The next transit of Venus will be June 8, 2004. The best view will be from Europe. There is an excellent description of this event in Joseph Ashbrook's book "The Astronomical Scrapbook." Ashbrook points out that we should be able to see effects of Venus' atmosphere. This was first observed by the Russian scientist Lomonosov in 1761. We should all try to see this. It will be a very dramatic event. Something like Arthur C. Clarke's transit of the Earth from Mars.
Clear Skies, Brian Ritchey, Des Moines
