Transit of Venus from Mars
Encyclopedia
A transit
of Venus across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Venus
passes directly between the Sun
and Mars
, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Mars as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun.
, and also much more often than transits of Venus from Earth
.
The Venus-Mars synodic period is 333.92 days. It can be calculated using the formula 1/(1/P-1/Q), where P is the orbital period
of Venus (224.701 days) and Q is the orbital period of Mars (686.98 days).
The inclination
of Venus' orbit with respect to Mars' ecliptic
is 1.94°, which is less than its value of 3.39° with respect to Earth's ecliptic.
In the table below, series names beginning with "A" are near the ascending node with respect to the Martian ecliptic
, and occur when Venus has an angular diameter of approximately 23–24". Series names beginning with "D" are near the descending node with respect to the Martian ecliptic, and occur when Venus has an angular diameter of approximately 18–19".
and a transit of Venus is extremely rare, but somehow more frequent than from Earth, and will next occur in the years , and .
On several occasions an almost identical event is predicted: a transit of Mercury and a transit of Venus, or transit of Earth
will follow themselves, one after the other, in an interval of only several hours.
On January 16 transits of Mercury and Venus are separated by 14 hours.
The simultaneous occurrence of a transit of Venus and a transit of Earth
is extremely rare, and will next occur in the year .
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...
of Venus across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Venus
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 Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Mars as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun.
Frequency of occurrence
No one has ever seen a transit of Venus from Mars, but the next one will take place on August 19, 2030, and could be observed by space probes or hypothetical Mars colonists. Transits of Venus from Mars occur much more often than transits of Earth from MarsTransit of Earth from Mars
A transit of Earth across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Earth passes directly between the Sun and Mars, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Earth can be seen from Mars as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun...
, and also much more often than transits of Venus from Earth
Transit of Venus
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun...
.
The Venus-Mars synodic period is 333.92 days. It can be calculated using the formula 1/(1/P-1/Q), where P 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 Venus (224.701 days) and Q is the orbital period of Mars (686.98 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' orbit with respect to Mars' 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 1.94°, which is less than its value of 3.39° with respect to Earth's ecliptic.
Series
From empirical observation of transit dates, it appears that transits occur within separate series; within each series, the transits are separated by 24042.45 days (just under 65 years and 10 months). This corresponds to 72 Venus-Mars synodic periods, or 35 Mars orbital periods, or 107 Venus orbital periods.In the table below, series names beginning with "A" are near the ascending node with respect to the Martian 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...
, and occur when Venus has an angular diameter of approximately 23–24". Series names beginning with "D" are near the descending node with respect to the Martian ecliptic, and occur when Venus has an angular diameter of approximately 18–19".
| Transits of Venus from Mars | Series |
|---|---|
| May 3, 1703 | Da1 |
| September 20, 1730 | Aa1 |
| May 2, 1735 | Db2 |
| March 1, 1737 | Db1 |
| July 17, 1764 | Ab1 |
| February 27, 1769 | Da1 |
| July 17, 1796 | Aa1 |
| February 27, 1801 | Db2 |
| May 15, 1830 | Ab1 |
| December 27, 1834 | Da1 |
| May 15, 1862 | Aa1 |
| December 26, 1866 | Db2 |
| March 11, 1896 | Ab1 |
| December 25, 1898 | Da2 |
| October 24, 1900 | Da1 |
| March 12, 1928 | Aa1 |
| October 23, 1932 | Db2 |
| October 22, 1964 | Da2 |
| August 22, 1966 | Da1 |
| January 7, 1994 | Aa1 |
| August 21, 1998 | Db2 |
| August 19, 2030 | Da2 |
| June 18, 2032 | Da1 |
| November 5, 2059 | Aa1 |
| June 17, 2064 | Db2 |
| November 5, 2091 | Ab2 |
| June 16, 2096 | Da2 |
| April 16, 2098 | Da1 |
| September 2, 2125 | Aa1 |
| April 16, 2130 | Db2 |
| September 2, 2157 | Ab2 |
| April 14, 2162 | Da2 |
| February 12, 2164 | Da1 |
| June 30, 2191 | Aa1 |
| February 11, 2196 | Db2 |
| July 1, 2223 | Ab2 |
| February 11, 2228 | Da2 |
| December 11, 2229 | Da1 |
| April 27, 2257 | Aa1 |
| December 10, 2261 | Db2 |
| April 27, 2289 | Ab2 |
| December 8, 2293 | Da2 |
| February 23, 2323 | Aa1 |
| October 8, 2327 | Db2 |
| February 23, 2355 | Ab2 |
| October 7, 2359 | Da2 |
| August 4, 2393 | Db2 |
| December 20, 2420 | Ab2 |
| August 3, 2425 | Da2 |
| December 20, 2452 | Aa2 |
| August 2, 2457 | Db3 |
| June 2, 2459 | Db2 |
Simultaneous transits
The simultaneous occurrence of a transit of MercuryTransit of Mercury from Mars
A transit of Mercury across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Sun and Mars, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars...
and a transit of Venus is extremely rare, but somehow more frequent than from Earth, and will next occur in the years , and .
On several occasions an almost identical event is predicted: a transit of Mercury and a transit of Venus, or transit of Earth
Transit of Earth from Mars
A transit of Earth across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Earth passes directly between the Sun and Mars, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Earth can be seen from Mars as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun...
will follow themselves, one after the other, in an interval of only several hours.
On January 16 transits of Mercury and Venus are separated by 14 hours.
The simultaneous occurrence of a transit of Venus and a transit of Earth
Transit of Earth from Mars
A transit of Earth across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Earth passes directly between the Sun and Mars, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Earth can be seen from Mars as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun...
is extremely rare, and will next occur in the year .
See also
- Astronomical transitAstronomical transitThe 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...
- Transit of Phobos from MarsTransit of Phobos from MarsA transit of Phobos across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when Phobos passes directly between the Sun and a point on the surface of Mars, obscuring a large part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Phobos can be seen from Mars as a large black disc rapidly moving...
- Transit of Deimos from MarsTransit of Deimos from MarsA transit of Deimos across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when Deimos passes directly between the Sun and a point on the surface of Mars, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars...