Transit Of Venus: A spectular Astronomical treat on Tuesday
Venus will pass cross the sun, it will appear as a small dark disk moving across the sun on 5 June, 2012. Nasa

Venus transition, a rear astronomical event, will occur on 5 June, 2012. The rare event will not occur again until 2117. So Nasa has once again come up with a great idea to broadcast the event live on Nasa TV.

The unique transition occurs when Venus passes directly in between the sun and earth.

During the transition, people on earth will see Venus as a small dot gliding slowly across the sun. Usually the transition lasts for a few hours. There have been 53 transits since 2000 B.C.

Scientists say that the Venus transit is one of the rarest astronomical phenomena; they claim that this transition usually occurs in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years. The last pair was in 1874 and 1882 while the current pair is 2004 and 2012 and the next pair is scheduled to be in 2117 and 2125, according to Transit of Venus website.

This unique transition had occurred on 8 June, 2004, when the transition lasted for six hours.

This year, observers on seven continents and a small portion of Antarctica will be in a position to watch the transition.

Nasa TV will air the transit live from Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Officials say that this location offers the best viewing position of the entire transit. They will also give updates from Nasa centres across the country and locations from some of the 148 countries hosting viewing activities.

Images taken of the transit from the International Space Station and Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope and Solar Dynamics Observatory will also be aired with scientists sharing their perspectives and the historical significance of the event.

Watch the video:

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