"Transit of Venus" by John Philip Sousa. Philadelphia: J.W. Pepper, 1896.
As seen from the Earth, the planet Venus will move across the face of the sun on June 5, 2012. This week’s featured sheet music celebrates this rare orbit with John Philip Sousa’s commemorative march, part of a Transit of Venus presentation created in the Performing Arts Encyclopedia with the help of NASA scientist Sten Odenwald.
Next week Odenwald will be at the Library to discuss “A Rare Astronomical Event: Transit of Venus” at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 8, in the Mary Pickford Theater on the third floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary. The illustrated lecture is presented through a collaboration between the Library’s Science, Technology and Business Division and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Read the Library’s press release for more information.