Bulgaria, World Fascinated by Rare Venus Transit

Venus (top left) seen by Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory moving on to the face of the Sun. Photo by BBC

The planet Venus moved across the face of the Sun, fascinating skywatchers across the globe who had the chance to observe one of the rarest events in the Solar System.

The transit, which happened during a 6-hour, 40-minute span, will not be seen again for another 105 years.

It ended at 7:52 EET.

In Bulgaria, the event was to be observed from the moment of sunrise on Wednesday – at 5:29 am EET in the Black Sea city of Varna and at 5:49 am EET in the capital Sofia.

However, the cloudy weather prevented most Bulgarians from seeing it.

Transits of Venus are so rare because the planet's orbit is tilted relative to the Earth's. The phenomenon has been first observed in the 17th century. The two planets line up with the sun only four times every 243 years. (The timing between transits is: 121.5 years, then eight years, then 105.5 years, then eight years again.)

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