Goddard to Host Transit of Venus Viewing Party Tonight

The NASA Goddard Visitor Center is hosting a public watch party Tuesday evening from 5 – 8 p.m. to celebrate the “Transit of Venus,” a rare astrological event where the planet Venus travels across the sun.

Visible to the East Coast of North America beginning at approximately 6:03 p.m., the celestial occurrence has only happened seven times since the invention of the telescope in: 1608, 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882.

The next transit of Venus will not occur until 2117.

NASA’s event is slated to include near real-time images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory mission, presentations by NASA experts, hands-on activities for children of all ages and opportunities to view the transit via solar telescopes.

is located at 8800 Greenbelt Road in Greenbelt.