File:The Rare Transit of Venus - 2004 (7296491948).jpg

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NASA FILE PHOTO: NASA joined the world June 8, 2004, in viewing a rare celestial event, one not seen by any person now alive. The "Venus transit" -- the apparent crossing of our planetary neighbor in front of the sun -- was captured from the unique perspective of NASA's sun-observing TRACE spacecraft. The top image shows Venus on the eastern limb of the sun. The faint ring around the planet comes from the scattering of its atmosphere, which allows some sunlight to show around the edge of the otherwise dark planetary disk. The faint glow on the disk is an effect of the TRACE telescope. The bottom left image is in the ultraviolet, and the bottom right image is in the extreme ultraviolet. The last "Venus transit" occurred more than a century ago, in 1882, and was used to compute the distance between Earth and the sun. Scientists with NASA's Kepler mission hope to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars by searching for transits similar to this one. If people missed the June 8, 2004, Venus transit, they will have another chance in 2012 on June 6. After that, there will not be another Venus transit until Dec. 11, 2117.

Credit: NASA/LMSAL

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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