(The following report is for a current events report written by Helen, grade 6.)

Today, June 5th 2012 was the last Venus transit for 105 years, making the next Venus transit 2117. Today was the last Venus transit of the century! At the Varsity Stadium, there was a huge event hosted by the UofT’s Dunlap Institute of Astronomy. Here, they gave out special “Boundless Vision” glasses to look at the Sun, so that you can look at the Venus transit without hurting your eyes.

This event was a blast! Mr. Goodyear and Ms. Chiswell, my sister, my parents and I were among the 5,000 or more people who visited the stadium. The whole arena was a-buzz with the excitement of Venus passing over the Sun. Wide-eyed children, excited grad students and smiling adults surrounded the stadium. It was a moment, s special moment in history: the Venus Transit.

In case you are unaware of what the Venus Transit is, it is when Venus crosses over the Sun and it is visible to Earth causing Venus to look like a little black dot moving across the Sun. Now, you might be thinking, “Why is this so special? Doesn’t Venus go around the Sun all the time, just like we do?” And the answer is yes. Venus does go around the Sun quite often. But, Venus goes around at an angle. So, it is very rare that we are at the right angle to witness Venus cross the Sun.

Overall, I think that the Venus Transit is really rare, mind blowing, interesting and cool and I am very glad that the Dunlap has decided to host this amazing event. Thank you Venus! Thank you Sun! Thank you Dunlap!

Venus Transit Image by John Goodyear.

NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory Image

(Copied from http://universe.utoronto.ca/special/transit2012)

Time lapse of the 2004 transit of Venus. (Image credit: Antonio Cerezo, Pablo Alexandre, Jesús Merchán y David Marsán.)

On June 5, 2012, the planet Venus will pass across the face of the Sun. This phenomenon, called a ‘transit of Venus’, has not happened since 2004 and will not happen again until 2117. For most of us, this is our last chance to see this spectacular celestial event.

The transit of Venus can be seen with the unaided eye, if special precautions are taken, such as wearing ‘transit glasses’ that make it possible to look directly at the Sun without injuring your eyes.   The Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (DI) at the University of Toronto has produced 43,000 pairs of transit glasses and distributed them across Canada and to select destinations internationally.

Nationally, these glasses are available from local universities and branches of both the Royal Astronomical Society (RASC) and the Fédération des astronomes amateurs du Québec (FAAQ).

If you’re in the Greater Toronto Area, we’d like to invite you to the University of Toronto’s Varsity Stadium on June 5th to observe the transit with us!

Starting at 5:30 p.m. on June 5th, 2012, astronomers will be on hand at Varsity Stadium at the University of Toronto to lead the public in viewing the transit of Venus.  Activities at this event will include:

• Free transit glasses – free transit glasses will be provided to the first 4000 guests.
• Ask-an-Astronomer – astronomers from the University of Toronto will be ready to answer any questions you might have about the transit or any other topic in astronomy.
• Telescopic viewing of the transit – we will have special solar telescopes set up to allow you to view the transit in spectacular detail–plus, whatever else is visible on the Sun’s surface that day, including potentially flares and sunspots.
• Planetarium shows – we will be staging special transit-themed planetarium shows on-site all evening.
• Public talk and question period – want to know more about how transits are being used today to find potentially life-bearing planets orbiting other stars?  This is the talk for you!

Please consult the brochures below–in English, French, Spanish, or Chinese–for instructions on how to view the Transit of Venus safely using transit glasses (also called eclipse glasses).

English text prepared by Michael Reid.  Translations by Alice Chow and Jeffrey Fung (Chinese), Rémi Lacasse (French), Mariangela Bonavita (Italian), Slavek Rucinski (Polish), Daniela Gonçalves (Portuguese), Linda Strubbe and Maria Montero-Castaño (Spanish), and Quang Ngyuen Luong (Vietnamese).

Grade 9 Science

We have put together a worksheet that grade 9 science teachers can use with their students to investigate transits. The worksheet emphasizes conceptual understanding and is entirely non-mathematical. The worksheet builds on the idea of the transit of Venus to encourage students to think about ongoing searches for planets in other solar systems–the so-called ‘exoplanets’. The worksheet is available here:

Grade 9 Science Transit of Venus worksheet

This worksheet can be paired with a transit simulator that students can build themselves. The transit simulator can be built inexpensively using materials available from The Home Depot and Michael’s craft store. Detailed instructions about how to build and use the transit simulator, as well as a parts list, are available in this paper:

Transit Simulator Instructions

A copy of the presentation made by Dr. Michael Reid of the Dunlap Institute for the 2012 Eureka conference of the Toronto District School Board can be found here:

Eureka 2012 — Incorporating Transits into Grade 9 Science

Grade 12 Physics

We have also put together a more mathematically intensive worksheet suitable for use in Grade 11 or 12 physics classes. It is available here:

How Far is the Sun – Worksheet 

(Header image Credit: Wikimedia Common user SimonP)