Everything you need to know about next week's Transit of Venus

On Tuesday/Wednesday June 5/6, Earth will have the best seat -- the only seat -- for a great show: the Transit of Venus across the face of the Sun. This is a relatively rare event, and the next one won't happen until December 10, 2117, so I'm guessing this will be the last time you'll be able to see it. I have a lot of info below, so I've broken it up into sections. Also, a special note: Fraser Cain, Pamela Gay, and I are hosting a live online video chat star party for the transit! That live video feed will be embedded here on the blog at the time of the transit, so if you read this blog -- and you do -- you'll see it. I'll have more info closer to the date. Oh -- you can click on the pictures here to embiggen them and get more ...