European Southern Observatory (ESO)European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) Observatoire de ParisInstitut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides (IMCCE)Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic The Venus Transit 2004 European Science & Technology Week 2004Visit the websites of the VT-2004 organisers

The Venus Transit 2004

... Brief InfoSheets



Brief InfoSheets

Here is a list of Brief InfoSheets available within the VT-2004 programme on selected topics of particular relevance to this rare celestial event. They provide a good start to learn more, and if you want to probe deeper into these issues, you may follow the links at the end of each of these pages to the Extended InfoSheets that provide much more detailed information.


A. The Venus Transit - General
B. Observations - Calculations
C. The Solar System
D. Venus - the Planet
E. Exoplanets
F. History of Transit Observations
G. Basic Notions

A. The Venus Transit - General

  • A1 - What is the significance of the transit of Venus?
  • A2 - The Mercury Transit on May 7, 2003
  • A3 - Other transit phenomena in the solar system

B. Observations - Calculations

  • B1 - Predictions of the Venus transit on June 8, 2004
  • B2 - Observing the Venus Transit
  • B3 - Recording observations in Universal Time
  • B4 - Calculating the distance to the Sun

C. The Solar System

  • C1 - Our Solar System and its members
  • C2 - The Sun - our central star
  • C3 - The Sun - Summary Sheet

D. Venus - the Planet

  • D1 - Venus - The second planet of the Solar System
  • D2 - Venus - Summary Sheet
  • D3 - Venus' orbit and visibility - day, night and seasons on Venus
  • D4 - Venus, the Earth's sister planet ?
  • D5 - Space probes map Venus
  • D6 - Venus' history and surface
  • D7 - The mysterious clouds of Venus
  • D8 - Is there life on Venus (and elsewhere in the Solar System) ?
  • D9 - Venus in Mythology
  • D10 - Venus in Science Fiction

E. Exoplanets

  • E1 - The Detection of Extrasolar Planets

F. History of Transit Observations

  • F1 - First predictions and the transits of 1631 and 1639
  • F2 - The 1761 transit of Venus
  • F3 - The 1769 transit of Venus
  • F4 - The 1874 transit of Venus
  • F5 - The 1882 transit of Venus
  • F6 - List of expeditions to observe the transits of Venus in the XVIIth - XIXth centuries
  • F7 - The 1882 transit of Venus as Seen from Chile

G. Basic Notions

  • G1 - What is Light ?
  • G2 - What is Time ?
  • G3 - The definition of the astronomical unit and the other units of distance in astronomy
  • G4 - Distances in the solar system: parallax and Kepler's laws
  • G5 - Distances in the Universe

Additional information about many of these issues is also available on other websites - look at the page with a collection of annotated links . Note also the webpage with Frequently Asked Questions .