Venus Transit Viewing at Knox Draws Crowd

Several dozen visitors wandered to the middle of Knox College's softball field on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 to take advantage of a public viewing of a rare astronomical event, the planet Venus crossing the face of an early evening sun -- known as a "transit."  Transits of Venus occur in pairs -- the most recent was in June 2004, the earlier pair were in 1874 and 1882; the next pair will occur in 2117 and 2125.

The viewing was organized by Knox physics professor Charles Schulz.

"The transit of Venus is of historical interest because, in 1639, it allowed, for the first time an accurate determination of the distance scale of our solar system," Schulz said. "Study of the transit also has provided insight into the atmosphere of Venus, and this year's transit will provide a test of techniques to be used in studying exoplanets."

A line of viewers were able to see the image of Venus as the planet passed in front of the sun, as well as sunspots on the sun's surface, both directly and on a camera screen.