Video: Transit of Venus across the sun (high definition)

An event not to happen again until 2117 had astronomers and amateur stargazers enthralled, as they gathered to watch the rare phenomenon.

Venus appeared as a small black pinhole moving slowly across the face of the sun. The event lasted approximately 6 hours and 40 minutes and was visible from all 7 continents. While most areas of North and Central America only caught a glimpse of Venus before sunset, Alaska, Hawaii, eastern Australia and eastern Asia enjoyed the full display, as the transit occurred during daylight hours. The movement of Venus was streamed online, with NASA's website drawing 2,000,000 visitors in total during the transit. Scientists at NASA collected information on Venus' atmosphere during the transit. They say this could shed light on how to identify other planets that could possibly support life. While the transit of Venus occurs in pairs 8 years apart, there is more than a century gap separating the cycles, meaning that this will not be seen again until 2117.