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Name: Peter C.
Status: educator
Age: 20s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 12/12/2004
Question:
I was recently reading a popular fictional novel and it said that if one were to track Venus' transit through the night sky, it would seem as though it would form the shape of a 5 pointed star through course of eight years. I would like to know if this is true.

Replies:
Have you seen a Spirograph drawing toy (or the applet)?

http://accessarts.org/ArtKids/spirograph/

You could use this to explain how it is possible for any orbit to define a track such as a five-pointed star by showing the ellipsoidal path. I do not know if Venus actually tracks that way, but I do not think it should be remarkable.

Greg (Roberto Gregorius)


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