How To Watch Transit Of Venus |
Observing |
Location
Map showing visibility of 2012 transit of Venus. Courtesy of Fred Espenak (NASA GSFC), who provides additional transit of Venus data from NASA.
Whether and when you can see the 2012 transit of Venus depends on your location. Key highlights include the four "contacts" near the beginning and end of the transit when Venus appears to touch the edge of the sun.
Most of North America sees the beginning of the transit in the afternoon and evening ( western horizon!) on June 5,
Whereas much of Eurasia sees the end of the transit in the morning (eastern horizon!) on June 6.
Most of North America sees the beginning of the transit in the afternoon and evening ( western horizon!) on June 5,
Whereas much of Eurasia sees the end of the transit in the morning (eastern horizon!) on June 6.
Timing
The diagram shows the path of Venus across the sun and the contact times from an earth-centeredperspective. However, from different locations on earth, the exact contact times vary by minutes or seconds. That slight difference in times is the essence of a transit's value, for it allowed astronomers to calculate the size of the solar system. The entire event takes about 6 hours 40 minutes. The times in the diagram are in Universal Time, or essentially Greenwich Time.