We had to do a great bit of research while writing our new short story inspired by this event. We thought we would help simplify and boil down what we found to be the essentials. The Transit of Venus is considered one of the rarest events in the celestial calendar, so rare that some people will never see one in their lifetime. The event occurs when Venus’s orbit takes it across the view of the sun and eclipses a small portion of it. It basically will appear as a black dot transiting across the fiery sun. The last time this special event will happen in our lifetimes is on June 5th and 6th 2012.

The cycle of events is a little odd. The transit comes in double cycles every century and will appear in pairs that are about eight years apart. Here is an example of the last few pairings:

1638 transit

121.5 years wait

1761 & 1769 transits

105.5 years wait

1874 & 1882 transits

121.5 years wait

2004 and 2012 transits

105.5 years wait

2117 and 2125 transits

This event is sacred to many religions but one the most well known is the Mayan. In the Mayan Long calendar the transits are tracked throughout. In fact, this is the last event predicted and it has special significance; it is the last major event before the alignment with the great rift on Friday, December 21st, 2012. It makes me wonder how many Mayan went blind looking into the sun to discover all these rare occurrences.

Almost all other religions have held Venus in high regard and have either worshiped the event or used it to prove their own message. On December 6th, 1882, Pastor George Dana Boardman delivered a sermon incorporated with the Transit of Venus to the congregation of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He used the transit to convey that just as God had predetermined the alignment of the planets, so did he predetermine their lives.

Not everyone can watch it live; check the chart to see what time you can see it where you live.

If you don’t want to permanently destroy your eyes, you will need to follow one of these methods to view it live:

1) If you can, get a hold of a telescope or binoculars that have a solar filter screen.

2) You can get solar glasses, but be aware that these are not regular sunglasses. They look a good bit like the cheap, paper 3D glasses you would get at an old movie theater.

3) When I was a kid we watched an eclipse with a pinhole projector. We held a white piece of paper under a telescope and watched the projected view on the paper.

4) You can also just watch the live webcast from NASA.

It was fun researching the Transit of Venus for our new short story. To celebrate this rare event, the story is only $0.99.

Click HERE to get the $.0.99 eBook for Kindle!

Click HERE to get the $0.99 eBook for all other eBook formats iPad, Nook, ect.!

Tarrin and Ruby