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Next week will be the last opportunity this century to see the planet Venus as a little black dot moving across the solar disk--a rare event with a long, important history in astronomy
May 31, 2012 | 10
The planet Mercury transited the sun on November 8, 2006. This image shows a sunspot at bottom with the smaller silhouette of Mercury to its right; the limb of the sun is noticeably darkened....[More]
The upcoming transit of Venus will be visible on June 5 in the Americas and on June 6 in Europe and Asia. This map shows the timing of the contacts : first contact is the initial touch of Venus and the sun as seen from Earth; second contact is when Venus is just inside the sun's disk; third contact is when Venus is about to leave the disk; and fourth contact is the final separation of Venus and the sun....[More]
Jeremiah Horrox made a drawing of the December 4, 1639, transit of Venus, which was later reproduced in this form in Johannes Hevelius's 1662 book on the previous year's transit of Mercury....[More]
The most recent transit of Venus occurred on June 8, 2004. This image was taken from the observatory of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, with a Nikon 500-millimeter telephoto lens on a Nikon D100 camera through a Thousand Oaks Optical solar filter....[More]
NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft captured this series of images of the 2004 transit over an approximately 20-minute period....[More]
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10 Comments
Add CommentIf it's cloudy, I guess I'll have to wait until the next transit. I'm 71. I should still be around in 2117.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am a year younger so I'll defenitely be there.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would like to know what Carlyle and Grumpyoleman are taking, I am 68 and would love to be around for it too.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTry a pinch of salt:)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanks for making me smile with that unexpected comeback,just whats needed on a rainy day
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi'm in my early 40's, and i surely wouldn't mind being around if i could have my young body back...the one before all the pieces missing and implanted replacement parts; the one that wasn't in constant pain. i would love to hang around then! there's way too much stuff that i'll never get to do that i'd love to drink in! You guys wanna join me in 2117 for a game of kick-the-can before the big event? :)
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Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishave not heard of "kick the can" since I was a child in Scotland. Word to the wise, take a page out of my hero Stephen Hawings' book, a healthy mind will take you farther than physical shortcomings, so hang in there and if we cannot kick the can we can enjoy remembering it.
I'm going to take my grandkids and drive 200+ miles to where there won't be clouds. As much as we'd like it, it is doubtful any of us will be around for the next one. :o)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGrumpyoleman ,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisu r going to be alive for 105 years more ?
Hope u r not one of those greedy bankers !
Venus is a star, not a mere planet. I mean Venus Williams.
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