Launchpad: Transits
Discover how scientists used the last Venus transit and a geometric technique called parallax to verify the distance between sun and Earth. Find out what scientists hope to learn the next time Venus makes a shadow on the face of the sun. Since this production, there was a Venus Transit in June 2012.
Background Information
Grades 9 through 12
- NASA 2012 Transit of Venus
- NASA 2012 Transit of Venus Media
- NASA EDGE Archived Webcasst
- NASA JPL Eyes on the Solar System
- NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory SDO's Ultra-high Definition View of 2012 Venus Transit
- NASA Sun-Earth Day 2012 Transit of Venus: Shadows of the Sun
Mathematics
Grades 9 through
- NASA Space Math Angular Size and Velocity
- NASA Space Math A Lunar Transit of the Sun from Space
- NASA Space Math An Application of the Parallax Effect