Transit of Venus
Transit of Venus (28 May 2004)
A transit of Venus across the disc of the Sun will occur on June 8 (Tuesday). During the transit, Venus will come between the Sun and the Earth. From the Earth's perspective, Venus' silhouette will move across the Sun's disc. Weather permitting, this rare astronomical phenomenon will be visible in Hong Kong.
The transit will occur between 1.12pm and 7.19pm and last around six hours. Most part of the transit can be observed in Hong Kong as the Sun will set at 7.09pm on the day of the transit. Please refer to the attached diagram for the path of Venus during the transit.
The last occurrence of transit of Venus was 122 years ago in December, 1882. The next transit of Venus will occur in June, 2012.
Details of the transit are as follows:
|
Hong Kong Time |
Azimuth Direction |
Elevation (Degrees) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginning of transit: | |||
|
Exterior contact |
1:12 p.m. |
West |
79 |
|
Interior contact |
1:31 p.m. |
West |
74 |
| End of transit: | |||
|
Interior contact |
7:00 p.m. |
West-northwest |
1 |
|
Exterior contact |
7:19 p.m. |
West-northwest |
-4 |
Due to the strong sunlight, people must neither look directly at the Sun with the naked eye nor through a telescope. They should also avoid observing the transit for a prolonged period. A safe method is to project the Sun's image onto a piece of white paper or cardboard and view the reflection.
The best places to observe the transit will be where with an unobstructed view to the west such as Pok Fu Lam, Stanley, Lamma Island, Cheung Chau and Tai O.
Please refer to the Hong Kong Observatory website for detailed information on the "Transit of Venus":
http://www.hko.gov.hk/gts/event/venus _transit_e.htm
Transit of Venus on 8 June 2004