On June 4, 2024, Venus is passing directly behind the Sun, a blindingly event astronomers call "Superior Conjunction." The event is impossible to observe from Earth.
Using a coronagraph to block the Sun's glare SOHO (The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) is monitoring the close encounter.
Venus will pass close to the Sun in the sky as its orbit carries it around the far side of the solar system from the Earth. This occurs once in every synodic cycle of the planet (584 days) and marks the end of Venus's apparition in the morning sky and its transition to become an evening object over the next few weeks.
Venus will also pass apogee - the time when it is most distant from the Earth - at around the same time since it will lie exactly opposite to the Earth in the solar system.
Images credit: NASA/JPL, nemesis maturity channel, helioviewer.org
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