I’ve made a pretty bold statement in the title of this blog post when it comes to the transit of Venus across the sun.
But let’s put it this way: barring some sort of Han Solo “deep freeze” action like we saw in Star Wars, this is the last chance in your life to see Venus as it appears to slide across the surface of the sun. It happens this afternoon and this evening, Tuesday June 5, 2012.
The next transit of Venus? The year 2117!
Even a baby born today will have to live to be 105 years old to see the next one. Isn’t that crazy?
Free & Safe Viewer Of Venus Transit Across The Sun
- You need a solar safe telescope or welder’s glasses to see this event safely
- The transit of Venus starts around 3pm and ends around 9pm Pacific Time.
- OMSI is have a free Venus & sun viewing event from…you guessed it…3pm to 9pm.
- Weather wise, it looks like showers will decrease and breaks in the clouds will increase this evening (no crazy downpours like Monday!)
I hope you get to see the event. And if not, you know I’ll be showing images on KOIN Local 6 — and posting them here on the blog.
Hi Bruce; I went to our local public observatory yesterday to have a look at the Venus transit. Weather conditions were not good; Cloudy skies with an occasional ‘spit’ of rain. So I ended up watching a live video broadcast of it from Hawaii at the nearby Planetarium. The transmission was often disrupted- so it wasn’t a great experience exactly.
Roland–what a bummer. But honestly, the transit itself seemed less exciting to me than most celestial events like an eclipse. So, don’t feel too badly! And try again in 105 years…