A photograph taken at 15:39 Hong Kong time (07:39 UTC) from Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong.
The most recent transit of Venus when observed from Earth took place on June 8, 2004. The event received significant attention, since it was the first Venus transit to take place after the invention of broadcast media. No human alive at the time had witnessed a previous Venus transit, since the previous Venus transit took place on December 6, 1882.
The transit was best seen from Europe, Asia and Africa, although eastern North America caught the end of it. Western North America did not see it at all, nor did Hawaii or New Zealand. The regions from which the transit were visible are shown on the map to the right.
Timing
The following table and image give times for various events (respectively, first contact, second contact, the mid-point, third contact and fourth contact) during of the transit on June 8, 2004 for a hypothetical observer at the center of the Earth. Due to parallax, actual observed times may differ by as much as ±7 minutes at different observation points on Earth.
Times (UTC) for observations
of the transit on June 8, 2004
I
II
Mid
III
IV
05:13:29
05:32:55
08:19:44
11:06:33
11:25:59
The path of Venus across the Sun (moving left to right)
Media
2004 transit as seen from Bangalore at 07:41 UTC, about two hours into the transit. The image is inverted compared to the diagram above, so Venus is seen near the top of the Sun's disc
Third contact (compare to III in the diagram above) of the 2004 Venus transit as seen from the central part of the United States
Animation depicting the transit of Venus from the perspective of Earth
Close-up video of the 2004 Venus transit, recorded in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum
