Presenting Venus!

Venus favors the bold.

~~ Ovid {Publius Ovidius Naso}, Roman Poet, traditionally ranked alongside Virgil and Horace as one of the three Canonic Poets of Latin literature, 43 BC – AD 17/18

The smallest children are nearest to God, as the smallest planets are nearest the sun.

~~ Jean Paul Richter {Johann Paul Friedrich Richter}, German Romantic Writer, Novelist, and Humorist, 1763-1825

As many of you are aware, Venus, the planet of Love and Beauty, completed a rare transit of the Sun, which is when Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, on Tuesday/Wednesday, 5/6 June 2012. Unless you plan to live to a very ripe old age, this was a once in a lifetime event as the next transit of Venus will not occur until 11 December 2117. That would make me 798 dog years old! But that's O.K. because isn't 798 the new 564? Just sayin'...

If I eat healthy, don't slack on exercise, and maintain a positive and happy disposition, I think I can make it to 798 dog years.

Anywoofs, my human, K, and her brother headed out to capture Venus using binoculars and blank sheets of paper. K is a scientist and loves astronomy. Below are just a few of their results:

First attempt, approximately one hour after the start of the show. {It's the little black dot, lower right.}

A little later. Incredible! {It's the little black dot, lower right.}

That is Venus, folks! {It's the little black dot, lower right.}

~~ MOMENT OF BEAUTY ~~

Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr, The heliocentric motions of the inferior planets Mercury and Venus during the year 1710 with two diagrams depicting the transit of Mercury across the Sun on 5 November 1710 and the (predicted) transit of Venus across the Sun on 6 June 1761 [Venus in her chariot passes between the Sun and Earth], circa Unknown (first published in Johann Baptist Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten (Nuremberg, 1712))

Ford Madox Brown, Crabtree Watching the Transit of Venus AD 1639, circa 1879-1893 (mural at Manchester Town Hall, Greater Manchester, England)

Alexandros of Antioch, Venus de Milo (or, Aphrodite of Milos), circa 130 and 100 BC (Musée du Louvre, Paris, France)

Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus (or, La Nascita di Venere), circa 1482-1486 (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy)

Back to me...

K's brother, in a burst of creative thinking, decided to capture Venus on his Mercedes-Benz. It turned out to be more difficult than thought, but still, even I concur the results are very cool:

Venus in the Mercedes-Benz logo. {It's the little black dot, a little bit left of center at bottom of logo.}

How cool is that? {It's the little black blurry dot, middle right edge of logo.}

This got me thinking, why didn't K have a burst of creativity and capture Venus on me? I probably would have been the only pup in the World to have had a planet on me!

Nice try but Venus is not elongated.

Very good, almost had me fooled.

I don't think Venus looks like a Ladybug.

I suppose I could wait 105 years for my next chance at getting a picture of Venus on me. But probably by then I could just put on a jet pack and fly there myself for a picture of me on Venus. I'm just sayin'...