Last Venus Transit of Twenty-First Century

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For the second time this century, Venus began its transit across the sun at 6:09 p.m EDT today. Since these events occur in pairs separated by eight years, the last one happened in 2004. First observed in 1639, five transit pairs have crossed the sun between then and now. Few, if any, of those who watched the phenomenon today will see the next one in 2017.

Spectators must wear the same protective glasses used during an eclipse, even though the transit does not create anything close to a full eclipse. Astronauts will be treated to the best view of the transit from the space station. Venus will take 6 hours and 20 minutes to traverse its path across the sun, so for readers who can't see it live, watch it on NASA TV at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv or space.com.

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Words can't adequately express the grandeur of this splendor in the sky, so Ham on Wry encourages readers to leave the blog and find somewhere to watch it.