:41,750 --> 00:31:38,480
venus passes earth so they match up okay

631
00:31:44,389 --> 00:31:41,760
um if we were to turn it slightly uh

632
00:31:46,789 --> 00:31:44,399
it turns very very slowly so

633
00:31:48,230 --> 00:31:46,799
part of this that that brings uh to

634
00:31:49,430 --> 00:31:48,240
light some of the years that are

635
00:31:50,950 --> 00:31:49,440
involved in this right do you have

636
00:31:53,990 --> 00:31:50,960
another and then the next eight years

637
00:31:54,789 --> 00:31:54,000
it's kind of a little past the line

638
00:31:57,830 --> 00:31:54,799
yes

639
00:31:59,990 --> 00:31:57,840
and with the numbers and dates on it

640
00:32:01,669 --> 00:32:00,000
oh all right see five and a half years

641
00:32:04,230 --> 00:32:01,679
is because it

642
00:32:05,990 --> 00:32:04,240
the points have to align again

643
00:32:08,310 --> 00:32:06,000
back at that point

644
00:32:13,029 --> 00:32:08,320
wow okay another 100 years is starting

645
00:32:18,310 --> 00:32:15,830
it would be this part