(Photo: NASA)WALLOPS ISLAND, Va.- If you have a fascination with the planets and the solar system, then Wallops Island in Accomack County is where you should have been Tuesday evening.
That's where NASA helped visitors catch a glimpse of a rare astronomical event with Venus passing between the Earth and the sun.
"It's a cool thing," said Rob Landis, technical manager at the facility, "The historical significance of it is the rarity of the event and the sheer determination to figure out the size of the solar system."
The facility set up special binoculars and a telescope for visitors to view, what to the eye would look like a tiny dot at the edge of the sun.
Landis said at no point should a person ever look into the sun directly for many obvious reasons but when looking at the transit of Venus he encourages viewers to wear special solar viewing glasses otherwise he said, a person could go blind.
"Cool rays like this will not protect your eyes from observing the transit of Venus," Landis said holding a pair of regular sunglasses.
Landis said this phenomenon will not help scientists discover anything just yet; rather it is a glimpse into the mysteries that make up our solar system.
"The distance between the sun and the Earth was a big puzzle back in the 17th, 18th and19th centuries, so I think that this has a historical significance," he said.
This rare event will not occur again until 2117.
