Venus approaches the Sun as seen by LASCO C2 and NASA Space Weather iPhone app

Venus approaches: LASCO C2 image from NASA Space Weather Media Viewer app

This Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment (LASCO C2) image of the Sun from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite shows Venus approaching the Sun just hours from its 2012 transit!

You can watch the transit with more impressive instruments right from your iPhone with free apps, such as the NASA Space Weather Media Viewer.

Once the transit begins, I'm sure it will show up on the HMI Intensitygram (image below). I can't believe I'm going to be among the first people in history to view the transit on a handheld device - early astronomers would roll over in their graves if they knew how easy it is to be a casual observer these days!

Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager Intensitygram via NASA Media Viewer app