Home >>transits
A transit is the astronomical event that occurs when one celestial body appears to move across the face of another celestial body, as seen by an observer at some particular vantage point. A transit occurs when a celestial body crosses the meridian due to the Earth's rotation, about halfway between rising and setting. For instance, the Sun transits the meridian at solar noon. Observation of meridian transits was once very important for timekeeping purposes. The term star transit is used for the passage of a star through the eyepiece of a telescope.
The word transit refers to cases where the nearer object appears considerably smaller than the more distant object. Cases where the nearer object appears larger and completely hides the more distant object are known as occultation. One example of a transit involves the motion of a planet between a terrestrial observer and the Sun. This can happen only with inferior planets, namely Mercury and Venus. However, as seen from outer planets such as Mars, the Earth itself transits the Sun on occasion. Jupiter transits allow growth and expansion of consciousness involving the conditions and natures of the houses and planets involved. One confidence and level of joy is increased in these areas of life, and the native will feel motivated to improve or gain in these areas.
The term can also be used to describe the motion of a satellite across its parent planet, for instance one of the Galilean satellites across Jupiter, as seen from Earth. A transit requires three bodies to be lined up in a single line. Rarer are cases where four bodies are lined up. The one closest to the present occurred on April 27, 1586, when Mercury transited the Sun as seen from Venus at the same time as a transit of Mercury from Saturn and a transit of Venus from Saturn. In recent years the discovery of extra solar planets has excited interest in the possibility of detecting their transits across their own stellar primaries.

transits