Venus makes an appearance, but clouds obscure the view in Helsinki

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For most of Finland, conditions were such that people could observe a historic event in the heavens on Tuesday, as Venus passed across the face of the Sun for the first time since 1882 (and 1874).
      The transit of Venus between Earth and Sun could be seen in Central and Northern Finland, but Helsinki residents hoping for a suitable "cloud-failure" were disappointed as the sky remained obstinately overcast all morning.
      In the attached picture, taken in Northern Savo just after 9 a.m., Venus shows up as a small beauty-spot on the face of the Sun. The planet’s course across the solar disc lasted around six hours.
      For those who missed it, you will have another chance (weather permitting, of course) in eight years’ time, but thereafter you can concentrate on other things to tell your grandchildren about, as the next transit after 2012 will not be until 2117.
     
The transit of Venus no longer has any great scientific value, but in the 18th century it was seen as a means of determining a precise measurement of the distance to the Sun and the scale of the solar system, and there was great competition between nations to get the results and publish them. Consequently figures like Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon (later of the Mason-Dixon Line) and the explorer James Cook were despatched to distant parts to witness the transits of 1761 and 1769.
      In 1882, the English author Thomas Hardy even worked the occurrence into the plot of his novel Two on a Tower, and American composer John Philip Sousa composed a march to celebrate the transit.


Links:
  Transits of Venus and Mercury
  Transit of Venus (European Southern Laboratory)

Helsingin Sanomat