http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== The Venus Transit June 8, 2004 & June 6, 2012 Nick Anthony Fiorenza Copyright © 2003 Nick Anthony Fiorenza, All Rights Reserved Venus Venus imaged with a ultra-violet filter to enhance cloud structures by the Galileo spacecraft on Feb. 14, 1990. (Image courtesy of NASA / JPL.) A Venus Passage occurs when we can see Venus passing directly in front of the sun. This is similar to when the Moon passes in front of the Sun on a solar eclipse. Unlike the Moon, which covers most of the Sun, Venus appears as a small dot crossing the face of the Sun. A passage (technically called a transit) can only occur with the inner planets--Mercury and Venus--because they are the only two that can lie between the Earth and Sun during their orbits. We are in the midst of the first Venus Passage of this millennium. The Venus Passage presently upon us comes in a pair, with each transit in the pair spaced eight years apart. There will be one transit on June 8, 2004 and one on June 6, 2012. This is a rare once in a life time event. In one 243-year Venus Passage cycle there are two pair spaced 121.5 ±8 years apart. The last Venus Passage (pair) occurred 129.5 years ago in 1874 and 1882. The next pair will occur 113.5 years from this one, in 2117 and 2125. Although the transits currently occur in pairs, this is not always the case, sometimes there is only one transit! This article explores the eight-year pentagonal cycle of Venus; how the retrogrades of Venus are created; the 243-year Venus Passage cycle; why the transits in this cycle come in pairs for a while and why they then become singular; the drift of this cycle through the zodiak; the star alignments of the 2004/2012 transits in the sidereal zodiak; the psychophysiology (mental-emotional-physical facets) of Venus in our lives; and the astrophysical resonances of Venus in light (color), sound, and brain wave frequencies. * * * The following chart shows the dates of several Venus Passage pairs and the Venus Passage Cycle. The times in red reveal the primary cycle. The times in blue reveal the dual sub-cycle occurring between pairs. The times in yellow reveal the duration between the last transit of one pair and the first transit of the second pair. The Venus 243 Year Cycle The Venus-Earth Synodic Cycle Venus orbits the Sun in 224.701 Earth days ( ~.615 Earth years ), moving slightly faster than Earth. Because of the two different orbital rates of Venus and Earth, Venus must orbit the sun 2.6 times while Earth orbits 1.6 times before the two planets align. This period (583.92 Earth days) is called the Earth-Venus synodic cycle (synod means "place of meeting"). See Synodic Cycles & Planetary Retrogrades to learn more about synodic cycles. An alignment with Venus lying between Earth and the Sun is called an inferior conjunction. Conversely, a superior conjunction occurs when the three align but with Venus lying on the far side of the Sun. A new Earth-Venus synodic cycle begins on an inferior conjunction. Earth-Venus Synodic Cycle Because the Earth moves 584 Earth days, (about 1.6 years around the ecliptic) before the two planets align, each alignment occurs about 215.6° further than the previous one (about seven astrological signs apart). As this process continues, five unique Venus-Earth locations are created in the ecliptic. The result is a pentagonal synodic series that takes about eight years and which consists of five synodic cycles (shown below). This near perfect pattern (also called a grand quintile) occurs because five cycles occur in an even number of Earth years--almost. The sixth alignment, which begins the next synodic series, occurs near the same place as the first one, but it is shifted slightly west from the first one by about 2 to 3 degrees. This slight drift occurs because each synodic series actually occurs in 7.997 years, slightly less than eight years. This causes the entire synodic pentagonal series to continually drift westward around the ecliptic in approximately 2° increments. Venus Pentagram Animation Harmony of the Spheres Venus revolves in the opposite direction compared to Earth and to its rotation around the sun. Thus, on Venus, the sun and stars rise in the west and set in the east. A Venus day is longer than its year, It takes Venus 243.0187 Earth days to make one rotation, and 224.701 Earth days to orbit the sun. The Venus day is exactly two-thirds of an Earth-year (243 Earth days). Because Venus revolves once every 2/3 of an Earth year, Venus revolves exactly twelve times in the eight-year pentagonal period--thus showing the same side of her body to Earth in the eight-year period. This near perfect harmonic resonance between the Venus day, the Venus year, and Earth's year is one of the astrophysical dynamics creating the gentle and harmonious astrological character of Venus. Thus, we have 5 synodic cycles and 12 Venusian days occurring in 8 Earth years creating a near perfect planetary dance. The Venus Retrograde When Venus approaches and passes its alignment with Earth, we experience a Venus retrograde period. At that time, when viewing Venus from Earth's perspective, Venus appears to move backward (westward) in the backdrop of the stars. Venus Retrograde Animation Venus retrogrades five times in one eight-year "retrograde series"--each retrograde occurs with every Earth-Venus alignment, and so they form in the same sequence that the pentagonal pattern is made (about seven astrological signs between each one). The sixth retrograde begins a new retrograde series in the same location where the first one began, but shifted slightly west from the first. Thus, the entire retrograde series continually drifts westward in the ecliptic along with the synodic series. The orbit of Venus is tilted about 3.394° with respect to the orbit of Earth (the ecliptic plane--the plane defined by Earth's orbit around the sun). Two nodes exist in the Venus orbit where Venus crosses the ecliptic plane. The Ascending (North) Node is where Venus moves north of the ecliptic plane during its orbit around the sun. The Descending (South) Node is where Venus moves south of the ecliptic plane. Orbital Tilt of Venus / Nodes The five retrograde paths in a synodic series are unique due to the slight tilt between the orbit of Venus and the orbit of Earth. Some paths make a symmetrical s-shaped pattern across the ecliptic and some make loops above and below the ecliptic. The Five Retrograde Paths of Venus When the Earth-Venus alignment occurs, Venus moves closer to Earth and then away from Earth. If Venus is above or below the ecliptic when that occurs, the line of sight from Earth to Venus moves above or below the ecliptic as well, creating a looped path. The symmetrical s-shaped pattern occurs when the Earth-Venus alignment is near one of the Venus nodes (when Venus is crossing the plane of the ecliptic). Currently, the retrogrades of Venus, and the start of each synodic cycle, occur at the following sidereal locations* : Retrograde # Synodic Date Venus-Sun Sidereal Location Venus-Earth Synodic Cycle Discussed Here 1 - transit Jun 8 2004 22° 51' Taurus 22° 51' Scorpio/Ophichus LP-04-05-19 2 - no transit Jan 13 2006 28° 37' Sag 28° 37' Gemini LP-05-12-31 3 - no transit Aug 18 2007 29° 46' Cancer 29° 46' Capricorn 4 - no transit Mar 27 2009 12° 09' Pisces 12° 09' Virgo 5 - no transit Oct 29 2010 10° 22' Libra 10° 22' Aries 1 - transit Jun 6 2012 20° 35' Taurus 20° 35' Scorpio/Ophichus Sidereal longitudes are based on the Galactic Ayanamsa The Venus Transit When Venus lies very close to one of its nodes (on the ecliptic) and when a new synodic cycle begins (when a Venus-Earth alignment occurs), the line of sight from Earth to Venus is such that we see Venus crossing the disc of the Sun. (This is when the symmetrical retrograde pattern occurs as well.) This is called a "Venus Passage" or "Venus Transit." Earth Venus Sun alignment When the alignment is not at one of the nodes, the line of sight from Earth to Venus lies north or south of the Sun's disc, thus, we do not experience a Venus transit. Earth Venus alignment If the Earth-Venus synodic series did not drift around the ecliptic, and if one of the five alignments in that series were always in line with one of the nodes, we would experience a Venus passage every eight years (every five synodic cycles). However, a passage (or a passage pair) occurs 121.5 years apart because the Earth-Venus alignment drifts away from the location of the Venus node and Venus lies to far above (or below) the ecliptic for the Earth-to-Venus line of sight to hit the Sun's disc. The symmetrical s-shaped pattern eventually morphs into a looped pattern as the Earth-Venus alignment and subsequent retrograde drifts away from the node of Venus and Venus moves further above (or below) the ecliptic. Morphing Venus Retrograde Patterns The Venus 243-year Duplex Cycle We experience a Venus Passage every 121.5 years--with one passage occurring at one node and the following passage occurring at the opposite node. This duration of time exists between the passages because as the first Earth-Venus alignment drifts away from one node, the second alignment in the series does not arrive to the opposite node until the entire synodic series drifts about 35° westward in the ecliptic. Thus, we have two half cycles (from node to node) comprising one 243 year duplex cycle. (Duplex means alternating from side to side, two-sided). As the symmetrical retrograde path (occurring at one node) morphs into a looped path, the second retrograde path, which is a looped path, morphs into a symmetrical path as it approaches the opposite node, Then the third path morphs into a symmetrical path as it approaches the original node, and so on. The following three illustrations reveal an entire 243-year cycle: Venus Transits 2004 / 2012 Venus Transits 2117 / 2125 Venus Transits 2247 / 2255 Movement of the Nodes In the last of the three illustrations above, we can also notice that in one complete 243-year duplex cycle, the two Venus passages occurring at the end of the cycle have drifted (one eight-year notch) eastward from the where the previous pair occurred; i.e., the second passage of the 2247 / 2255 pair occurs at the location of the first passage of the 2004 / 2012 pair. This eastward drift is due to the very slow movement of the Venus nodes. Thus, while the synodic cycles and retrogrades of Venus drift westward, the entire 243-year cycle (and the location of the passages) drifts eastward about the same arc-distance as the 8-year synodic pentagonal series drifts westward (about 2°). A Singular Passage or a Passage Pair There are periods when there is only one Venus Passage occurring rather than two, This happens when the Earth-Venus alignment lies exactly on the Venus nodes. At that time, the passages cross the center of the sun's disc. When this occurs, the adjacent transits (8 years apart) miss the sun's disc--as shown in the second illustration below. It is only now that two adjacent passages are seen to occur because the Earth-Venus alignments producing them are close to, but not quite on, the node. It will take several more 243-year cycles before there will be only one passage occurring rather than two spaced eight years apart, as the Earth-Venus alignments occur closer to the nodes. Venus Dual Transit Venus Single Transit The entire pattern of passages drifts across the sun over thousands of years. When there are two passages, one of them eventually drifts off of the sun's disc as the entire pattern drifts. As one is moving off the sun's disc, the other passage will drift toward the center of the sun. When there are two passages (as occurring now) the Earth-Venus alignments are straddling the nodes. As the Earth-Venus alignments drift to occur exactly on the nodes, there will be several occurrences where there is only one passage across the sun. Eventually, as the pattern drifts again, there will be two adjacent passages crossing the sun's disc. This singular-passage / passage-pair oscillation drifts in and out over a long period of time--over several thousand years. Venus 10708 Year Cycle For simplicity of discussion, let's just consider the south node transits. but the same occurs for the north node. The last exact single passage (on the south node) occurred in 3837 BC (astronomical year-3836), The next exact one occurs in 6872 AD. Thus, a few thousand year period centering around 3837 BC produced single passages only. Single passages continued through 60 AD. We did not start to experience passage pairs until 303 AD (60 AD + 243 years). We experience passages pairs from 303 AD through 3713 AD, then (starting in 3956) we will start to experience single passages again, as the exact Earth-Venus-south node alignment approaches in 6872 AD. The following illustration shows the passage pattern drifting over time. Here we can see that 60 AD produced the last single passage. From that time onward the pattern drifted downward across the sun and we began to experience passage pairs, We will experience passage pairs until 3948 AD, when the passage pattern drifts enough such that the passages becomes singular again. There are about 30 passage pairs (alternating from the south to north node) between 60 AD and 3956 AD. The pair occurring now (2004 / 2012) is such that the two Earth-Venus alignments producing them are very close to being equally spaced around the south node. Thus, the passages are symmetrically placed on the sun's disc. Venus Transit Drift In the Horns of the Bull Currently, the passage pairs that occur at the south node transit lie in the sidereal sign of Taurus. This is where the June 2004 / June 2012 pair will occur--in the horns of the bull. The following pair (Dec 2117 / Dec 2125), which occurs at the north node transit, will be seen in the opposite side of the zodiak, in the sidereal sign of Scorpio (in the constellation Ophiuchus). In the Horns of the Bull The two retrograde paths of Venus at the times of the 2004 / 2012 Venus Passages The 2004 Venus Passage occurs at 22° 51' sidereal Taurus * The 2012 Venus Passage occurs at 20° 35' sidereal Taurus * SIdereal Star Chart: Venus Transit in Taurus * Sidereal longitudes are based on the Galactic Ayanamsa. The sidereal signs (not tropical signs) are shown in the above illustration. To learn of the difference between the sidereal and tropical zodiaks, their intimate relationship, and the Galactic Ayanamsa, please explore the Sidereal Astrology WEB page. To view the entire heavens please visit "The Sidereal Heavens: Under the Stars" The retrogrades of 2004 and 2012 occur in the second half of sidereal Taurus--in the "horns of the bull." El Nath is the north horn and Al Hecka is the south horn. The 2004 / 2012 retrogrades begin just under Auriga (the charioteer) and under the auspices of Capella, the messenger of light, and just under Al Nath, the north horn. The retrogrades complete over Aldebaran and Hyades. Aldebaran is the "Eye of the Bull" marking the center (~15°) of sidereal Taurus. The "Gate of Man" of the Holy Cross is also shown. It lies at 5° sidereal Gemini, at the feet of the Twins, Pollux and Castor. The Twins stand upon the galactic equator. Although the Venus-Sun conjunction lies in sidereal Taurus, the theme of the 1.6 year Venus synodic cycle beginning on June 8, 2004 is defined by the stellar qualities looking from the Sun toward Venus, Earth, and Pluto (the sidereal heliocentric view), all residing in the constellation of Ophiuchus. Reference and Further Information NOAA Venus Transit Animation NOAA animation of the June 8, 2004 Venus transit as captured by the NOAA Solar X-ray Imager. The NOAA Space Environment Center in Boulder, Co. used the NOAA GOES-12 satellite space weather instrumentation to observe the passage of Venus in front of the sun. The GOES observation, using its Solar X-ray Imager, is unique because it records the sun's 2 million degree, outer atmosphere in X-rays. Image Credit: NOAA For high-res MPEG animations of this image, and other photos, see The NASA Picture Gallery of the Venus Transit http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/venustransit/gallery_08jun04_page 12.htm For more photos of the June 8, 2004 transit see the European Southern Observatory's VT-2004 Central Display http://www.vt-2004.org/photos/ Other Technical Information on the Venus Transit: Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/transit/venus0412.html Interesting Historical Information: The 1882 Transit of Venus - W.P. Koorts http://www.saao.ac.za/~wpk/tov1882/tovwell.html * * * Related Venus Articles E-Motions of the Heart: Venus Elongations & the Crescent Moon The Venus Express Mission LEARN ABOUT SYNODIC CYCLES GO TO THE LUNAR PLANNER MAIN PAGE GO TO THE HOLY CROSS MAIN PAGE GO TO THE MARS CYCLE WEB PAGE GO TO THE LUNAR PLANNER'S ARCHIVE RETURN TO TOP