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Here in Melbourne, first contact (when the leading edge of Venus first touched the Sun) was at 08:16:17 this morning and second contact (when it was fully onto the surface of the Sun) was at 08:34:15.
Third contact will be at 14:26:48 and fourth contact at 14:14:40.
These times are similar all over the Earth where the transit is visible, but many places will see a better transit than us - ours is a small loop in the lower-left part of the Sun.
The following web sites will offer further useful information:
A plot of the trajectory can be found below set your local latitude and longitude to see an exact path. Alternately, set different locations to see how much better it is elsewhere! We suggest northern USA (perhaps Chicago) and Hawaii.
A live webcam on Mt Mauna Kea (Hawaii) is here.
This writer is about to set up a simple pair of binoculars on a tripod and project the image onto a sheet of cardboard.
However you plan to look at this event, DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY, EITHER WITH THE NAKED EYE OR THROUGH ANY OPTICAL DEVICE.
Remember, this is the last time we will see a transit of Venus until 2117. I'm not sure about you, but I don't expect to live that long!
