Perhaps Al Gore's global warming speech would make sense on Venus. -- ValerieUSAVenus emits 40x more light than it receives from the Sun, so, yeah, Gore's "greenhouse effect" demagoguery would work just fine. In fact, it was first applied to Venus by Carl Sagan, another partisan demagogue.
Here's a snip of something I posted to the SCF:
Venus in transit refers to the partial eclipse of the Sun by the planet Venus as seen from Earth. Because the orbit of Venus is inclined in comparison with that of the Earth, the 8 year resonance (it's about a day off) between the two planets means that eclipse cycles are about 122 years long, and usually (at least in our lifetimes) there are two separated by eight years -- then nothing more than a century.
The dustjacket has changed (probably for positioning in the market), but it's the same book. It went fast. I read the whole thing in no time, and mostly while soaking in the tub. Basically, each chapter is an anecdote from the more than three centuries of astronomical interest in these transits.
"On our departure we left two iron pillars, on which our apparatus for photographing the sun was mounted, firmly imbedded in the ground, as we had used them. Whether they will remain there until the transit of 2004, I do not know, but cannot help entertaining a sentimental wish that, when the time of that transit arrives, the phenomenon will be observed from the same station, and the pillars be found in such a condition that they can again be used." -- astronomer Simon Newcomb, regarding the 1874 transit of Venus, quoted on p 121The last transit took place in 1882. The next one will take place in 2012. In June of 2004 the transit observations will begin in Asia, and may be visible in western Alaska. The end of the transit will take place almost six hours later when it's high noon in Tunisia. Much of the second half of the transit will be visible in the eastern United States (weather permitting), as far west as Chicago, and (Ras'...) throughout the Florida peninsula.
Maor includes precautions for viewing on pp 163-164, and also gives an eclipse webpage (see the link in the book listing below). Sunglasses / smoked glass isn't enough! Maor sez "a safe filter is a #14 welder's glass, available at hardware stores." Using a camera obscura or so-called pinhole camera is the safest method, and familiar to all those whose dads used empty Charmin boxes and white meat paper to show the kids the solar eclipse in 1959.
Excellent book, and a quick read. Dunno how the Amazon reviews are, but there may be a good one up pretty soon now. :') Thanks go to the family member who gave this book to me for Christmas.
June 8, 2004: Venus in Transit
by Eli Maor
paperback
website
