Interesting

The 2012 Transit of Venus

Venus will pass in front of the solar disk on Tuesday, June 5. The next transit will not occur again until 2117, so don’t miss one of the rarest of sky shows

Features

Crossing the Sun: The Last Transit of Venus until 2117

This week will be the last opportunity this century to see the planet Venus as a little black dot moving across the solar disk—a rare event with a long, important history in astronomy

Features

Crossing the Sun: The Last Transit of Venus until 2117

This week will be the last opportunity this century to see the planet Venus as a little black dot moving across the solar disk—a rare event with a long, important history in astronomy

Features

Crossing the Sun: The Last Transit of Venus until 2117

This week will be the last opportunity this century to see the planet Venus as a little black dot moving across the solar disk—a rare event with a long, important history in astronomy

Features

Crossing the Sun: The Last Transit of Venus until 2117

This week will be the last opportunity this century to see the planet Venus as a little black dot moving across the solar disk—a rare event with a long, important history in astronomy

Live Chat: The 2012 Transit of Venus, with SA Editor George Musser

Musser, who covers space for SA, will help us prepare to watch Tuesday’s transit and explain the science behind this rare astronomical event

venus transit, venus, sun, Image: Flickr/NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Join us below at 3 pm Eastern on Tuesday (June 5) for a live 30-minute online chat with SA Editor George Musser, who will discuss the transit of Venus occurring later that evening. We invite you to post chat questions in advance in the comments below.

On June 5 in the Americas and June 6 in the rest of the world, people will be able to see one of the rarest predictable events in astronomy: a solar transit of the planet Venus. Over a six-hour period the disk of Venus will be silhouetted against the sun. Seeing it safely requires a special eye-protection filter, or a telescope or binoculars can safely project an image onto a wall or sheet of paper. But if you miss it, your next chance won’t come until the year 2117.