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Alaska may have missed out on the prime viewing of the annularsolar eclipse on May 20 -- though it definitely caught some of it -- but there's no better place to be than the Last Frontier to seeTuesday's transit of Venus, an astronomical event that only rollsaround twice every century or so. The transit of Venus is a seven-hour event in which Venus -- one ofonly two planets between the Earth and its heavenly light -- treksits way across the surface of the sun, beginning about 2 p.m. Thetransits come in groups of two, set eight years apart, but thendon't occur for more than another century. The last one occurred in 2004, making the June 5 event the last oneuntil 2117. Before 2004, the last one was in 1882. So unless modern medicine makes immense strides soon, this year'sevent will be the only chance living Earthlings will have to seeit. But here's the catch: Just like the recent solar eclipse, the bestviewing will be in limited geographic regions. The Los Angeles Times reports the transit " will be visible in its entirety only from the western Pacific,eastern Asia, eastern Australia and at high northern latitudes." High northern latitudes, you say? Sounds like Alaska, no? Yes, but will the weather cooperate? The National Weather Serviceis calling for partly cloudy skies Tuesday in Anchorage. If notperfect, Fairbanks sounded a tad better. Alaska's second-largestcity is expecting partly sunny skies with scattered showers. If the skies are clear, the 49th state will be among the primeviewing locations -- so much so, that many astronomers and spaceenthusiasts planned to travel Fairbanks to facilitate viewing.That's according to Space.com , which said a group of researchers from NASA's Solar DynamicsObservatory was planning a trip north in concert with a solarphysics meeting in Anchorage. Also planning to come up for the transit is a group of researchersfrom the University of North Dakota Sun Earth Moon Systems team, who will feature a live webcast of the transit on theirsite. According to Tim Young, an associate professor of astrophysics atUND, the group will be setting up for a public-viewing event at theparking garage on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus behind the Conoco Phillips Integrated Science Building. To helpfund the trip to Alaska, they'll be selling glasses designed forviewing the transit for $2.50. Three weeks ago, they webcast thesolar eclipse from Redding, Calif. They were planning to travel elsewhere if the weather wasn'tcooperating, but Young said Monday that the forecast looked goodenough to merit sticking around. Alaska and Hawaii are the only U.S. states that will see the entiretransit, which is different than the 2004 eclipse, when the westernU.S. missed the entire show, according to NASA . Parts of eastern Australia and Asia will also see the entiretransit. That's not the transit's only Alaska connection, either. Accordingto MSNBC , British explorer James Cook -- for whom Alaska's Cook Inlet isnamed, and who mapped a good portion of the Alaska coastline duringa quest to discover the fabled Northwest Passage -- assisted in ascientific expedition during the 1769 transit of Venus. The goal was to answer one of astronomy's most important questions-- the distance from Earth to the sun. By precisely timing thetransit's length from many different points around the globe, thereasoning went, scientists could calculate the Earth-sun distanceusing the principles of parallax. With this information in hand,the scale of the entire solar system would follow. Famed British explorer Capt. James Cook took part in the 1769expedition, sailing to Tahiti and watching the transit from a placenow known as Point Venus. Tim Young with the University of North Dakota said that althoughradar has allowed for highly accurate measurement of the Earth'sdistance from the sun, scientists will attempt to replicate thetechniques used in previous transits for comparison purposes. "It is of interest to do the same calculation with very simpletechniques and equipment and see if it is possible to get a goodestimate from what they attempted in 1874 and 1882," Young said. In Fairbanks, where the skies look a bit more promising, NASA isplanning a webcast in conjunction with the Fairbanks AstronomicalUnit and the National Institute of Aerospace. You can see moredetails on that public viewing event at this website. There will be hands-on activities and viewing opportunities ifthe sun peeks through the clouds. NASA will also broadcast the whole event on its NASA TV website . Fair warning: You won't be able to look directly at the sun toview the transit, but need to filter it through some sort ofmedium. Tips for viewing solar eclipses apply. In Anchorage, the transit will begin at about 2 p.m. and end around9 p.m. Curious what times it will be visible in your area? Checkout this handy site . Will the weather cooperate in your corner of the state? See theforecast for your region at the National Weather Service . Contact Ben Anderson at ben(at)alaskadispatch.com. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Pressotherapy Slimming Machine Manufacturer , ND Yag Laser Machine, and more. For more , please visit Skin Rejuvenation System today!
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