On rare occasions, Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun. During the twenty-first century, it will happen twice, once in the year 2004, and once in the year 2012. Such events are called Venus Transits.
The following photographs were taken from the roof of Angell Hall on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan during the last Venus Transit (the morning of June 8, 2004, between 6:00 a.m. and 7:25 a.m).
Dr. Mario Mateo (from the U-M Astronomy Department) used eye-piece projection to display the Venus Transit onto a sheet of paper he held in his hand. This allowed several people to view the Transit at the same time. Venus is visible as a small black dot on the surface of the sun in both these photos (in the second photograph, venus is beginning to exit the sun).
Two other photographs were taken using afocal photography and a Olympus Camedia C-2040ZOOM Digital Camera. The camera was hand held.