Drake Planetarium is one of many places to view the Transit of Venus

CINCINNATI - Other places to view the Transit of Venus listed by the Cincinnati Observatory.

On Tuesday, June 5, shortly after 6 p.m., one of the rarest astronomical events will happen… the transit of Venus across the sun! 

You can view this amazing event that has only occurred 53 times over the past 4,000 years. Venus isn’t expected to move across the sun again until 2117.

Pam Bowers, the Director of the Drake Planetarium and Science Center, explains what occurs during the transit of Venus.

"The transit does occur tomorrow, the transit, meaning that we will be able to see this black dot on the sun, starting at 6:05 p.m., and then it will travel east to west across the surface of the sun."

They will have solar scopes and solar viewers so everyone can view the transit. If there are too many clouds, you can view the transit from a live feed from the Jet Propulsion Lab at the planetarium.

The Drake Planetarium and Science Center is making a day out of this event, where you’ll find fun for the whole family starting at 2 p.m. with science projects, tours of the Science Center’s Lego Lab, and opportunities to view when Venus transits the sun. 

In addition, Dr. Frank Drake, for whom the planetarium is named, will be making a rare visit to Cincinnati for the transit. Dr. Drake is the founder of SETI, or Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. More information on SETI can be found here: http://www.seti.org.

Dr. Drake will be speaking Tuesday at 4 p.m. on the “Past, Present, and Future of the Search for Signs of Intelligence Among the Stars.”  After his lecture, the planetarium will celebrate Dr. Drake’s 82nd birthday and you can be part of it if you register for his presentation.

This fun-filled day of events surrounding the transit of Venus across the sun will cost $10 per person or $35 for a family of four or more.  Reservations can be made by calling (513) 396-5578 or you can register and pay for your spot at the event at http://drakeplanetarium.org/.