Depending where in the world you are, a rare astronomical event will occur either June 5, or June 6. In the western hemisphere, the transit of Venus will begin in the afternoon on June 5, but in the eastern hemisphere, the transit can be observed starting at sunrise on June 6 (and, unfortunately, there are places in the world from which it can’t be viewed).

Venus will pass across the sun and will appear as a dark spot that will take almost seven hours to journey across the face of the sun [image from TopNews.in].

The transit of Venus will not occur again until 2117.

But, please, don’t try to view the event with the naked eye. To view the transit safely, use either Solar eclipse glasses, or Welder’s glass (#14 or darker).

Venus will appear as a rather smallish speck; so, if you don’t have excellent eye-sight, it may be better to view the event at a local astronomy club, park, or nature center.

The event can be viewed on-line at:

Slooh.com

The Exploratorium, from San Francisco

The Bareket Observatory in Israel

Astronomers Without borders, from the Mount Wilson Observatory in California

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