Venus info - the transit June 8th 2004

• Venus is the brightest planet we can see from earth, and is the Evening Star until this union when it transits the Sun and becomes the Morning Star again. Normally, Venus would pass unseen, hidden in the brilliant glare of the Sun. But not on this day, June 8th 2004.

• A transit occurs when Venus and the earth, whose paths round the sun tilt at different angles, line up exactly where their orbits cross. The full transit was seen from Europe, Africa and Asia. Other countries including Japan and Australia will be able to see the beginning, but the sun will set before the end.

• It began at about 6:19am when Venus appeared as a tiny speck at one side of the sun about a 30th of the size of the Sun. The transit lasted six hours. Portions of the hours-long transit were visible from many locations around the world, including parts of Europe and America.

• This is among the rarest of astronomical events. In fact, between the years 2000 BC and 4000 AD there are only 81 Venusian "transits," as astronomers call them.

• The 1769 transit led to the discovery of Australia and New Zealand - Captain James Cook was travelling to Tahiti to get the best possible view when he encountered land.

• The last full transit by Venus across the Sun was in 1882 and it occurs in pairs separated by 8 years, so the next will be on June 6th 2012 - the Mayan end date.

• The Mayan civilization had a particular fascination with Venus because it was associated with their chief god Quetzalcoatl and one of his incarnations, Kukulkan. According to Mayan legend Kulkulkan, the Plumed Serpant, (called Quetzalcoatl by the Toltecs and later the Aztecs) arrived in Central America in a boat from across the sea. The Mayans regarded him as the great organizer who founded cities, formulated laws and invented the Mayan calendar. The Aztecs revered him as a god of light. He was a bearded white man.

• Humans have recorded the passage of Venus in front of the Sun only 5 times -  in 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882.

• This info has been gathered from the Internet. If it's inaccurate, please let me know. Email Pam