It's a show you almost certainly won't see again in your lifetime: a transit of Venus, as the second planet in our solar system passes between Earth and the sun.

If, like a lot of people, clouds kept you from catching the spectacle on Tuesday night, Nasa's orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory has you covered. This cool time-lapse video – complete with mood music – shows Venus crossing the face of the sun, with images constructed "from several wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light and a portion of the visible spectrum". The technique lends the images stunning colours, and shows us breathtaking details of the solar surface.

The next Venus transit won't happen till 2117, so make the most of this one:

See more: Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory page has lots of information and images from this pioneering research project.