Learning with
Granny!
The 2004 Venus Transit
"Can you see Venus Tion?" asked Alex,
pointing to the sun from under his arc welding helmet.
Frikkie had got all the children together the night
before and told them about the Transit of Venus. He had warned them not to try
and look at the sun - EVER - without the protection of special glasses. He
showed them the box of glasses that he had saved from the last eclipse of the
sun and said there were enough pairs for everyone.
Sipho, Chef's little grandson, wanted to take a pair
home with him.
 "You
come up as soon as the sun rises tomorrow and you can put a pair on and see if
you can see Venus as it starts to cross the sun," said his Grandfather.
Enter the image on the right to see the full picture.
Lee was up early and he started to help Chef and
Frikkie with the preparations for breakfast. The sun hadn't even risen yet. Sepo
had come up to the house with Chef and had on a pair of glasses. He watched the
pale glow as it brightened in the eastern sky and kept repeating: "It's
coming, it's coming".
"He came to my bedside twice during the night to
remind me to wake him up early," laughed Chef as he turned the sausages -
"here comes the rest of the troop."
Alex led Tion by the hand, followed by a little pajama
clad troop. The children all helped themselves to a pair of eclipse glasses.
Sipho jumped up in excitement as the golden ball rose on the horizon. The
grown-ups laughed, "Anyone would think they had never seen a sunrise before
- it must be the glasses."
 "Wow!
that was amazing" said Vinny "I put my glasses on at 7.14am as the sun
started to appear, and at 7.18am it was fully up. I had to look at my watch so I
didn't notice if Venus was there yet." Enter the image on the right to see
the full picture.
"What can you see Tion?"asked Alex. "A
big shining ball in the sky," he replied holding up his Teddy Bear.
"Can you see the ball Teddy?"
"His day is made," said Alex giving him a
hug. "I doubt if he will notice the tiny Venus and he definitely won't be
able to understand its movement - but he will certainty remember this great
occasion. Thanks everyone for setting this up."
"Perhaps you can tell us another of your stories
when the other children arrive?" said Frikkie smiling.
"Well I won't even try to put the Transit of Venus
into that time frame - but I have another one lined up for today it's called A
Midwinter's nights Dream".
Vinny had rushed inside to get a notepad and a pen. He
sat down in front of the group beside Sipho, who hadn't taken his eyes off the
sun since it rose. He also wanted to get away from the aroma of the cooking as
his stomach was telling him they were taking rather a long time to get breakfast
served.
"Can you see it Sipho?" he questioned.
"Yes - it's there on the side near the bottom" replied Sipho waving his
right hand. "You are right Sipho - that's excellent that you can see that.
How old are you?"
" I am seven years old," he answered. "I
look at the sky a lot and I can see many satellites at night. Sometimes my
Grandfather doesn't even see them," he went on. "Have you seen Venus
in the evening sky, Vinny?" "No I haven't, you must point it out to me
sometime please." said Vinny intrigued. "I can also show you Venus in
the morning sky - but I didn't look at it today. What are you drawing Vinny?"
 These
circles are the sun. If we mark where Venus is when we look during the morning -
we will get and idea of the path that the planet takes as it passes in front of
the sun." he explained. "Can I do it too?" asked the enthusiastic
little boy. "Sure - that would be great - we'll be like reporters,"
concluded Vinny smiling. Enter
the image on the right to see what they saw.
Granny had tried to see Venus through the glasses and
an arc welding helmet, but without her own glasses she wasn't very successful.
"Did our early ancestors have bad eyes Granny?" asked Margie.
"Not at all - they might have had better eyes than
people today". "Why?" she inquired - never surprised at strange
questions. "Well Alex can't tell a story about the Venus Transit and our
early ancestors" Margie replied. "Maybe it is because eclipse glasses
weren't invented?" suggested Ann, who had joined the conversation.
You are probably right Ann as I am
sure our early ancestors were aware of the planet, or at least of a beautiful
meaningful shining star.  Many
ancient cultures refer to Venus, giving it different names and meanings.
Enter the image on the right for some known facts about
its travels around the sun.
After a lovely breakfast everyone sat on the grass and
listened to Alex tell his story. Vinny and Sipho kept up their monitoring of the
Venus Transit until after 1.00 p.m.
Read about 'The
Midwinter's night Dream' and come back for this month's poem.
Some Thoughts on The Transit of Venus
By Jenny Marais
Brilliantly, diligently shines a great star
It's gaseous outputs are known from afar
It's energy born in turmoil rife
Reaches out to all to give them life.
Without heat and light, life on Earth couldn't stay
We'd leave another cold dark planet, just wearing away
The sun is the only bright star we see in the day
We watch it as we rise and enjoy its morning ray
As we circle on easterly, we look up at it - at noon
And at twilight, the sun still brightens the gloom
When this spectrum of color brings the day to a close
We steadily circle on as the night sky glows.
Many men thought it sound (as theirs feet were on the
ground )
That the sun, the moon and stars moved round the Earth.
Oh they were very wise - they plotted out the skies
And gave to astronomical science, its birth
Then came the mathematician - who demanded more
precision
He questioned and observed past size and space,
New science was born by much plotting and revision
And mathematical accuracy finally found its place
The profits of science who have gone before
Have told of an event in Two thousand and four
So armed with a shield to protect our eyes
We wait to observe the phenomena in our winter skies
The planet of Venus has circled the sun
Being its closest neighbor - since time begun
We'll observe 'her' passage on the solar stage
From Millions of kilometers away we'll gaze.
Our eyes protected from the blinding rays of the sun.
The meeting of two celestial bodies has begun
We observe their positions in the winter sky
Venus's transit to the west has just begun..
Through a dark mask a white-hot disc can be seen
A dark dot, appears from the edge like a dream
Can this be the bright planet we know as a 'star'
In our solar kingdom - the brightest by far?
Venus, a Roman goddess of love and beauty
Respected for her grace and femininity
As a star of the morning and evening - a familiar sight
Now a beautiful illusion on a stage of sunlight.
When the next Venus Transit occurs in Two O One Two
Think of how more we'll know then - than we do
Most of us won't be here for the following one
When the year 2117 has begun.
If you would like to e-mail Granny
your questions and ideas please do so at granny@scienceinafrica.co.za
Until Next Month, Happy Reading!
Granny Jenny
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