Rare Venus Transit Transfixes Globe

A rare Venus transit took place June 5-6. The planet can next be seen to cross the Sun from the Earth’s perspective in 2117. The transit was visible for at least part of its 6 hour 40 minute journey across the face of the Sun from large swathes of the globe. Some would-be observers struggled with [...]

New Yorkers gathered to watch the transit (Credits: Andrew Burton/Getty Images).
A rare Venus transit took place June 5-6. The planet can next be seen to cross the Sun from the Earth’s perspective in 2117.
The transit was visible for at least part of its 6 hour 40 minute journey across the face of the Sun from large swathes of the globe.
Some would-be observers struggled with cloud cover, making any glimpse of the event cause for jubilation.

Observers in Svalbards just managed to catch a glimpse of the transit's beginning (Credits: Michel Breitfellner and Miguel Perez Ayucar/ESAC).
Unbound by weather constraints, NASA’s space based Solar Dynamics Observatory transmitted live images of the transit starting from Venus’ approaching the coronasphere.
Venus' first "contact" with the Sun's edge (Credits: SDO/NASA).
Aside from making for a spectacular view, scientists hope the transit can ...