A transit is when a smaller body passes in front of a _______________________________ one (for example, when an object like Venus passes between the _______________________________ and the Sun). During a transit, the object (Venus in this case) appears as a small, dark object crossing the larger object. A transit is just like a special type of solar _______________________________, but the Sun does not go _______________________________; only a tiny bit of the Sun is obscured.

The only planets that ever pass between the Earth and the Sun are _______________________________ and Venus (since they are the only planets closer to the Sun than the Earth is). Therefore, the only planets that can produce a transit are Mercury and Venus. Since Venus' orbit is much larger than Mercury's _______________________________, transits of Venus are even _______________________________ than those of Mercury.

A _______________________________ of Venus occurs only when two things happen simultaneously:

• Venus is in inferior conjunction with the Sun (this is when Venus is located directly _______________________________ the Earth and the Sun).
• Venus is crossing the through Earth's orbital plane (the _______________________________). Venus' orbital plane is tilted by _______________________ degrees with respect to the ecliptic.