For many of us, the past two years have delivered a lesson in not taking things for granted. The chaos of the pandemic disrupted relationships, trade and the privileges we often enjoy without a second thought.
As a resolute chaser of celestial spectacles, I’ve spent my career traveling to witness some of the greatest sights in the sky. Indeed, I’ve been fortunate enough to check off practically every entry on the astronomical bucket list thanks to the convenience of the global travel network. Only when it ground to a halt in 2020 did I fully realize how lucky I’ve been.
Now, the opportunities are returning once more, but some events are just too rare. That’s why 10 years ago, with no concept of a global lockdown in my mind, I embarked on a 16,000-mile (26,000 kilometers) round trip to witness something that would never again occur in my lifetime: a transit of Venus.
It was not only the ability to travel that made this experience possible, but also the astonishing predictive power of modern astronomy. With the exception of meteor storms, unexpected comets and supernovas, it’s virtually inconceivable that anyone could be taken by surprise with a celestial event. Eclipses, for example, will never sneak up on any of us again.
We didn’t always wield such predictive power, of course. In 1610, Galileo (opens in new tab) broke new ground when he observed for the first time the phases of Venus, publishing his drawings in 1623. His contemporary Johannes Kepler (opens in new tab) later published the world’s most accurate tables of the solar system, based upon the best observations available to him. These tables were much anticipated and very good for the day, but not perfect.
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