Metro Blog

Tomorrow is a very big deal in the science world--and also in our Solar System. For the first time since June 2004--and not again until December 2117!--the planet Venus will pass directly between Earth and the Sun. The phenomenon is described as the key that unlocked the mathematical elegance of the cosmos. Why?

Here’s a description from www.transitofvenus.org:

[Image Credit: NASA]

When Venus passes directly between earth and the sun, we see the distant planet as a small dot gliding slowly across the face of the sun.  Historically, this rare alignment is how we measured the size of our solar system.  The view is like a front-row seat to the Transit Method, by which we now find planets around distant stars.