Transit of Venus, 2004
 |
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. It was given a lot of 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.
 |
Where the 2004 transit was visible |
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.
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) |
|
 |
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. |
*
Transit of Venus*
Transit of Venus, 2012*
The Venus Transit Across the Sun; observations from Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY, USA*
Several videos of the transit as seen by the TRACE satellite
*
Archive of observations in Bangalore*
Predictions for the 2004 Transit of Venus*
The Transit of Venus: Where to See It *
Photos taken by BBC News readers*
Venus Transit 2004 Homepage at European Southern Observatory*
Venus Transit 2004 - Miami, FL, USA*
HM Nautical Almanac Office: 2004 Transit of Venus*
Astronomy Picture of the Day 2004 June 10 -- Transit closeup photo
