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Watching for the transit of Venus The rare spectacle of Venus passing across the face of the sun took place June 5. Take a look at the rare occurrence, which previously last occurred in 2004. The phenomenon won’t happen again until 2117.
June 5, 2012
Eight-year-old Alex Olling smiles as he uses makeshift sunglasses to watch Venus crossing the sun's face in College Park. Astronomers around the world trained their telescopes on the skies Tuesday to watch Venus pass in front of the sun, a once-in-a-lifetime event that will not be seen for another 105 years.
Jewel Samad
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AFP/Getty Images
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June 6, 2012
Venus moves to pass across the sun in this image captured by Japan's satellite Hinode.
Kim Kyung-hoon
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Reuters
June 6, 2012
A Lebanese man looks through a protective viewing filter sheet the transit of planet Venus moving across the sun in Beirut. People around the world turned their attention to the daytime sky on Tuesday and early Wednesday in Asia to make sure they caught the rare sight of the transit of Venus. The next one won't be for another 105 years.
Hussein Malla
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AP
June 5, 2012
Hector Vazquez uses his homemade telescope to watch Venus moving past the sun at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
Gene Blevins
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Reuters
June 6, 2012
A man adjusts a telescope while a screen shows Venus passing in front of the sun at the historic Sydney Observatory, where a sell-out crowd of 1,500 people bought tickets to witness the rare occurance. Australia was one of the best places to observe the spectacle, with the more than six-hour phenomena visible from eastern and central parts of the country, although broken clouds hampered eager skywatchers.
William West
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AFP/Getty Images
June 6, 2012
People using a solar filter watch Venus sliding across the sun, from a weather observatory in Manila.
Ted Aljibe
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AFP/Getty Images
June 6, 2012
Schoolchildren watch Venus cross the sun at the Sydney Observatory
Rob Griffith
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AP
June 6, 2012
People use eclipse glasses to watch the planet Venus transiting across the sun, in the eastern gulf coast town of Qatif, Saudi Arabia.
Zaki Ghawas
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Reuters
June 6, 2012
Venus is seen as a black dot on a man's hand as it makes its transit across the sun above Amman, Jordan.
Ali Jarekji
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Reuters
June 5, 2012
A plane flies under a thin layer of cloud, crossing the sun as Venus moves past the sun, as seen through a coelostat at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
Gene Blevins
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Reuters
June 6, 2012
The planet Venus is seen as a black dot as it makes its transit across the sun over Amman, Jordan.
Ali Jarekji
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Reuters
June 5, 2012
The Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite captures a ultra-high-definition image of the transit of Venus across the face of the sun.
NASA
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Getty Images
June 8, 2004
From Munich: A picture taken by multiple exposure shows five different phases of the planet Venus crawling across the sun during the "transit" of Venus last seen in 1882. About 5 billion people around the world were able, weather permitting, to see the sight, which lasted just over six hours.
Joerg Koch
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AFP/Getty Images
June 8, 2004
From Madras, India: Spectators look through makeshift eye protectors as they witness the Venus transit over the sun — when Venus moves between the Earth and the sun and appears as a small black dot. A Venus transit occurs when the sun and the orbit planes of the second and the third planet are in a direct line. Viewed from Earth, this makes it seem like a mini-eclipse, an event that was last seen in 1882.
Dibyangshu Sarkar
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AFP/Getty Images
June 8, 2004
A young girl points to the image of the Venus passing across the sun projected through a binocular at the Nehru Planetarium in New Delhi. The rare spectacle of tiny Venus passing across the face of the sun, last witnessed 122 years ago, drew sky gazers across a wide band from Australia to the edge of North America.
Manish Swarup
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AP
June 8, 2004
The hands of a boy mark the positions of Venus on a sheet of translucent paper during the rare celestial event at the Nehru Planetarium in New Delhi. Venus moved between the Earth and the sun and appeared as a small black dot. A Venus transit occurs when the sun and the orbit planes of the second and the third planet are in a direct line. Viewed from the Earth, this makes it seem like a mini-eclipse, an event seen for the first time since 1882.
Prakash Singh
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AFP/Getty Images
June 8, 2004
Young astronomers in Varna, Bulgaria, observe the reflection of the passage of Venus across the disk of the sun on a paper. The rare astronomical event last occured in 1882, while the next transit will be in 2012.
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AFP/Getty Images
June 8, 2004
A youngster holds special dark glass to observe the transit of Venus across the sun, in Nairobi. All over the world scientists and enthusiasts were monitoring the event, which last occurred in 1882.
Sayyid Azim
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AP
June 8, 2004
A man watches the Venus transit through binoculars covered with a special protective foil in Munich. The last visible transit of planet Venus occured on Dec. 6, 1882, and the next one will be in 2012.
Jan Pitman
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AP
June 8, 2004
The planet Venus is visible as a black dot as it transits across the face of the sun as seen from the Greenwich Observatory in London. The rare astronomical event last occurred in 1882, while the next transit is due in 2012.
Ian Waldie
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Getty Images
June 8, 2004
Egyptians and tourists hold special dark glasses to observe the transit of Venus across the sun, at the historical site of Giza Pyramids in Egypt. All over the world scientists and enthusiasts were monitoring the event, which last occured in 1882.
Amr Nabil
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AP
June 8, 2004
School children view the passing of the planet Venus across the sun through telescopes set up by the regional science center in Bhopal, India. The rare spectacle of tiny Venus passing across the face of the sun, last witnessed 122 years ago, drew sky gazers across a wide band from Australia to the edge of North America.
Prakash Hatvalne
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AP
June 8, 2004
A man uses a telescope to watch the transit of planet Venus through the disk of the sun in front of the Hofburg Palace at Vienna's Heldenplatz. The previous transit occured on Dec. 6, 1882, and the next one will be in 2012.
Ronald Zak
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AP
June 8, 2004
The transit of Venus makes its way across the sun as photographed by the Sydney Observatory. Stargazers in Sydney and around the world gathered at observatories and huddled by telescopes to watch a small dark disc creep across the face of the sun in one of the rarest of celestial spectacles, a transit of Venus.The sight had special significance for Australians; This country's east coast was "discovered" by British explorer James Cook on his way home from viewing the 1769 transit in Tahiti. The image was taken in the light of hydrogen alpha, which was impossible to do at previous transits.
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AP
June 8, 2004
An image released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken by its GOES-12 SXI satellite showing Venus appearing as a dark disk about 1/30th the sun’s apparent diameter. Since the sun’s atmosphere, or corona, extends well above the disk seen in visible light, Venus was visible in silhouette for approximately nine hours, versus the six hours seen from Earth. The path across the disk is from the southeast to the southwest. The GOES-12 SXI takes a full-disk image of the sun’s atmosphere once every minute.
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AP
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