Venus Transit of 2004: 52 Photos of Rare Celestial Sight

Venus Transit Enshrouded in Clouds

The June 8, 2004 transit was the first such transit to be observed in almost 122 years and only the seventh since the invention of the telescope in the 1600s. Radu Corlan captured this image June 8, 2004, in Bucharest, Romania. [See our Transit of Venus 2012: Complete Coverage Special Report.]

All of the Transit

Dennis van Schelven took this image in Spijkenisse, The Netherlands on June 8, 2004. Transits of Venus occur in pairs eight years apart. The second event of the pair in the 21st century will take place this year — on Tuesday, June 5, as seen from the Western Hemisphere (Wednesday, June 6, from the Eastern Hemisphere).

Venus Transit from Vallentuna, Sweden

The transit, or passage, of Venus across the face of the sun is one of nature's rarest celestial phenomena. This image was captured by P. M. Heden in Vallentuna, Sweden on June 8, 2004.

Just After the Beginning of the Transit

The start of the transit is marked by "first contact," when Venus's small inky disk first touches the Sun's edge and creates an almost imperceptible "dent" on the solar limb. This image was taken by Irene Komninou on June 8, 2004, in Iraklion, Crete, Greece.

Halfway Between 1st and 2nd Contact

This image of the Venus transit was taken by the VT-2004 team on June 8, 2004, in Rimavska Subota, Slovakia.

Near Third Contact

"Third contact" takes place when Venus's disk touches the other side of the solar limb, signaling the beginning of the end of the transit. This image was taken by Saverio Cammarata & Giuseppe Marino from Catanese, Italy on June 8, 2004.

Venus at Third Contact

"Third contact" takes place when Venus's disk touches the other side of the solar limb, signaling the beginning of the end of the transit. Maryam Nejatbakhsh of Akhtarvash Society, Iran took this image June 8, 2004.

All of the Venus Transit

This image was taken by Elio Daniele from Palermo, Italy on June 8, 2004.

2004 Venus Transit of Sun

Three views of Venus' solar transit in 2004, taken by NASA's sun-observing TRACE spacecraft. The top image is in visible light; the view on bottom left is in the ultraviolet, and the one on bottom right is in the extreme ultraviolet.

Venus Transit in Clouds

This image was taken by Huang Yi, Hu Yixing, Qu Yizhou, Qu Wenwen, Ge Zhiyuan, Wang Yichen, Qang Jinwie, Linlan Yi and Ye Fei on June 8, 2004, from Yingtan, P.R. China.

Venus Transit — Ingress

This image was taken by Jamie Cooper from Northampton, UK on June 8, 2004.