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Stargazers Watch The Transit Of Venus, A Rare Celestial Event

BALTIMORE (WJZ)— It was a once-in-a-lifetime sighting up in the sky. The transit of Venus—when the planet passes in front of the sun—is a rare phenomenon.

Kai Jackson joined the stargazers in Baltimore for Tuesday night's rare glimpse.

If you blinked or weren't looking in the right direction you may have missed it.

The transit of Venus is one of the biggest cosmic events to happen in recent memory.

"I actually am excited because I like science," said Sam Barsky, of Pikesville.

For seven hours stargazers around the world saw the planet Venus as a tiny black dot move across the sun.

"Every now and then both Venus and the Earth arrive at that point where the two planets cross at the same time and that's when a transit occurs. That's why it's so rare," said Dr. Keith Strong, astrophysicist.

At the Maryland Science Center in downtown Baltimore, all eyes were on the sky.

Some used protective glasses, so they could safely watch Venus traverse the sun.

A future astronomer summed it up this way:

"As far as I know Venus is supposed to be crossing the sun. So it's kinda like an eclipse but people are just calling it a transit," said Trenae Harvin, of Baltimore.

As celestial events go, the transit of Venus is a pretty big deal. In fact it won't happen again until 2117 and scientists tell us even then most people in the United States won't even be able to see it.

"I thought it was gonna cover the whole sun, but it was still pretty neat," said Ashley Cluster, of Glen Burnie.

"It's once-in-a-lifetime. I mean my kids might not even be able to see this. I mean their kids might, but I don't know we'll see," said Manny Sanchez, of Severna Park.

Before 2004, the last transits of Venus occurred in 1881 and 1889.

Click here for more information from NASA.

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