Venus transit 2012: A rare natural phenomena

A photo of Venus transit

A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun. Venus appears smaller, and travels more slowly across the face of the Sun, because it is much farther away from Earth. The full 2012 transit will be visible from the Pacific Ocean—including Hawaii, northwestern North America, northern Asia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, central and eastern Australia and the Pacific islands. Most of North America and northwestern South America will be able to see the start of the transit before sunset, while southern Asia, the Middle East, eastern Africa, western Australia, and most of Europe will be able to observe the end of the transit as the Sun rises.

Transit visibility