I’M SURE most of you are aware that I’m ‘the Star Lady’ and that I run the Planetarium at the University of Guam, but in this column I try to feature all sorts of scientific news. However, next week we have a couple of very interesting and unusual sky events that you’ll want to know about for a couple of reasons.

Although you probably missed it, there was a partial solar eclipse over Guam on Monday morning, the 21st of May. I called it the Commuter Eclipse because it happened between 7 and 9 a.m. The Moon only covered about a third of the Sun and not too many people saw it here because of the clouds.

Next Monday evening, June 4, we’re going to have a partial lunar eclipse. Now lunar eclipses aren’t particularly unusual: There are usually two lunar eclipses each year and they also occur in pairs with solar eclipses. Whenever there’s a solar eclipse at new Moon, there’s always a lunar eclipse visible somewhere on Earth either at the full Moon two weeks before the solar eclipse or two weeks after.

But here’s the unusual thing. Solar and lunar eclipses do occur in pairs, but it is not common at all to be able to see both pairs. In the 20 years that I’ve been the Star Lady, we’ve never been able to see both the lunar and solar eclipse of an eclipse pair.

You may have missed the partial solar eclipse, but you stand a pretty fair chance of seeing the partial lunar eclipse on Monday. Earth’s shadow will cover about a third of the Moon just as the Moon’s shadow covered about a third of the Sun in the solar eclipse.

To see it, just go outside next Monday night, the 4th of June, and find the full Moon in the eastern sky. The eclipse starts at 8 p.m. (although there won’t be much to see), reaches maximum coverage just after 9 p.m. and will be over by 10 p.m.

I’ve commented many times that watching a lunar eclipse is sort of like watching paint dry, so I recommend that you go outside a few minutes before 9 p.m. and find the Moon. If it’s cloudy, keep checking until the clouds part in the Moon’s vicinity. And, of course, since Pacific Islanders and most Asians have the belief that a lunar eclipse can harm an unborn baby, if you’re pregnant you might want to stay indoors on Monday night.

There’s a much rarer event happening on Wednesday of next week. In fact, it’s literally a once-in-a-lifetime event. We’re having a transit of Venus. A transit occurs when Venus passes directly between Earth and the Sun and appears as a small moving black dot on the Sun’s face. Venusian transits occur in pairs eight years apart and we saw a portion of the first transit of this pair in 2004 on Guam. The next transit of Venus is in 2115 and trust me, you’ll miss it!

Seeing a transit of Venus involves looking at the Sun and that’s a dangerous proposition. You can use a mirror to reflect the Sun’s image into a darkened area or you can use a pair of #15 welder’s goggles to look directly at the Sun. Venus is large enough that you don’t need magnification to see it. But remember YOU DO NEED EYE PROTECTION!

I’ll have some viewing stations set up in the covered walkway between the Science Building and the classroom annex to the north of the building on Transit Day. The transit will start shortly after 8 a.m. and after that, Venus will make its slow progress across the face of the Sun. It will leave the Sun’s face around 2:30 p.m. and I plan to be there for the entire transit. (Barring necessity breaks.)

Like the lunar eclipse, watching the entire Venusian transit would be very much like watching paint dry, but there is this to think about. You’ll never see another Venusian transit. So why don’t you stop by UOG sometime between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the 6th of June and witness a once-in-a-lifetime event with the Star Lady.

I’m going to Cairns, Australia in November for the total solar eclipse with the nice folks at KPRG and I’ll have information about that trip. I hope you can join me to witness celestial mechanics in action!