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The Transit Of Venus 2012

The Venus Transit 2012 is the most spectacular celestial event of this century. You should not miss it, because the next transit of Venus will only be visible in the year 2117…. Don’t think any of us will be around to see it then! The transit will occur on June 5, 2012 - June 6, 2012.

transit of venus dubaiThe passage of a planet across the face of the Sun is a relatively rare occurrence. Only the transits of Mercury and Venus can be seen from Earth. On average, there are 13 transits of Mercury each century whereas Venus transits occur in pairs with more than a century in between. Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena. They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years.

The last Venus transit was in 2004 and the second event of the pair will occur on Wednesday, June 6 (Tuesday, June 5 from the Western Hemisphere). The entire event will be widely visible from the western Pacific, eastern Asia and eastern Australia as shown in the map from NASA. Most of North and Central America, and northern South America will witness the beginning of the transit (on June 5) but the Sun will set before the event ends. Similarly, observers in Europe, western and central Asia, eastern Africa and western Australia will see the end of the event since the transit will already be in progress at sunrise from those locations.

A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun. The duration of such transits is usually measured in hours (the transit of 2004 lasted six hours). A transit is similar to a solar eclipse by the Moon. While the diameter of Venus is almost four times that of the Moon, Venus appears smaller, and travels more slowly across the face of the Sun, because it is much farther away from Earth. Observations of transits of Venus helped scientists use the principle of parallax to calculate the distance between the Sun and the Earth.

SAFETY WARNING!
A transit of Venus can be safely observed by taking the same precautions used when observing the partial phases of a solar eclipse. Staring at the brilliant disk of the Sun with the unprotected eye can quickly cause serious and often permanent eye damage. Do not be lulled into thinking that you can look safely at the sun while wearing sunglasses, for sunglasses do not protect your eyes sufficiently. So don't try it! You must wear special eclipse shades or a number 14 welders hood or tyou can make a pin hole projector.

There will be lots of live webcasts on the internet during the transit so if you don't have the proper equipment you can watch safely on the net.

The transit will be best viewed from the Pacific Ocean. North America will be able to see the start of the transit, while South Asia, the Middle East, and most of Europe will catch the end of it. The transit will not be visible in most of South America or western Africa. The regions from which the transit is visible are shown in the map below.... courtesy of a map from NASA... cilck on the image for a larger view

transit of venus dubai
Here's some tips on how to view the transit www.transitofvenus.org
 
 
 
 
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