What is meant by the transit of Venus?
We use the word transit in everyday talk. When we say that a friend is in transit between Calgary and Seattle, we mean that he is traveling between Calgary and Seattle. But astronomers have a different meaning for this word transit. A transit happens when a heavenly object crosses a certain point in the sky. On a clear night, the velvety sky is spattered with sparkling stars. Very often you can find one bright dot that does not wink and blink like its twinkling neighbors. It shines with a steady light. This steady eye in the sky is not a star, but a planet. It could be the planet Venus, but you will not see a transit of Venus until June 7, 2004. That date is exactly 39 years and 11 months from today. When the transit happens, Venus passes slowly across the dazzling face of the sun. We are used to seeing Venus in the night sky. Sometimes it is the morning star that rises in the east just before the sun. Sometimes it is the evening star that follows the sun to bed as it sets in the weste
