Interesting Photo of the Day: Dark Spot of Venus Crossing in Front of the Sun

Solar eclipses are a highly-anticipated event by photographers all over the world. Normally, this means watching out for the perfect moment when the Earth’s moon eclipses the sun, but last June, it was Venus that took the spotlight. Pictured below is our sun in three colors of ultraviolet light with the dark spot of Venus passing over it, an incredible image captured by NASA. This phenomenon isn’t expected to occur again until 2117:

planet venus in front of the sun during solar eclipse

Venus Passes in Front of the Sun (Click for Larger Size)

The sun was imaged in three colors of ultraviolet light by the Earth-orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory, with the dark region toward the right corresponding to a coronal hole. Hours later, as Venus continued in its orbit, a slight crescent phase appeared again.

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One response to “Interesting Photo of the Day: Dark Spot of Venus Crossing in Front of the Sun”

  1. Gabriel says:

    I don’t understand how it would take over 100 years for Venus to com between us and the sun? If Venus has an orbit of 243 days and earth 365, that’s 122 days difference, shouldn’t the earth and Venus be aligned every 2 or so years making this phenominun possible? What have I missed?

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