Ultra-high Definition View of 2012 Venus Transit

Launched on Feb. 11, 2010, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, is the most advanced spacecraft ever designed to study the sun. Its five-year mission is to examine the sun’s atmosphere, magnetic field and also help scientists understand more about the role the sun plays in Earth’s atmosphere.

On June 5 2012, SDO collected images of the rarest predictable solar event — the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117.

For more information: Transit of Venus 2012—Sun Show Will Be Last for a Century (National Geographic)
Venus Crosses the Sun for Last Time until 2117 (Scientific American)
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