Hi,
In part 1 of this piece I focused on how scientists in the 1770s used the transit of Venus across the sun to work out how far away the sun was from the earth. It was an astonishing thing to do, and in this post I want to look at how the scientists of 2012 are using the same event, and the goal achievement lessons to be found…
I’ve long written about how you can relate the progress of science to goal achievement. Science is all about getting things wrong! A theory is produced, and then science sets about proving whether theory is right or wrong.
If it’s proved right, then it is repeated to confirm it. If a theory is proved wrong, then it’s time to develop a new theory.
In goal achievement, the technique translates very simply – try things! If they work, then great, and if they don’t, you are still taking action and making progress. Do not let someone else tell you what does or doesn’t work – take advice by all means, but nothing can replace actually doing something yourself.
Ok, let’s look at the 2012 Transit of Venus…
That’s what the scientists will be doing! One telescope in orbit, Kepler, is pointed at far away stars, looking for transits of planets. Venus has shown that when it passes across the sun, the light of the sun dims – only fractionally, but enough to be recordable, so Kepler is pointed at other stars to try and spot these light dips which could indicate a planet has passed by.
As for whether a planet might be able to support life? Well, that’s where the 2012 transit comes into play. Another telescope, Hubble will be used to measure how the light from the sun is bent by the atmosphere of Venus as it passes across.
‘But we already know the composition of Venus’s atmosphere!’ I’m sure you’re yelling.
Well, yes we do.
The idea of this Hubble experiment is to see if this system of using the bend of the light from the sun gives an accurate result, and if it does, then it can be used to asses the atmosphere of any planets that Kepler might find.
That’s amazing to me. And even weirder, because the sun is so strong that it might damage Hubble, Hubble is actually pointing at the moon, to use it as a massive mirror, looking at the sun’s reflection instead!
It just boggles my mind when I think about what can be learnt from science, and what is still being discovered this very day.
All that effort over all those years, all those brains at work with new theories, most of which will be wrong!
So, think of your own goal, think about people who have tried it before you – what did they prove to be right, or prove to be wrong?
What theories can you establish as certain steps forward, because those steps can give you the map you need, to get where you want to go, and the results in your life can be astounding.
Ok, do let me know what you think, and feel free to share, like, tweet etc.
‘Til Next time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you read part 1, here’s the link: Goal Achievement – The Transit of Venus Part 1
