The event received significant attention, since it was the first Venus transit after the invention of broadcast media.
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) launched the VT-2004 project, together with the Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides (IMCCE) and the Observatoire de Paris in France, as well as the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
This project had 2,763 participants all over the world, including nearly 1,000 school classes.
The entire transit was visible from Europe, most of Asia, and almost all of Africa.
The beginning was visible before sunset from easternmost Asia and Australia.