Venus transit 2012 20120605

A man prepares to press the shutter on his camera as he takes a picture of the sunset from The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California June 4, 2012. June 5 will be the first time since 1882 that the Transit of Venus in front of the sun will be seen in the western United States. Since the telescope's invention the Transit of Venus has only been viewable anywhere in the world in the years 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and 2004, according to NASA's Fred Espenak.