May 23, 2012

Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 dwayne c brown@nasa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-095

NASA HOSTS GLOBAL VIEWING EVENTS FOR RARE ASTRONOMICAL REUNION

WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will air a live program starting at 5:30 p m EDT Tuesday, June 5, showcasing the celestial phenomenon of the planet Venus trekking across the face of the sun The rare event, known as the Venus Transit, will not occur again until 2117

The transit occurs when Venus passes directly between Earth and the sun Viewers will see Venus as a small dot gliding slowly across our nearest star Historically, viewed by luminaries like Galileo Galilei, Captain James Cook and even Benjamin Franklin, this rare alignment is how we measured the size of our solar system

There have been 53 transits since 2000 B C The last time the event occurred was on June 8, 2004, watched by millions worldwide This year, observers on seven continents and a small portion of Antarctica will be in position to see it

NASA TV coverage will include updates from NASA centers across the country and locations from some of the 148 countries hosting viewing activities Images taken of the transit from the International Space Station and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Solar Dynamics Observatory also will be aired with scientists sharing their perspectives and the historical significance of the event

NASA EDGE, a behind-the-scenes, informative webcast, will air the transit live from Mauna Kea, Hawaii This location offers the best viewing position of the entire transit

For more information about the worldwide events, safety precautions for viewing, educational content and social media activities, visit:

http://venustransit nasa gov

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

The public can follow the event on Twitter on #venustransit and download a free phone App at:

http://venustransit nasa gov/2012/multimedia/apps php

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]