Stargazers: Tuesday's Venus Transit is Last Until 2117

Like The Solar Eclipse? You'll Love The Venus Transit.

Astronomy aficionados and stargazers who watched the should get their safety goggles ready for a celestial event that won't occur again for 105 years.

On Tuesday, June 5, the second planet in our solar system will crawl across the surface of the sun making an epic journey called the Transit of Venus.

If you miss this event, you probably won't have a chance to see it again in your lifetime. The next Venus Transit won't occur until December 11, 2117.

So says NASA, which has calculated the next 2,000 years worth of transits for anyone who wants to put the events into their day planner.

Sky & Telescope Magazine says the Venus Transit will be visible on the West Coast from 3:06 to 6:26 pm on Tuesday, June 5th. Make sure to follow safe viewing instructions!

The Venus Transit is an odd duck, even by astronomical standards.

As NASA explains, the event follows a pattern: two transits occur within eight years of one another. Then there's a long break. This has to do with factors such as the length of a year on Venus (224.701 days) and Earth (365.256 days).

The most recent Venus Transit occurred on June 8, 2004. French composer/conductor Paul Mauriat made a time-lapse video of that event and posted it on YouTube (attached to this story).

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