Venus Transit VIDEO: NASA Footage Of Rare 2012 Planetary Alignment From Solar Dynamics Observatory

The recent transit of Venus across the sun is probably the last time anyone alive in 2012 will witness this rare celestial alignment. Fortunately, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was on hand to capture the event like nothing else.

Launched on Feb. 10, 2010, the SDO is the most advanced spacecraft designed to study the sun, according to the NASA Explorer YouTube channel. The observatory will examine the star's atmosphere and magnetic field during its 5-year mission, streaming more than a terrabyte of data back to earth every day.

Scroll Down For Venus Transit Photos

This video is made of ultra-high definition images captured by the SDO during the recent Venus transit. It includes images from different wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, as well as light from the visible spectrum.

For almost 7 hours on June 5 or 6, depending viewing location, Venus moved between the earth and its closest star, making the sun appear to be punctured by a small black dot. It was visible from the ground in most of the world except for western Africa, southeastern South America, Portugal and parts of Spain, according to NASA.

The Huffington Post live-blogged the event, so be sure to check out a recap of the coverage. Click here for more on the historical significance of the transit of Venus.

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