Where to View a A Rare Astronomical Event - The Transit of Venus

A rare astronomical event that only rolls around twice every century or so occurs June 5.

The transit of Venus is a 7-hour event in which Venus -- one of only two planets between the Earth and its heavenly light -- treks its way across the surface of the sun, according to the  Huffington Post.

You can reserve a spot to observe space with the Fairfax County Park Authority. In this rare event, Venus will pass directly between the earth and the sun. This won’t happen again until 2117.

Historically, this alignment of cosmic bodies helped mankind measure the size of the solar system. The transit today is an opportunity to learn about the sun, its life-giving energy, and the phenomena that occur on our closest star, according to the Park Authority.

Just as in viewing an eclipse of the sun, proper equipment is required for witnessing this transit safely, and the Park Authority will have what you need on hand.

Three Park Authority sites will host family-friendly transit programs, rain or shine, on the evening of Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. Register in advance online for the programs at Riverbend Park, 8700 Potomac Hills St. in Great Falls; Cub Run RECenter at 4630 Stonecroft Blvd. in Chantilly; or Hunter House, 9601 Court House Rd. in Vienna. The program cost is $4 for Fairfax County residents, $6 for out-of-county visitors.

The transits come in groups of two, set eight years apart, but then don't occur again for more than a century. The last one occurred in 2004, making the June 5 event the last one until 2117, the Huffington Post explained.

Before 2004 the last one was in 1882.

For more information, contact Riverbend at 703-759-9018, Cub Run at 703-817-9407 or Tammy Schwab at 703-324-8750.