Venus Transit 2012 – Once in a Lifetime Celestial Event (VIDEO)
Hey, get out your welder’s glasses, and check out the Venus Transit that’s happening Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on where you live.
This celestial event has been seen only once in 129 years, and showcases Venus moving between the Earth and the Sun. The transit produces a small black spot across the Sun’s surface. This is similar to a lunar eclipse. Although Venus is three times as big as the moon, its distance from the Earth causes it to appear as a smaller moving disk.
The last transit occurred in 2004 and lasted six hours. The pair of transits are usually eight years apart, and won’t be repeated again until 2117. This pattern is separated by gaps of 122 years and 106 years.
“People watching this event through some form of safe solar viewer will see the small, dark silhouette of Venus crossing the sun’s face over the course of about six hours,” says Jay Pasachoff, an astronomer at Williams College in Massachusetts.
Check out the video below and these National Geographic pics. Also, don’t forget your filtered glasses. The safest way to view the transit is through a telescope or binoculars. Happy stargazing!
