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Transit of Venus

Transit of Venus. Pattern of transit and why How transit can be used to determine astronomical unit Historical importance. Pattern. Occurs in 8 year pairs Pairs separated by gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years Cycles every 243 years. Why?.

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Transit of Venus

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  1. Transit of Venus • Pattern of transit and why • How transit can be used to determine astronomical unit • Historical importance

  2. Pattern • Occurs in 8 year pairs • Pairs separated by gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years • Cycles every 243 years Why? • Venus’ orbit is tilted by about 3.3 degreesin relation to Earth

  3. Determining AU • Venus appears to pass in front of Sun in two parallel lines from two positions, must know distance between lines • Transit takes 7 hours, Halley predicts must know time to within 2 seconds to be accurate

  4. Historical Importance Early Method to Determine AU • Halley(1656-1742) realizes Venus close enough to use parallax • Halley developed detailed plan for 1761,1769 transits • Halley predicated accuracy within 1/40th Sun’s Arc sec • Multiple expeditions worldwide to measure time of transit • Black Drop effect prevents accuracy

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