Kolkata: In a rare celestial phenomenon that will occur only again on 2117, planet Venus will transit the sun during early morning of June six which will be visible from almost all over the world.
The transit of Venus lasting about five hours 40 minutes could be considered a mini eclipse of the sun, since the planet instead of the moon, will be covering 1/32 of the solar disc, M P Birla Planetarium director (research and academic) D P Duari told PTI here today.
"The greatest transit, when the black dot of Venus will be observed at the innermost point of the disc of the sun will occur at 7:02 am. The transit will end at around 10:20 am," Duari said.
He advised watchers to use scientifically tested Mylar filters or Nos 14 welder's glass and not to watch the event with the naked eye.
It will be visible from eastern Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, the Philippines, northern Asia, eastern China, Korea, Japan, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, Hawaii, Russia, Alaska and northwest Canada.
The concluding part of the transit will be visible in western Asia, including India, Europe, middle east and eastern Africa.
It will be not visible from Portugal, Spain, western Africa and a portion of south eastern America.
PTI
First Published: Friday, May 18, 2012, 18:31