Community Corner
Venus Transit Day 2012: Don't Miss This Twice-in-a-Lifetime Experience
Election Day is special, but this is more so: See a marvel of the solar system starting at 3 p.m. Tuesday when the planet crosses the face of the sun.
Get ready for a rare astronomical and skywatching event Tuesday: 2012's passage or transit of the planet Venus across the face of the sun.
Locally, the transit will begin about 3:04 p.m. and will be visible in its entirety only from the western Pacific, eastern Asia, and eastern Australia and at high northern latitudes. It will take place Wednesday for skywatchers in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Here's some facts:
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- The Transit of Venus happens in pairs, every century. The last time it occurred was in 2004 and it's not set to happen again until ... 2117. So don't miss out.
- NASA is going to webcast the transit from atop the summit of Mauna Kea, HI where high-powered telescopes operate.
- Safety first: Never look directly at the sun!
- You can click here for Venus transit of 2012 tips on how to see Venus cross the face of the sun in this SPACE.com infographic.
So, what will you see? Over a seven-hour span, Venus will trek across the solar disk, appearing in silhouette as a slow-moving tiny black dot, weather permitting, according to the NASA website.
"Only six such events have occurred since the invention of the telescope," said astrophysicist Sten Odenwald, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., in a statement.
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How to Watch
The key to watching it is to find an unobstructed view of the horizon. It is recommended that you observe from the top of a high building. The transit will occur near the lower rim of the sun, according to NASA.
The transit will be visible to the
Remember, the transit will be shown on NASA TV, which is available on many cable and satellite transmission systems, and on NASA TV's website.