Tweet 1882 Planet Venus Transits the Sun

In the next few days you may start to hear about a June 5th event in the sky where the planet Venus will cross the sun's surface; from our point of view. This does not happen very often. Some of you may remember that it happened only 8 years ago, but the following pair of transits will be decades from now.

BUT, you don't have to wait to see what the fuss is about. In 1882, a photographer took 147 images of the event. They were stored carefully and have been used to create a video:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... 08756.html" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank



Rick, tried to embed video, go to the first link to read the article and see the video.

I believe the next pair of transits will occur in December 2117 and December 2125. In other words, this will be the last transit to happen in our lifetimes. Unless, of course, someone manages to live 25 - 26+ years into the 22nd century.

Martie

More information, and speculation whether anyone will see both this year's transit and the next one:

Astronomy Picture of the Day.
http://129.164.179.22/apod/ap120603.html" target="_blank

Rick