Venus Transit '04

In the central mountains of Pennsylvania, rare astronomical events are usually observed on the internet. Sometimes it seems that clear skies here are as uncommon as the events themselves. Suprisingly, other than a few clouds in the east at sunrise, the sky was great for Venus' transit.

About ten minutes before sunrise, I arrived at the overlook (40°14.000'N, 78°39.654'W). I set up my 8" Orion dob, anxiously waiting to see the sun peek over the distant hills. While I waited, I shot a couple of pictures of the valley below with my digital camera, then turned my attention to the sunrise.

I pointed my scope at the sun as soon as it cleared the horizon, . The sun could not be seen through my Baader film so I removed it and shot a few pics through the scope without it. I was shocked at how red it was. And there was Venus!

I spent the next 1½ hours shooting pics of the transit. Click on the images below for a larger version.