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Jun 5, 2012

Transit Trivia: 5 Odd Facts About Venus

Venus is in the spotlight Tuesday (June 5) as it makes a rare pass across the face of the sun. The transit of Venus occurs in pairs more than a century apart. The last Venus transit happened in 2004, making this week's event the last opportunity to see the planet...

Jun 5, 2012

Transit of Venus Explained: The Stages of Today's Rare Sun Crossing

Today's historic Venus transit is a marathon event lasting nearly seven hours, but skywatchers who don't have that kind of time can break it down into a handful of key milestones. Venus treks across the sun's face from Earth's perspective today (June 5; June 6 in much of the Eastern...

Jun 5, 2012

Rare & Historic Transit of Venus Across Sun Occurs Today

Skywatchers have the opportunity to witness history today (June 5), as the planet Venus rambles across the face of the sun in a rare event that will not be visible again for 105 years. Astronomers call this orbital encounter the transit of Venus, when the planet passes between Earth and...

Jun 5, 2012

Venus Transit Today May Shine Light on Venusian Mysteries

Skywatchers around the world will get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Venus cross in front of the sun today (June 5). The so-called transit of Venus is more than just the last such event for more than a century — it might help shed light on some of the enduring...

Jun 5, 2012

Satellites to Watch Rare Transit of Venus From Space

As skywatchers around the world try to catch a glimpse of the rare transit of Venus today (June 5), several satellites and astronauts in orbit will also be monitoring the historic event from space. The roughly seven-hour event will begin at around 6:03 p.m. EDT (3:03 p.m. PDT; 2203 GMT),...

Jun 6, 2012

In Photos: Venus Transit 2012

Venus Transit (Image credit: KJS, Used with Permission)The transit of Venus on June 5, 2012, as seen from Langdon, N.D. Spooky Trek (Image credit: KJS, Used with Permission)Flickr user KJS caught the very beginning of Venus' transit across the sun's disk from Langdon, N.D., before clouds swept in about an...

Jun 20, 2012

Hinode Views the 2012 Venus Transit

On June 5, 2012, Hinode captured this stunning view of the transit of Venus -- the last instance of this rare phenomenon until 2117. Hinode is a joint JAXA/NASA mission to study the connections of the sun's surface magnetism, primarily in and around sunspots. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in...

Jul 4, 2012

See 4 Planets on Fourth of July! Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn Shine

The two brightest planets in the night sky will kick off a July sky show early Wednesday (July 4) in a sort of celestial show-opener for the Fourth of July holiday in the U.S. Mars, Saturn and a nearly full moon will end the show at night. The planets Venus...

Aug 30, 2012

Surreal Photo Shows 'Belt of Venus' In Our Pink Sky

Giant trees cloaked in snow stand guard as the atmospheric blush known as the belt of Venus glows in the background of this surreal skywatching photo. Astrophotographer Niccolò Bonfadini took this stunning picture in the Finnish Lapland in the winter of 2011. With the sun rising behind the photographer, the...

Oct 4, 2012

Strange Layer of Venus Surprisingly Cold

Venus may be closer to the sun than Earth, but its typically hellish atmosphere has a surprisingly cold layer that's chillier than any part of our own planet's atmosphere, a new study reveals. This region may be cool enough for carbon dioxide snow or ice to form, according to new...

Nov 21, 2012

Chasing Clouds on Venus

False-colour image of cloud features seen on Venus by the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) on Venus Express. The image was captured from a distance of 30 000 km on Dec. 8, 2011. The VMC was designed and built by a consortium of German institutes lead by the Max-Planck Institute for...

Nov 26, 2012

See Venus and Saturn Shine Together Early Tuesday

You’ve no doubt heard of the phrase, like two ships that pass in the night. Well, come early Tuesday morning (Nov. 27), you’ll be able to watch two planets that will pass each other in the dawn. The planets in question are Venus and Saturn. One planet will be slowly...

Dec 6, 2012

Are Venus' Volcanoes Active? Clues Suggest Yes

New evidence hints that Venus may be volcanically active, which has long been a controversial topic among scientists. Six years of observations by the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft have shown significant changes in the sulfur dioxide content of the planet's atmosphere over time, which could be explained by...

Dec 10, 2012

Venus and the Moon to Put On Early Morning Sky Show Tuesday

It's not the Star of Bethlehem, but early risers this month will likely notice a dazzling star in the east appearing a couple of hours before sunrise. That brilliant object is not actually a star but the brightest of all the planets, Venus. Peerlessly brilliant and glowing against the dawn...

Dec 18, 2012

Troubled Japanese Venus Probe Set for 2015 Comeback

SAN FRANCISCO — After blowing its first chance to orbit Venus two years ago, Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft is ready for a comeback in 2015, mission scientists say. The Akatsuki probe — whose name means Dawn in Japanese — was supposed to start circling Venus in December 2010, but its main...