No one alive today has seen this sight, and it happens only twice this century. For the first time since 1882, Venus will glide across (transit) the face of the Sun on June 8, 2004, taking a little more than 6 hours to complete its journey. The entire transit is visible from Europe, Africa (except the far west), the Middle East, and Asia (except the far east). For observers in eastern and central North America, the Sun rises with the transit in progress. A magnified view of the Sun (which requires a proper solar filter) will reveal the black dot of Venus slowly moving across the Sun’s face from celestial east to west. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the transit is watching Venus enter and exit the solar disk — a process that takes about 20 minutes.
The tables on the following three pages give predictions of contacts (truncated to the whole minute) for a number of locations around the world. Page 2 lists cities in North and South America (and western Africa) where the transit is in progress at sunrise. Cities located in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia where the entire transit is visible are listed on page 3, while on page 4 are cities in Australia and southeast Asia where the Sun sets before the transit ends. All contacts are given in civil time, including daylight-saving ("summer") time where in use.
The entire transit of Venus is visible from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. If you live outside these regions, the transit will either be underway at sunrise or interrupted by sunset. Sky & Telescope illustration. During the transit there are four instants when the disks of Venus and the Sun make contact with each other at a single point. Contacts I and IV occur just as Venus initially touches (I) or finally departs (IV) the solar disk. At Contact II Venus appears fully entered upon the Sun, and a thread of light is seen between the planet and the Sun's edge. At Contact III the reverse is true; Venus begins to leave the solar face and the last thread of sunlight separating the planet from the blackness at the edge of the solar disk vanishes.
Eye safety is a prime consideration when you’re viewing the solar surface (with or without Venus in transit). Always use a safe solar filter or an indirect projection technique, even when the Sun is low on the horizon. In the solar section of this Web site are numerous articles that explain solar filters and describe how to safely view the Sun
Weather also needs to be considered — you won't see the transit if it's cloudy at your observing site. Canadian meteorologist Jay Anderson has published some data and a weather map on his Web site.
taken from http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_1021_1.asp How it changed my life:people whose star signs belong to venus might experiecne somethings like a wave of a bad luck You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or interesting stories for the world to read and respond to Click hereScroll all the way down to read replies.Show all stories by Author: 19871 ( Click here )
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