The Record had a cool story today on tomorrow night's Transit of Venus.
The Meadowlands Commission is sponsoring a special viewing event:
“Transit of Venus”
5:30 p.m. to sunset Tuesday, June 5.
Free
The NJMC invites the public to view the Transit of Venus at the Commission’s William D. McDowell Observatory. The rare astronomical event occurs when Venus passes directly between the sun and earth. Observers will see a black dot move across the surface of the sun. The next Transit of Venus is not until 2117. This event was celebrated by many historians and artists and served as a means to measure the distance from the earth to the sun.
Event is weather permitting. NJMC William D. McDowell Observatory, DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst. 201-460-8300.
Observatory Director John Sloan is quoted in the story, saying:
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event; I don't know how else to say it," said John Sloan, director of the William D. McDowell Observatory in the Meadowlands Environment Center. "If you work in teaching – science and math – you have the theories; you work through all the mathematics that this should occur at this date. It's nice to see that everything works."
The link to The Record's story is here.
