Watch the Transit of Venus now or wait 108 years!

That little black dot is Venus transitting across the face of the sun. Look out for it on the 5th/6th of June!

Perhaps you are wondering how Venus got a mention on this blog given that all I talk about is marine stuff. Well here you go - Venus is believed to have previously possessed oceans however, these evaporated as the temperature rose owing to the runaway greenhouse effect which "is a process in which a net positive feedback between surface temperature and atmospheric opacity increases the strength of the greenhouse effect on a planet until its oceans boil away" (Wikipedia).

The Transit of Venus is when the disk of the planet Venus crosses the face of the sun. The Exploratorium website has lots of interesting information about it here. It will be visible from all over the world and to find out what time you should be ready click here. It is IMPORTANT to note however that watching the sun with unprotected eyes could severely damage your eyesight. I recommend you watch this video to learn how to put together a simple viewing structure. 

Finally, if you aren't able to find the materials to watch it yourself, or its super cloudy outside (like it is outside my window) and you can't find the sun, let alone Venus then I suggest you join me in watching the live webcast here.

P.S: the transit is so rare that only 6 have been seen since the invention of the telescope.