Crowd Gathers to Witness the 2004 Transit of Venus

A crowd gathered before sunrise on June 8, 2004, to witness the rare Transit of Venus in Mishawaka, Indiana, USA. Though clouds threatened to obscure the spectacle, the sun emerged in time for the audience to observe through telescopes, rear projection screens, and solar viewers. An audible time signal in the background allowed individuals to time the instant when the black dot of Venus just touched the inside edge of the sun, as global expeditions had done in past centuries. The last transit of Venus in our lifetimes occurs June 5-6, 2012.  YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS1O6C2dQ40.