VENUS IS A BURNING-DESERT WORLD
Planet	Water	Greenhouse	Lightning	Spacecraft	Express	Transit	Resources

The clouds over Australia parted to reveal Venus crossing the top of the Sun above Canberra at 4:34 p.m. local time on June 8, 2004, just in time for Darren Osborne of CSIRO to snap this picture.

Fifteen minutes later, the Sun was setting at 4:49 p.m. as Darren Osborne of CSIRO snapped this picture of Venus transiting our star above Canberra on June 8. CSIRO is Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. Click either image to enlarge the picture and see the black dot silhouette of Venus more clearly.

For the first time since 1882, Venus passed directly between Earth and the Sun on June 8, 2004.

The planet's black silhouette floated across the face of our star starting at 0520 UTC and continuing for six hours.    WHAT IS UTC?

It was visible to many thousands of people around the world from Australia, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and eastern parts of the Americas.

Transits. In 1882, the transit of Venus and a Sun-grazing comet were recorded on photographic plates.

A transit of Venus across the face of the Sun isn't a solar eclipse. The Sun is neither blotted out nor dimmed. In fact, Venus is too small. The disk of the planet covers only 0.1 percent of the Sun.

In an unprecedented occurrence, the International Space Station (ISS) crossed the face of the Sun four times during the six-hour transit of Venus in 2004.

The next opportunities to observe a Venus transit will be June 6, 2012, and December 11, 2117.

Venus. Venus is similar to Earth. Both orbit the Sun. Venus is the second planet from the Sun and Earth is third. However, unlike Earth, Venus has no oceans. Also, Venus is hot enough to melt lead, while Earth is cool enough to support unprotected human life.

Both the U.S. and Russia have observed it with orbiters and landers from time to time since 1962.
VENUS PROBES

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Safe Sun Viewing
Never look at the Sun without eye protection, no matter how tempting it may seem. Looking at the Sun can cause eye damage. Don't look at it.

Only look at the Sun through a safe solar filter. Examples might be #13 or #14 welder's glass or special eclipse glasses designed for solar viewing.

Do not use stacked sunglasses, metallized candy wrappers or compact disks. They are unsafe filters sometimes recommended in error.

Seen through a good filter, the Sun looks like a glowing disk, about the size of the Moon.

It's easier to see the Sun through a telescope, but never look at the Sun through an unfiltered telescope. Sunlight focused through a telescope can blind you instantly.

There are two ways to use a telescope safely:

• Solar projection. Point the telescope at the Sun, but do not look through the telescope or its finder scope. Instead, use shadows on the ground to align the telescope with the Sun. The shadow of a telescope will look skinniest when it is pointing directly at the Sun. Once the Sun is in the field of view, an image will shoot out of the eyepiece. Hold a white card or projection screen behind the telescope scope to see a picture of the Sun. Adjust the focus of the telescope, or else the distance between the eyepiece and the screen, until the image looks crisp and round.
  
  
• Solar filters. Cap the telescope with a suitable Sun filter that can reduce the intensity of sunlight to safe levels. Only then can you look through the eyepiece. If you're not sure which filter is safe, contact the telescope seller or manufacturer for advice.            SAFE SOLAR VIEWING SOURCE: NASA

Learn more:

Venus
• Venus Planet Profile  NASA JPL
• Venus Described  SEDS Nine Planets
• Exploring Venus  STO
• Exploring Venus index  STO
• Planet Venus  STO
• Venus Water  STO
• Venus Greenhouse  STO
• Venus Lightning  STO

Venus Transit
• Venus Transit 2004  STO
• Guide to Viewing the Transit  Science @ NASA
• Guide to Viewing the Transit  Science @ NASA
• 2004 Venus Transit Resource Guide  NASA Sun-Earth Connection
• Movies and diagrams of the transit  Astronomy magazine
• Venus Transits of 2004 and 2012  NASA Goddard
• Guide to the Transit of Venus  Sky & Telescope magazine
• Story of the Transit of Venus  NASA Goddard

Captain James Cook
• James Cook and the Transit of Venus  Science @ NASA
• James Cook and the Transit of Venus  Blue Latitudes
• James Cook Journals  National Library of Australia
• History of Cook's Endeavour  HM Bark Endeavour Foundation
• James Cook Transit Timing Measurements  Royal Society of London
• South Seas Voyaging  National Library of Australia
• James Cook Drawings of 1769 Venus Transit  Armagh Observatory
• Capt. Cook's Voyages  Linda Hall Library History of Science

Exploring Venus and the Solar System
• Venus Spacecraft  STO
• The Pioneers  STO
• The Voyagers  STO
• Exploring the Solar System  STO

How to watch the Sun safely
• Safe Sunwatching  Science @ NASA
• List of solar filter suppliers  Sky & Telescope magazine
• Solar Filter Safety  Sky & Telescope magazine
• Close-Up of a Star  Sky & Telescope magazine
• A Beginner's Guide to Solar Observing  Sky & Telescope magazine

Read more about the Solar System . . .
Star:	The Sun
Inner Planets:	Mercury	Venus	Earth	Mars
Outer Planets:	Jupiter	Saturn	Uranus	Neptune	Pluto
Other Bodies:	Moons	Asteroids	Comets
Beyond:	Pioneers	Voyagers