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On 6/5/12 11:31 AM, Kenneth Brody wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:4FCE265B.9080701@spamcop.net" type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Yes, I'm a geek. Then again, so are most of the readers of this list. :-)
For those of you not in South America or western Africa, there will be a
transit of Venus (where Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun) today,
starting around 2200UTC (6PM EDT). This will not happen again until the
year 2117, so if you're interested in this sort of thing, it's probably the
last chance you'll get in your lifetime. (It only happens twice [8 years
apart] every 113 years.)
Unfortunately, the forecast here is clouds, clouds, and more clouds.
A map of where it's visible:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/VenusTransit2012-Map-2.gif/1024px-VenusTransit2012-Map-2.gif">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/VenusTransit2012-Map-2.gif/1024px-VenusTransit2012-Map-2.gif</a>
More information:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/05/30/everything-you-need-to-know-about-next-weeks-transit-of-venus/">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/05/30/everything-you-need-to-know-about-next-weeks-transit-of-venus/</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
Aside from clouds, I don't think 6PM EDT is very straight-up
over-head for US east coasters, so I'm guessing the lefter, the
better.<br>
<br>
I thought maybe I could find a clue to this rare event on one of
these pre-Columbian calendars:<br>
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<a
href="http://www.maya12-21-2012.com/mayan-versus-aztec-calendars.html">http://www.maya12-21-2012.com/mayan-versus-aztec-calendars.html</a><br>
but I guess Venus would just be like a grain of sand on them. The
Aztec calendar, though, does show a crowned face with tongue hanging
out - unquestionably a foretelling of the queen's diamond jubilee
temporarily eclipsing the start of the zombie apocalypse. The
Mayans were evidently more peaceful, so that calendar probably has
clues about Lilith Fair tour dates or similar - but I really can't
make heads or tails of it.<br>
<br>
-----<br>
Bruce<br>
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