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PHOTO INDEX OF PRIMARY TARGETS ASTEROIDS COMETS EARTH JUPITER KUIPER BELT MARS MERCURY METEORITES NEPTUNE OORT CLOUD PLUTO SATURN SOLAR SYSTEM SPACE SUN URANUS VENUS ORDER PRINTS OTHER PHOTO INDEXES ALL TARGETS PHOTO CATEGORIES SCIENCEVIEWS AMPHIBIANS BIRDS BUGS FINE ART FOSSILS INDIAN ISLANDS MAMMALS OTHER PARKS PLANTS RELIGIOUS REPTILES ROCKS & MINERALS SCIENCEVIEWS PRINTS

The Rare Venus Transit Target Name:   Sun, Venus Spacecraft:   TRACE Produced by:   NASA/LMSAL Copyright:  NASA Copyright Free Policy Date Taken:   8 June 2004 Related Documents Sun Venus Download Options Name Type Width x Height Size UV1600_eastlimb.mov Quicktime 400 x 256 1M UV1600_eastlimb.mov Quicktime 800 x 512 4M This movie taken on June, 8 2004 is one of those rare celestial events, one not seen by any person now alive. The "Venus transit" -- the apparent crossing of our planetary neighbor in front of the Sun -- was captured from the unique perspective of NASA's Sun-observing TRACE spacecraft. The movie is in the extreme ultrviolet. The last "Venus transit" occurred more than a century ago, in 1882, and was used to compute the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Scientists with NASA's Kepler mission hope to discover Earth-like planets outside our solar system by searching for transits of other stars by planets that might be orbiting them. If people miss the June 8 Venus transit, they will have another chance in 2012 (June 6). After that, there will not be another Venus transit until 2117 (December 11).

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