The transit of Venus on June 5th, 2012, as seen by the Japanese/American orbiting solar observatory Hinode (“Sunrise”). The atmosphere of Venus shines as a thin arc—an aureole—as sunlight from behind is refracted and scattered.

This celestial lineup will not reoccur for another 105 years. Astronomers searching for exoplanets orbiting other stars in our galaxy are watching for transits of those worlds in front of their parent stars to confirm their existence with a measurable dimming of starlight (image credit: JAXA/NASA/Lockheed Martin)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hinode spacecraft got a unique angle on yesterday’s solar eclipse from its sun-synchronous polar orbit four hundred miles above the Earth (image credit: JAXA/Hinode).