TRANSIT OF VENUS
Transit of Venus
6 June 2012
A transit of Venus occurs when Venus is observed to move across the face of the Sun. The first transit since 1882 occurred on 8 June 2004. Luckily you will only have to wait 8 years for the next transit on 6 June 2012. The 2012 transit is visible in Sydney from beginning to end, starting at 8.16am (1st contact) and ending at 2.44pm (last contact).
Transits of Venus are historically important events. This is especially important for Australia as James Cook's main reason for undertaking a voyage on which he charted Australia's east coast was to observe the 1769 transit from the island of Tahiti. Other transits occurred in 1761, 1874 and 1882. By observing a transit, astronomers could for the first time calculate the distance from the Earth to the Sun with some accuracy.