There are periodic astronomical events that could never be observed by any human alive today. One of these is the transit of Venus on June 8, 2004. On this day half our globe will be able to watch the tiny black dot of the planet Venus moving across the disc of the sun. Given a cloudless sky, all you'll need is a sun filter to follow the spectacle for several hours by your naked eyes (check your eyes). The previous transit of Venus occurred on December 6, 1882 - one of merely five events of its kind ever watched by mankind.

 

Which conditions have to be fulfilled for a Venus passage ?
Why have Venus transits been of great importance for astronomy ?
 Which other planets can show a transit ?

When and how often does a Venus transit happen ?

Applet: Transit Motion

Applet: Planetary Motion

Applet: Phases of Mercury and Venus

  Applet: Venus Transit Observer

Venus	History and Astronomy
Conjunctions and Transits	online computing by JavaScript
The Period of Transits	within 234 years 4 transits occur
1631	the Transits is invisible in Europe
1639	the predictions
Jeremiah Horrox	first witness of a transit of Venus in 1639
Edmond Halley	A new Method of determining the Parallax of the Sun
1761 June 6	astronomers observe the transit at 120 locationso
1769 June 3 Captain Cook	the expeditions observer of the transits of 1769
1874	the transit of 1874, December 9
1882	Photo of the 1882 transit of Venus
2004, June 8	Details of the transit
2004, June 8	Calculating the parallax
Summary	the solar parallay by Venus transits and by modern methods
Arno Schmidt	about the European expeditions in 1769
Thomas Pynchon	"Mason & Dixon" observe the transit of 1761
2004 June 8	the transit of Venus will be visible from Europe, Africa, Asia, and eastern parts of America
Sources	web links and books
Applets	Planetary Motion and Phases of Mercury and Venus

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