Transit of Venus to Bring Bay Area a Rare Sight

Astronomers and stargazers are in for a treat on Tuesday as a rare astronomical event – the passing of Venus in front of the sun – will be taking place.

Known as the “transit of Venus,” the event is similar to a solar eclipse by the moon. The planet (in this case Venus) passes directly between the sun and Earth and becomes visible as a small dot drifting across the sun.

Several sites around the Bay Area are inviting the public to see the once-in-a-lifetime event, which is not scheduled to happen again until 2117. The NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in Mountain View is hosting a viewing of a live broadcast being filmed from the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii and attendees can also view the event using the facility’s solar filter glasses and telescopes. The Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, Lafayette Library and Learning Center and the hilltop at Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve in Solano County are also good spots to experience the transit.

People can also follow the event online at this site. Experts said the transit will begin around 3:00 p.m. and last for almost seven hours.

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

It's simple. Keith Mizuguchi loves to write and write and write some more. After taking a hiatus from the journalism business, he has rekindled his passion for writing over the last two years, holding a job as both a web and on-air writer for San Francisco news radio station KCBS. While he enjoys the news business, his true passions are twofold: sports and food. Bay Area born and raised, he lives in San Jose, commutes to SF and loves every minute of it. You can follow his food adventures on Twitter @foodie_keith.