Rare transit of Venus across the sun

There will be a very rare astronomical event this week. A transit of Venus across the face of the sun will be visible over much of the globe on Tuesday and Wednesday. See this map to determine when or if it will be visible over your location.

Although earth, Venus and the sun line up, as seen from above, about every 584 days, the planes of the orbits of earth and Venus differ by 3.4 degrees. This means that it is quite uncommon for Venus to cross the face of the sun as seen from earth. The next transit will not occur until December 2117.

Remember never to look directly at the sun, even with dark glasses or welder's googles, and especially don't look at it with binoculars or a telescope. You need special filters to protect your eyes for any solar observation. The following articles describe the transit and suggest ways to observe it safely:
/-- Six Ways to See the Transit of Venus - transitofvenus.org
/-- The Transit of Venus - astronomynow.com
/-- Transit of Venus: a measure of distance - The Guardian
/-- Transit of Venus: your last chance to see it before 2117: Rare journey ...