Transit of Venus

:This article is about the astronomical phenomenon. For other meanings, see Transit of Venus (disambiguation).

Conjunctions of Venus with the Sun

Normally when the Earth and Venus are in conjunction they are not aligned with the Sun. Venus' orbit is inclined by 3.4° to the Earth's so it appears to pass under (or over) the Sun in the sky.

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Transits occur when the two planets happen to be in conjunction at (or very near) the points where their orbital planes cross.

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Although 3.4° may not seem like much, Venus can be as far as 9.6° from the Sun when viewed from the Earth at inferior conjunction. Since the angular diameter of the Sun is about half a degree, Venus may appear to pass above or below the Sun by more than 18 solar diameters during an ordinary conjunction.

Related Topics:
Inferior conjunction - Angular diameter

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