Gallery | Venus Transit 2012 | Backlit venus

This astonishing picture was taken just 30 hours before the transit began, when the Sun and Venus were separated by only 2.3 degrees (for comparison, the Sun itself is 1/2 a degree across). The ring around Venus is due to sunlight scattered through the thick atmosphere of the planet. The picture was taken using the 0.73-meter National Solar Observatory/Dunn Solar Telescope.

Credit: NSO/DST - IBIS; INAF / Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri

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