Venus transiting the sun – in pictures

The SDO satellite captures an ultra-high definition image of the transit of Venus across the face of the sun from space Photograph: NASA/SDO/Getty Images

A Nepalese man is silhouetted as Venus, a black dot on the top left of the sun, is seen in Kathmandu, Nepal Photograph: Niranjan Shrestha/AP

A helicopter flies past in Tijuana, Mexico, as the planet Venus makes its transit across the sun Photograph: Jorge Duenes /Reuters

A woman uses special glasses at the Vienna Urania observatory in the Austrian capital Photograph: Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images

People look at the planet Venus transiting across the sun during sunrise over Amman, Jordan Photograph: Ali Jarekji/Reuters

The transit of Venus is projected through binoculars onto a piece of paper outside Griffith Observatory in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, California Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

South Korean school students using solar viewers watch Venus passing between the sun and the earth at the Gwacheon National Science Museum Photograph: Kim Hong-ji/Reuters

A bird landing on one of the spires of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, is silhouetted against the sun and Venus Photograph: AP/Kevin Frayer

Indian children use cardboard eclipse glasses as they prepare to watch the transit of Venus in Allahabad, India Photograph: Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

A view of the transit from Sydney, Australia Photograph: Rob Griffith/AP

A man uses a smartphone to photograph the transit of venus at the Sydney Observatory in New South Wales, Australia Photograph: Rob Griffith/AP

Handout image courtesy of Nasa shows the planet Venus (top left) at the start of its transit of the sun Photograph: NASA/Reuters

Venus is a dot on the rising sun over the Baltic Sea at Kolobrzeg, Poland Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

A Nasa composite image provides various views of the transit against the fiery surface of the sun Photograph: Reuters/Nasa

People line up to watch the transit of Venus through a telescope on the Hong Kong waterfront Photograph: Dale de la Rey/AFP/Getty

Davinia Troughton (closest to camera) and Joshua Howes (next to her) wear special goggles to observe the transit of Venus from the High Line park in New York city Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

A closeup of Venus transiting the sun, courtesy of Nasa Photograph: Nasa/Reuters

Astronomer Raminder Samra attempts to get the view of Venus crossing the sun using a shadow on a piece of paper and the telescope at the MacMillan Southam Observatory in Vancouver, Canada Photograph: Andy Clark/Reuters

This Nasa picture shows Venus at the start of its transit of the sun Photograph: NASA/Reuters

Welder's goggles and a homemade viewing gadget are employed by Venus-watchers at the High Line park in New York city Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Hong Kong observatory curator Chan Ki-hung points at a screen showing the alignment of Venus and the sun as he addresses a press conference about the transit of Venus Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images