PURPOSE

To determine accurate value of the length of Astronomical Unit in kilometers using

images of the transit of Venus of June 8,2004 seen from three different places on earth
 BASIC THEORY
 Transit occurs when a planet passes directly between earth and sun, we see the dark
silhouette move across the face of sun
 Using observations of Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler was able to determine the
relative sizes of the orbits of the planets in terms of the distance from the earth to the
sun, the Astronomical Unit.
 If we observe from two different places at same particular time we will get angular
shift of dark silhouette or parralax, this value is depended on baseline distance and
thus we can find length of astronomical unit

Des
Des = Distance between center of earth to
center of sun
Dev = Distance between center of earth to
center of venus
 𝜋 𝑚
  = Angular Shift Of Dark Silhoute of Venus
Dev 𝐵=𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒
 
 = Sun Rays
= Projector Plane B’
B
= Maximum Baseline
= Projected Baseline C
C = Reference Site*
A’
A

*reference site is a place on earth, when the sun transit exactly

in zenith in that time. This point connecting the center of the
earth to the center of the sun
 DATA RESOURCES
 Images of GONG telescope of venus Transit
 CLEA Software for displaying and measuring the position of Venus on the GONG
images
 PROCEDURES
A. Procedures of collecting data
 We use CLEA software to observe simulation of Venus transit on June 8,2004
 We run the program and rechord some datas in certain places on earth (Teide, Canary
island 28° 18' 03.0" N 16° 30' 43.0" W ; Udaipur, India 24° 36' 53.8" N 73° 40' 10.9"
E ; Learmonth, WA Australia 22° 13' 06.6" S 114° 06' 09.8" E)
 PROCEDURES
A. Procedures of collecting data
 The data that we need are relative coordinate of dark silhouette of venus at the face of
sun, time of observation
 From 2 different observation places we can get the angular shifted of dark silhouette
of venus or parralax
 PROCEDURES
A. Procedures of collecting data
 After we finished collecting data we ‘ll get this data
Site ID: TD 6/8/2004 8:35:16 2453165 0.03595 -0.67538
Site Location: Teide, Canary Islands 6/8/2004 8:40:16 2453165 0.05412 -0.67558
Longitude 6/8/2004 8:45:16 2453165 0.07706 -0.67576
(degs) Latitude (degs)
-16.5119 28.30083 6/8/2004 8:50:16 2453165 0.09722 -0.67588
6/8/2004 8:55:16 2453165 0.12012 -0.67744
Date UT Julian Date X Y 6/8/2004 9:00:16 2453165 0.14156 -0.67746
6/8/2004 7:05:16 2453165 -0.34374 -0.66916 6/8/2004 9:05:16 2453165 0.16164 -0.67756
6/8/2004 7:10:16 2453165 -0.32409 -0.67214 6/8/2004 9:10:16 2453165 0.18438 -0.67785
6/8/2004 7:15:16 2453165 -0.30318 -0.67232
6/8/2004 9:15:16 2453165 0.20439 -0.67815
6/8/2004 7:20:16 2453165 -0.28358 -0.67225
6/8/2004 9:20:16 2453165 0.22548 -0.67801
6/8/2004 7:25:16 2453165 -0.26235 -0.6724
6/8/2004 7:30:16 2453165 -0.24122 -0.67251 6/8/2004 9:25:16 2453165 0.24675 -0.67812
6/8/2004 7:35:16 2453165 -0.2152 -0.67271 6/8/2004 9:30:16 2453165 0.26929 -0.67803
6/8/2004 7:40:16 2453165 -0.19549 -0.67285 6/8/2004 9:35:16 2453165 0.28926 -0.67799
6/8/2004 7:45:16 2453165 -0.17436 -0.67281 6/8/2004 9:40:16 2453165 0.31534 -0.67791
6/8/2004 7:50:16 2453165 -0.15328 -0.67283 6/8/2004 9:45:16 2453165 0.33519 -0.67793
6/8/2004 8:00:16 2453165 -0.11097 -0.67285
6/8/2004 9:50:16 2453165 0.3551 -0.67794
6/8/2004 8:05:16 2453165 -0.09256 -0.67283
6/8/2004 9:55:16 2453165 0.37767 -0.67787
6/8/2004 8:10:16 2453165 -0.06995 -0.67295
6/8/2004 8:15:16 2453165 -0.04993 -0.67305 6/8/2004 10:00:16 2453165 0.399 -0.67794
6/8/2004 8:20:16 2453165 -0.02857 -0.67328 6/8/2004 10:05:16 2453165 0.41894 -0.67794
6/8/2004 8:25:16 2453165 -0.00704 -0.67361 6/8/2004 10:10:16 2453165 0.44025 -0.67805
6/8/2004 8:30:16 2453165 0.01443 -0.67529 6/8/2004 10:15:16 2453165 0.46147 -0.67819
 PROCEDURES
Site ID: UD
Site Location: Udaipur, India
Longitude
(degs) Latitude (degs)
73.66969 24.61494

Date UT Julian Date X Y

6/8/2004 7:05:16 2453165 -0.32915 -0.65822
6/8/2004 7:10:16 2453165 -0.30753 -0.65824
6/8/2004 7:15:16 2453165 -0.28689 -0.65851
6/8/2004 7:20:16 2453165 -0.26741 -0.65866
6/8/2004 7:25:16 2453165 -0.2458 -0.65878
6/8/2004 7:30:16 2453165 -0.22417 -0.65898
6/8/2004 7:35:16 2453165 -0.20254 -0.6592
6/8/2004 7:40:16 2453165 -0.18089 -0.65932
6/8/2004 7:45:16 2453165 -0.15806 -0.65955
6/8/2004 7:50:16 2453165 -0.13773 -0.65983
6/8/2004 8:10:16 2453165 -0.05118 -0.66049
6/8/2004 8:30:16 2453165 0.03704 -0.66317
6/8/2004 8:35:16 2453165 0.0586 -0.66331
6/8/2004 9:45:16 2453165 0.35919 -0.66853
6/8/2004 10:05:16 2453165 0.44756 -0.67071
6/8/2004 10:10:16 2453165 0.46922 -0.67089
6/8/2004 10:15:16 2453165 0.49082 -0.67106
6/8/2004 10:20:16 2453165 0.51216 -0.67123
6/8/2004 10:25:16 2453165 0.53364 -0.67292
6/8/2004 10:30:16 2453165 0.55519 -0.673
6/8/2004 10:40:16 2453165 0.59856 -0.67341
6/8/2004 10:50:16 2453165 0.64327 -0.67542
 PROCEDURES
Site ID: LE
Site Location: Learmonth, Western Australia

Longitude (degs) Latitude (degs)

114.1027 -22.2185

Date UT Julian Date X Y

6/8/2004 6:55:16 2453165 -0.36417 -0.63958
6/8/2004 7:25:16 2453165 -0.23156 -0.64219
6/8/2004 7:35:16 2453165 -0.19042 -0.64261
6/8/2004 7:40:16 2453165 -0.16834 -0.64283
6/8/2004 7:50:16 2453165 -0.12573 -0.64335
6/8/2004 7:55:16 2453165 -0.10387 -0.64353
6/8/2004 8:00:16 2453165 -0.082 -0.64506
6/8/2004 8:05:16 2453165 -0.0602 -0.64553
6/8/2004 8:10:16 2453165 -0.03909 -0.6468
6/8/2004 8:15:16 2453165 -0.01764 -0.64699
6/8/2004 8:25:16 2453165 0.02623 -0.64759
6/8/2004 8:35:16 2453165 0.06875 -0.64796
6/8/2004 8:40:16 2453165 0.09039 -0.64973
6/8/2004 8:45:16 2453165 0.11369 -0.64981
6/8/2004 8:50:16 2453165 0.13251 -0.6502
 PROCEDURES
B. Procedures of processing data
 After we get all data that we need we should plot data into graph
 PROCEDURES
B. Procedures of processing data
 After we get all data that we need we should plot data into graph
 PROCEDURES

Des
Des = Distance between center of earth to
center of sun (AU)
Dev = Distance between center of earth to
center of venus (AU)
𝜋
  𝑚
  = Angular Shift Of Dark Silhoute of Venus (‘’)
Dev   (km)

  A (km)

 A =
 PROCEDURES
Bp(UD- Bm(TD- Bp(TD- Bm(TD-
Des Dev 𝜋(UD-LE) Bm(UD-LE) 𝜋(TD-LE) Bp(TD-LE) 𝜋(TD-UD) A (UD-LE) A (TD-LE) A (TD-UD) Solar Radius ('')
A. Procedures
LE) of collecting data LE) UD) UD)

1.01507 0.28888 0.02359 6207.05 6484.98             142169468.3     945.395

1.01507 0.28888 0.02345 6181.75 6484.98             142435297.4    

1.01508 0.28888 0.02261 6004.97 6484.98             143503012.4    

1.01508 0.28888 0.02163 5745.44 6484.98             143521681    
1.01508 0.28888 0.02073 5480.1 6484.98 0.04104 11725.36 11794.86 0.02058 6555.69 8093.31 142836736.7 154372370 172117003.5

1.01508 0.28888 0.02042 5383.65 6484.98 0.04139 11762.05 11794.86 0.02135 6730.53 8093.31 142453071.7 153545938 170334305.1

1.01508 0.28888 0.02026 5334.05 6484.98 0.04156 11775.4 11794.86 0.02173 6814.96 8093.31 142255275 153091426 169454974.7

1.01509 0.28888 0.01994 5232.23 6484.98 0.04187 11791.78 11794.86 0.02247 6977.37 8093.31 141779719.5 152169932 167780359.8

1.01509 0.28888 0.01909 4964.29 6484.98 0.04247 11769.86 11794.86 0.02423 7342.18 8093.31 140508842.3 149741258 163728413.4

1.01509 0.28888 0.01856 4796.06 6484.98 0.04269 11711.66 11794.86 0.0252 7530.08 8093.31 139623678.6 148232946 161454996.5

1.01509 0.28888 0.01838 4739.05 6484.98 0.04274 11684.51 11794.86 0.02551 7587.19 8093.31 139315110.5 147716302 160702614.1

1.01509 0.28888             0.02887 8070.18 8093.31     151038922.1

1.01509 0.28888             0.02949 8093.21 8093.31     148285428.7

1.01509 0.28888       0.02962 8090.72 8093.31     147589192.8

𝐵 ×( 𝐷 𝑒𝑠 − 𝐷 𝑒𝑣 ) ×206265
1.01509 0.28888        
𝐴=
𝜋 𝑚 × 𝐷 𝑒𝑠 × 𝐷 𝑒𝑣 0.02994 8063.46 8093.31     145519796.9

1.01509 0.28888       0.03003 8047.77 8093.31     144801367.7

1.01509 0.28888             0.03018 8006.53 8093.31     143343346.7

1.01509 0.28888             0.03029 7952.21 8093.31     141853810.7 A AVERAGE

 AVERAG
                    141854717.6 151267168 156286038.1 149802641.1
E
 PROCEDURES

A (UD-LE) A (TD-LE) A (TD-UD) Standard Deviation

141854717.6 km 151267168 km 156286038.1 km 149802641.1 km ±7326280.162 km

  𝑖

𝑆𝑇𝐷 =
STD = Standard Deviation
√ ∑ ( 𝐴 𝑖 − 𝐴 )2
𝑛=3
𝑁 −1

Ai = Sample of data
  = Average value of datas
N = Number of datas
 PROCEDURES
C. Procedures of anallyzing data
After we plot the datas into graph we can see that the longer we observed the smaller
parralax we got, we expect that it’s caused by inclination of axis rotation of the earth
so to minimize the error we should take the average value of this datas.

in this observation we get two kinds of baseline, maximum baseline and projected
baseline
maximum baseline can be gotten using geometrical calculation
PROCEDURES

b
a
A
c B
𝑎  2 =𝑏2 +𝑐 2 − 2 𝑏𝑐 ×cos 𝐴
 PROCEDURES
C. Procedures of anallyzing data
Meanwhile the projected baseline we can get by projecting the maximum baseline
into perpendicular line between sun and earth.
and the value of projected baseline will change by time caused by movement of
maximum baseline following movement of earth’s rotation
 QUESTION
1. If one observing site is further north on the earth than the other, which transit track
should appear the farthest north on the sun? Why?
The souther observing site, the norther transit track should appear. It happens because of
parralax efect and from three different places the farthest north track on the sun is seen
from Learmonth Australia.
 QUESTION
2. Which transit track should appear the farthest south on the sun?

Because of parralax efect,from three different places the farthest south track on the
sun is seen from El Teide, Canary island .
 QUESTION

3. The observing sites also differ in that they are spread out east to west on the earth.
If observations of the silhouette of Venus are made at exactly the same time (UT)
from all three sites, which site will see Venus further to the east on the sun? Which
site will see Venus further to the west?
Venus will be seen further west from the easter longitude, in this case is Learmonth,
Australia. And will be seen further east from wester longitude, in this case is El Teide,
Canary Island.
 QUESTION

4. Since are three sites, how many parallax shifts could you measure from the date? Is
it better to use just one, or to measure all of them and take an average?
There are 6 paralax measurement we get from that three site. We expected, its would
be better if we take the average value in each site. Then, we take the average from
that three sites to get the final average. Because, more datas we take, the smaller
deviation would we get.
 CONCLUSSION
From this observation we got that 1 AU is equal to 149,802,641.1 kilometers,
meanwhile in reality, the length of 1 AU is equal to 149,597,871 kilometers.
Some errors calculation may happen because of error parralax and projected baseline
due to earth rotation