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cardboard eclipse glasses. If the sun is viewed directly, permanenteye damage could result. In Los Angeles, throngs jammed Mount Hollywood where the GriffithObservatory rolled out the red carpet for Venus. The last time thecity witnessed a Venus transit was 130 years ago in 1882. A 2004transit was not visible from the western U.S. Telescopes with special filters were set up next to the lawn andpeople took turns peering at the sun before and during the transit.Astronomers and volunteers lectured about the rarity of a Venuspass to anyone who would listen. Minutes before Venus first touched the outer edge of the sun,Sousa's "Transit Of Venus March" blared through. The crowd turnedtheir attention skyward. Jamie Jetton took the day off from work to bring her two nephews, 6and 11, visiting from Arizona to the observatory. Sporting eclipseglasses, it took a little while before they spotted Venus. "I'm still having fun. It's an experience. It's something we'lltalk about for the rest of our lives," she said. Bo Tan, a 32-year-old software engineer took a half day off fromwork and went with his co-workers to the observatory. He admittedhe wasn't an astronomy buff but could not miss this opportunity. He pointed his eclipse glasses at the sun and steadied his Nikoncamera behind it to snap pictures. "It makes you feel like a small speck in the universe," he said. In Mexico, at least 100 people lined up two hours early to view theevent through telescopes or one of the 150 special viewing glasseson hand, officials said. Observation points were also set up at adozen locations. Venus, which is extremely hot, is one of Earth's two neighbors andis so close in size to our planet that scientists at times callthem near-twins. During the transit, it will appear as a small dot. This will be the seventh transit visible since German astronomerJohannes Kepler first predicted the phenomenon in the 17th century.Because of the shape and speed of Venus' orbit around the sun andits relationship to Earth's annual trip, transits occur in pairsseparated by more than a century. It's nowhere near as dramatic and awe-inspiring as a total solareclipse, which sweeps a shadow across the Earth, but there will besix more of those this decade. In Hawaii, hundreds of tourists and locals passed through an areaof Waikiki Beach where the University of Hawaii set up eighttelescopes and two large screens showing webcasts of the transit asseen from telescopes at volcanoes on other Hawaiian islands. But minutes after Venus crossed into the sun's path, clouds rolledoverhead and blocked the direct view. "It's always the challenge of being in Hawaii -- are you going tobe able to see through the clouds," said Greg Mansker, 49, of PearlCity, as he stood in line at a telescope. The intermittent clouds didn't stop people from looking up throughfilters, but it did drive some to crowd the screens instead. Jenny Kim, 39, of Honolulu, said she told her 11-year-old son theplanet's crossing would be the only time he'd get to see thetransit in person. "I don't know what the future will be, so I think this will be goodfor him," Kim said as she snapped photos of the webcast with hersmartphone. Astronomers also planned viewings at Pearl Harbor and Ko Olina. Some observers at the University of Alaska, Anchorage gathered on acampus rooftop, peering at Venus through special filtered glassesand telescopes. "It's not really spectacular when you're looking at it," KellenTyrrell, 13, said. "It's just the fact that I'm here seeing it.It's just so cool that I get to experience it." NASA planned a watch party at its Goddard Visitor Center inMaryland with solar telescopes, "Hubble-quality" images from itsSolar Dynamics Observatory Mission and expert commentary andpresentations. Most people don't tend to gaze at the sun for long periods of timebecause it's painful and people instinctively look away. Butthere's the temptation to stare at it during sky shows like solareclipses or transits of Venus. The eye has a lens and if you stare at the sun, it concentratessunlight on the retina and can burn a hole through it. It's similarto when you hold a magnifying glass under the blazing sun and lighta piece of paper on fire. It can take several hours for people to notice problems with theireyes but, by that time, the damage is done and, in some cases,irreversible. During the 1970 solar eclipse visible from the eastern U.S., 145burns of the retina were reported, according to the AmericanAcademy of Ophthalmology. Experts from Hong Kong's Space Museum and local astronomical groupswere organizing a viewing Wednesday outside the museum's buildingon the Kowloon waterfront overlooking the southern Chinese city'sfamed Victoria Harbor. The transit is happening during a 6-hour, 40-minute span that beganjust after 6 p.m. EDT in the United States. What you can see andfor how long depends on what the sun's doing in your region duringthat exact window, and the weather. Those in most areas of North and Central America will see the startof the transit until the sun sets, while those in western Asia, theeastern half of Africa and most of Europe will catch the transit'send once the sun comes up. Hawaii, Alaska, eastern Australia and eastern Asia including Japan,North and South Korea and eastern China will get the whole showsince the entire transit will happen during daylight in thoseregions. ------ Oskar Garcia can be reached on Twitter at twitter.com/oskargarcia ------ Contributing to this report are AP Science Writer Alicia Chang inLos Angeles; and Associated Press writers Rachel D'Oro inAnchorage, Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong and Hye Soo Nah in Seoul. 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