Transit of Venus from Saturn
Encyclopedia
A transit of Venus across the Sun as seen from Saturn takes place when the planet Venus
passes directly between the Sun
and Saturn
, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Saturn. During a transit
, Venus can be seen from Saturn as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun.
Naturally, no one has ever seen a transit of Venus from Saturn, nor is this likely to happen in any foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the next one will take place on May 6, 2012.
A transit could hypothetically be observed from the surface of one of Saturn's moons rather than from Saturn itself. The times and circumstances of the transits would naturally be slightly different.
The Venus-Saturn synodic period is 229.494 days. It can be calculated using the formula 1/(1/P-1/Q), where P is the sidereal orbital period
of Venus (224.695434 days) and Q is the orbital period
of Saturn (10746.940 days).
The inclination
of Venus's orbit with respect to Saturn's ecliptic
is 2.06°, which is less than its value of 3.39° with respect to Earth's ecliptic.
The transit that occurred on March 21, 1894 was particularly interesting because later on the same day there was a transit of Mercury from Saturn
, followed by the beginning of a transit of Mercury as viewed from Venus
, although no two of the transits occurred simultaneously.
Also interesting is the event of December 9, 2056, when a Venus transit will begin a few hours after a near-miss by Mercury.
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
passes directly between the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
and Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Saturn. During a transit
Astronomical transit
The term transit or astronomical transit has three meanings in astronomy:* A transit is the astronomical event that occurs when one celestial body appears to move across the face of another celestial body, hiding a small part of it, as seen by an observer at some particular vantage point...
, Venus can be seen from Saturn as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun.
Naturally, no one has ever seen a transit of Venus from Saturn, nor is this likely to happen in any foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the next one will take place on May 6, 2012.
A transit could hypothetically be observed from the surface of one of Saturn's moons rather than from Saturn itself. The times and circumstances of the transits would naturally be slightly different.
The Venus-Saturn synodic period is 229.494 days. It can be calculated using the formula 1/(1/P-1/Q), where P is the sidereal orbital period
Sidereal year
A sidereal year is the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun once with respect to the fixed stars. Hence it is also the time taken for the Sun to return to the same position with respect to the fixed stars after apparently travelling once around the ecliptic. It was equal to at noon 1 January...
of Venus (224.695434 days) and Q is the orbital period
Orbital period
The orbital period is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars.There are several kinds of...
of Saturn (10746.940 days).
The inclination
Inclination
Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...
of Venus's orbit with respect to Saturn's ecliptic
Ecliptic
The ecliptic is the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun. In more accurate terms, it is the intersection of the celestial sphere with the ecliptic plane, which is the geometric plane containing the mean orbit of the Earth around the Sun...
is 2.06°, which is less than its value of 3.39° with respect to Earth's ecliptic.
The transit that occurred on March 21, 1894 was particularly interesting because later on the same day there was a transit of Mercury from Saturn
Transit of Mercury from Saturn
A transit of Mercury across the Sun as seen from Saturn takes place when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Sun and Saturn, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Saturn...
, followed by the beginning of a transit of Mercury as viewed from Venus
Transit of Mercury from Venus
A transit of Mercury across the Sun as seen from Venus takes place when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Sun and Venus, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Venus. During a transit, Mercury can be seen from Venus as a small black disc moving across the face of...
, although no two of the transits occurred simultaneously.
Also interesting is the event of December 9, 2056, when a Venus transit will begin a few hours after a near-miss by Mercury.
| Transits of Venus from Saturn |
|---|
| March 21, 1894 |
| May 6, 2012 |
| December 21, 2012 |
| January 14, 2028 |
| August 31, 2028 |
| December 9, 2056 |