It is often a very rare experience to see the transit of Venus across the Sun. Kind of like the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series, which they haven't done for over 100 years.
Assuming that skies over Alaska are clear on June 5, residents should be able to see the very small circle of Venus take some six hours to cross the Sun. Observers in the lower 48 should be able to see a portion of the transit, but not the complete one. If you miss this transit, the next one is not due until December 2117.
But remember to BE CAREFUL AND NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WITH YOUR NAKED EYES OR THROUGH A TELESCOPE OR BINOCULARS. You could damage your eyes.
You can also check on the Internet or television for reports and photos of the transit of Venus. The NASA website is one possible source. I also found a vendor called Rainbow Symphony in Astronomy magazine which sells "Safe Solar Viewers" like goggles or solar shades (certified safe for solar viewing). You can go to the company website and order one.
I took the old fashioned way ---called them on the phone. At first they said I'd have to buy at least 25 of the viewers at less than one dollar each. But when I said I only wanted one, they advised me to send them a stamped self-addressed envelope and a one-dollar bill and they would mail me one. I ordered and now am waiting.
Their snail mail address is Rainbow Symphony, 6860 Canby Ave., Suite 120, Reseda, CA 91335.
On the Internet, there are some other reportedly safe ways of protecting your eyes, but be careful.
I remember a transit of Mercury in Barrow in 2006 and a learning experience then. I was very careful not to look at the Sun through my Unitron 2.4-inch refractor telescope. I let the scope project the Sun on a big piece of paper. I had to keep moving the scope and the paper while I walked on the tundra in our backyard.
I think I got the Sun projected in focus for a bit, but the problem was that Mercury is quite a bit smaller than Venus, and I saw nothing of the little planet. And it was not easy keeping the telescope on the Sun without being able to look directly through it. But I felt good just to be part of the event, in my own small way.
Recently on the 15-minute interview that KBRW Manager Bob Thomas and I do on Thursday mornings, we spoke about the upcoming transit of Venus with Jeff Hall, the director of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ.
Answering a question from Bob, he said that astronomers now have a pretty precise idea of how far we are from the Sun, so observing such transits is generally just a fun-type experience.
But, he added, charting a transit is a way that astronomers now can find planets around other stars. When a planet moves in front of its star the amount of light from that star diminishes. Not much, but enough to be noticed by sophisticated telescopes on Earth.
So, we may not be the only ones following this upcoming transit. Perhaps there are astronomers on a planet going around the nearest star -- Proxima Centauri -- who will be closely watching our Sun to verify that it has at least one planet.
These are exciting times. Keep looking up! But be very careful around the Sun.
Earl Finkler Earl Finkler is a former resident of Barrow and host of the Morning Show on KBRW Barrow -- serving the North Slope. He now lives in Medford, Wisconsin, with his wife Chris and former Barrow Husky "Avu."
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch. Alaska Dispatch welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.