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.h1 {FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; FONT-SIZE: 22pt; MARGIN: 17pt 0cm 16.5pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 240%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify}.h2 {FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; FONT-SIZE: 16pt; MARGIN: 13pt 0cm; LINE-HEIGHT: 173%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify}.h3 {FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; FONT-SIZE: 16pt; MARGIN: 13pt 0cm; LINE-HEIGHT: 173%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify} TRANSIT OF VENUS A transit of Venus is the passage of the planet Venus across the visible disc of the Sun, as observed from the Earth. Such events are rare, with no more than two occurring every century. The most recent transit of Venus occurred on 8 June 2004, 122 years after the previous transit was observed. The reason for the rarity of this event is the inclination of the orbit of Venus with respect to that of the Earth. If the Venusian orbit were not tilted we would expect to see a transit every 584 days. However, due to the relative tilt of the orbits of Venus and Earth, Venus is almost always either above or below the ecliptic when Venus and the Earth are at the same positions in their orbits. Only when Venus and the Earth lie close to the line of nodes indicated in the diagram above, will we observe a transit. Transits of Venus commonly occur in pairs spaced about 8 years apart which correspond to one of the nodes. These are separated by the next pair on the opposite node after an interval of either 105.5 or 121.5 years. | 
