A rare astronomical event — transit of planet Venus — will occur on June 6. In Chennai the event can be seen from sunrise till 10.22 a.m. During the transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun. The planet will actually pass directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible in the foreground of the bright solar disk.
The orbits of Mercury and Venus lie inside Earth’s orbit, so they are the only planets which can pass between Earth and Sun to produce a transit. In the case of Mercury, about 13 transits occur in a century. However, Venus transits occur approximately four times in 243 years.
Originally written for The Hindu, read more at https://www.thehindu.com/features/downtown/observing-the-transit-of-venus/article3483007.ece