Tuesday,  May 22, 2012 • Vol. 12--No. 313 • 10 of 40 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 9)

the sun's face again as seen from Earth until December 11, 2117. What will the world be like then?

Last transit of Venus in 21st century will happen in June 2012

• Check out an observatory or astronomy club near you to see if it is hosting a public presentation of the event.

• Strictly speaking, the transit times listed above (and in the diagram below) are for an imaginary observer at the center of the Earth - not on the Earth's surface. However, if you are able to translate Universal Time to the clock time in your time zone, the times will be approximately right for your part of the globe. The error won't be any greater than plus or minus seven minutes.

• To make things simple, though, click here for the local times of the transit in your time zone. Keep in mind that the sun has to be above the horizon for you to see the transit of Venus. In EarthSky's hometown of Austin, Texas, the transit starts at 17:05:21 (5:05:21 p.m.) and ends 23:48:57 (11:48:57 p.m.) on June 5 Central Daylight Time. However, the sunset is at 20:30 (8:30 p.m.) in Austin, meaning we can only see the first half of the transit in our sky
• Bottom line: As soon as the sun goes down on the evening of May 22, 2012, look low in your west to northwest sky for the gorgeous pairing of the thin waxing crescent moon and Venus, the brightest star-like light in all the heavens. And get ready for the amazing transit of Venus coming up on June 5/6, 2012!

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