2012 transit of Venus
The next transit of Venus will occur on June 6 2012.
Where visible
The eclipse will be best viewed from the Pacific Ocean. North America will be able to see the start of the transit, while South Asia, the Middle East, and most of Europe will catch the end of it. The transit will not be visible in most of South America or eastern Africa. The regions from which the transit are visible are shown in the map to the right.
When visible
Transit start and end times (in UTC) are given for various international cities and for various US cities.
Recall that these times are in UTC. Add or subtract the appropriate amount for your time zone.
How to observe
DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN.
Besides possibly damaging your eyes, you won't be able to observe Venus this way anyway. The safest method for observing the Sun is projecting an image onto a screen, such as a piece of paper or card. This can be done by using either a piece of paper or card (such as a paper plate) with a pin hole in it, or a lens such as a telescope or binoculars (with one lens covered). The image to the right demonstrates how this can be done with two paper plates, the front one containing a pin hole.