One of the rarest observable astronomy events took place today as Venus crossed the face of the Sun for the first time in 122 yearsUpdated at 12:25 p.m. ET
One of the rarest observable astronomy events took place today as Venus crossed the face of the Sun for the first time in 122 years. [Animation and Pictures Below]
Ray Hayes captured Venus, the Sun and a reflection off Perdido Bay from Alabama. |
The spectacle was visible from all of Europe and much of Asia and Africa. Some eastern residents of North America had a chance to see the final moments of the transit, which ended around 7:25 a.m. ET.
Images and video of the transit, from telescopes small and large, were posted live on the Internet at several sites around the world. [Spectator Reaction]
Venus transits the face of the Sun on a strange schedule. The last one was in 1882 but the next one comes fairly soon, on June 6, 2012. [History of Venus Transits]
Animation . click to run
National Solar Observatory's GONG program from a telescope in Udaipur, India. Some frames are missing, but the animation shows how the event unfolded.
Also, see vizualization of the entire event as projected in advance by Starry Night software.
Pictures (click to enlarge)
More Transit Images in Gallery 1 and Gallery 2
 | Abe Megahed captured a sequence of images as the transit neared its end, just after sunrise in Madison, Wisconsin. |
 | The transit from NASA's TRACE spacecraft reveals the atmosphere of Venus as a faint ring around the planet. It is sunlight scattered by the Venusian atmosphere -- the equivalent of all the sunrises and sunsets on Venus being seen at once. |
 | Andrew Chaikin spotted the transit at sunrise from the northeastern United States, where it was in progress at sunrise. Venus is visible as a small dot near the lower right of the Sun, behind passing clouds in Earth's atmosphere. |
 | David Quint used a simple projection method for safe viewing, then used a digital camera to separately photograph the projected image. Note that the image of the Sun and Venus is inverted. Columbia, TN was near the edge of the swath from which the event was visible. |
 | Jimmy Westlake took in the view shortly after sunrise from Tybee Island, GA, which is near Savannah. "Venus transits at lower right as passing clouds give the Sun a distinct Venusian appearance," Westlake said. He used an 11-inch telescope. |
 | Jarle Aasland of Stavanger, Norway, found a hole in the clouds and was able to capture this image of the transit. |
 | Andreas Oeverland from Oslo, Norway, participating in the European Southern Observatory's Venus Transit 2004 program. |
 | National Solar Observatory's GONG program from a telescope in Udaipur, India. |
 | The Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope imaged the event just as the Sun is rising from the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa. |
Mercury crossed in front of the Sun last year. See photos.
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More images and video are available from several sites that hosted live webcasts of the Venus transit:
Strange Venus
Venus and Earth are similar in size, mass and composition. Comparisons stop right there. Venus is hotter than an oven, and that's not just a saying. Astronomers once speculated whether it was a desert world or perhaps an oasis. We know now:
Any astronaut who landed on Venus would be simultaneously crushed, roasted, choked and dissolved, scientists say.
Venus has no oceans and no moons. It is covered by thick clouds of sulfur and droplets of sulfuric acid. The dense cloud cover acts as a blanket to trap heat. Atmospheric pressure is 90 times what you are used to. The atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide, which is called a greenhouse gas on Earth.
On Venus, a day is longer than a year and the rotation on its axis is backward. Some fine points:
- Mean Distance from Sun: 67.2 million miles (108.2 million km)
- Orbital Period: 224.695 days
- Rotational Period: 243 days (it backward compared to its orbit and to the rotation of other planets)
- Diameter: 7,520 miles (12,100 km)
- Mass: 82 percent of Earth
- Gravity: 91 percent as of Earth
- Atmosphere: 96 percent carbon dioxide
- Mean Surface Temperature: 855 degrees Fahrenheit (457 Celsius)
On the Record: The composer John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), interested in the 1882 transit of Venus, wrote the "Venus Transit March." Learn more.
SOURCES for this page: NASA's GSFC; Fred Espenak; RAS; ESO; SPACE.com reporting
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