Transit of Venus

Clouds mar Venus transit viewing in Karnataka
With the onset of southwest monsoon in coastal and southern Karnataka, rain-bearing clouds marred a clear view of the Venus transiting across the sun early on Wednesday, though thousands were able to watch the spectacle in northern regions due to clear sky.

Venus transit a no-show in Kerala, thanks to monsoon
The rare celestial phenomenon of Venus transiting the sun turned out to be a no-show in Kerala as monsoon took centrestage, leaving hundreds of school children in Thiruvananthapuram disappointed.

Chennai watches transit of Venus
Chennai residents watch planet Venus traverse the sun.

Venus' transit through NASA's eyes
Here is a look at Venus through the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory AIA instrument.

Venus transits across the sun: Top 10 facts
The world is witnessing a rare celestial spectacle today, as planet Venus transits across the face of the sun, being visible as a black spot on the sun's surface.

Rare spectacle unfolds in the sky: Venus journeys across the sun
From the US to South Korea, people look to the sky to catch a glimpse of a once-in-a-lifetime event - planet Venus transits across the sun.

Watch: Venus' rare transit, as seen in India
From Delhi, to Lucknow, to Kolkata, check out how people are watching this rare celestial phenomenon.

In Pictures: Venus transits across the sun
Take a look at pictures from across India of planet Venus transiting in front of the sun.

In Kolkata, the Birla Planetarium has organised a public viewing for enthusiasts.

In Delhi, the Nehru Planetarium has organised a public viewing with a telescope and solar filters have been put out at Teen Murti lawns in Chanakyapuri for people to come and watch the rare celestial event.

Top websites and newspapers on the transit
 

Venus transits across the sun: All the buzz on Twitter
See what people all over the world are tweeting about this once-in-a-lifetime celestial event right here.

This will be the seventh transit visible since German astronomer Johannes Kepler first predicted the phenomenon in the 17th century. Because of the shape and speed of Venus' orbit around the sun and its relationship to Earth's annual trip, transits occur in pairs separated by more than a century.

Venus, which is extremely hot, is one of Earth's two neighbours and is so close in size to our planet that scientists at times call them near-twins. During the transit, it will appear as a small dot.

Terrestrial stargazers are warned to only look at the celestial event with a properly filtered telescope or cardboard eclipse glasses.

Do not try are watch the transit with the naked eye, or through old X-ray films, smoked glass or exposed camera films, or you can get blinded.

The eye has a lens and if you stare at the sun, it concentrates sunlight on the retina and can burn a hole through it. It's similar to when you hold a magnifying glass under the blazing sun and light a piece of paper on fire.

Venus transits across the sun: A once-in-a-lifetime event
From the U.S. to South Korea, people around the world turned their attention to the daytime sky on Tuesday and early Wednesday in Asia to make sure they caught the rare sight of the transit of Venus.

The complete 7-hour transit will be visible from the Pacific coast of United States, eastern Asia and eastern Australia. In India this spectacle will be visible around 7:00 am IST on Wednesday (June 6) in most parts of the country.

The transit of Venus will be visible from much of Earth - Tuesday from the Western Hemisphere and Wednesday from the Eastern Hemisphere. This sight won't come again in a 105 years.