On 5/6 June 2012 a celestial takes place that is so rare
that it will not be seen again by anyone now living. On June 8, 2004 Venus
crossed the face of the Sun for the first time since the 19th century. This
spectacle will be repeated again on 5/6 June for the last time until 2117.
The next transit of Venus, where Venus appears as a dark spot
in front of the Sun, will begin at 22:09 UTC on 5 June 2012, and will finish at
04:49 UTC on 6 June.[1] Depending on the position of the observer, the exact
times can vary by up to ±7 minutes. Transits of Venus occur in pairs that are
eight years apart: the previous transit was in June 2004, and the next pair of
transits will occur in December 2117 and December 2125.
The entire transit will be visible from the western Pacific
Ocean, north-western North America, north-eastern Asia, Japan, eastern
Australia, New Zealand, eastern Africa, Arabia and high Arctic locations
including northern Scandinavia, Iceland and Greenland. In North America, the
beginning of the transit will be visible on 5 June until sunset. From sunrise
on 6 June, the end of the transit will be visible from South Asia, the Middle
East, east Africa and most of Europe. It will not be visible from most of South
America or western Africa.
