On June 8th, 2004, a rare astronomical phenomenon
not seen since 1882 will occur. The planet Venus
transits the Sun, appearing
as a black silhouette visible to the unaided eye
(with suitable protection for
safe
solar viewing).
Venus will take a little more
than six hours to traverse the Sun's disc. The transit is visible from anywhere on
Earth where the Sun is up while it's in progress; see
the map
for details, or consult
detailed predictions
for your location. For further information, visit Fred Espenak's
2004 Transit
of Venus page. If you miss this one, there's another transit of
Venus on June 6th, 2012, but after that you'll have to wait until December
11th, 2117 for the next!