The transit of Venus is an exciting and possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In the next few days (June 5 – 6) star-watching and planet-watching people all over the globe will have the rare opportunity in the astronomical realm when Venus is visible in the transit across the sky and sun. This will not happen again in this century.
What exactly is the “Transit of Venus”? And why is it so special?
Two questions that my family and I had so I did some research and found this information.
Venus crosses between earth and the sun (the planet Venus is visible in front of the sun) and this is what scientists call a “transit”. As Venus travels and the earth travels in its own orbit, Venus will move across the sun and we, on earth, will see a small black dot on the sun. One site I read referred to it as a small black beauty mark on the sun.
Because of the way the earth and Venus are tilted and how the respective planets are tilted on their axis the movement of Venus across the sun is very rare – happening in a pair, 8 years from each other and that is only every 100 years. (June 8, 2004 was the last time and in 2117 it will happen again – that is over 100 years from today!)
Here is some information/links that may be of interest to you. Just remember – do NOT look directly into the sun while viewing Venus. Use a pinhole camera or other safety device. Info on Transit of Venus. Those of us in Central Florida can view it generally in the evening of June 5.