Transit of Venus
6 June 2012

This shows the paths of Venus across the Sun in 2004 (lower) and 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. The next transit will occur on 6 June 2012, and be visible in Sydney from beginning to end, starting at 8.16am (1st contact) and ending at 2.44pm (last contact).

Transits of Venus generally currently occur every 8 then 120 then 8 then 120 years.

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.