Don’t ask how many opthalmologists were involved with the transit of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun. Their involvement would not speak well of the intelligence of those dotty people who thought they could peer directly into the burning globe and see a dot 1/100 the size of the Sun. Give them an A for enthusiasm, but their eyes fail.

Otherwise the rare transit of Venus has many historical precedents, such as sending Captain Cook out into the Pacific to Tahiti and then on the yet ‘undiscovered’ (by Europeans) continent of Australia. It is also used to check relative sizes of planets, distances from the Sun, inspect the nature of atmospheres (obviously that of Venus), and confirm the accuracy of various celestial mechanics calculations. This is only the 7th time the transit has been observed with telescopes powerful enough to make useful scientific observation. The next one will be in 2117.

To those who joined the party, salut! Science-based parties are rare enough, not quite as rare as a Venus/Sun transit, but still something to be celebrated.