Today’s rare transit of the sun by Venus gave scientists the world over the chance to directly observe the size of the two bodies in relation to each other.
“Sometimes Venus looks larger than it does at other times,” said Whit Labcoat, director of research into the planetary sizes at Mt. Wilson Observatory, “but that’s because it’s a lot closer to the earth than the sun is–at least some of the time. Other times Venus seems very tiny. That phenomenon occurs when it is on the other side of the sun from us.”
“Studies have found that objects appear larger when they are nearer and smaller when they are farther away,” he added.
By contrast, the sun never chances its apparent size in the sky. “Scientists believe that is because the earth is in orbit around the sun,” Labcoat explained. “So it never much changes its distance from the sun. At least, that’s the theory.”
“What this event does is let us directly compare the size of Venus to the size of the sun, because right now Venus is in front of the sun. It’s still closer to earth than the sun is, but even so we can see that th sun is much, much larger than Venus.”
Others took a less scientific approach to the rare astronomical phenomenon.
“How come the sun had a black dot in it?” Dorcas Tam, 7, asked in Hong Kong.
“Scientists believe that is because the earth is in orbit around the sun,”
Wow! Looks like I will have to re-evaluate my position on geocentrism.
“Scientists believe that is because the earth is in orbit around the sun,”
Wow! It looks like I will have to re-evaluate my position on geocentrism.
Nice headline jimmy 🙂