Venus transit

It might seem weird to some but I had a lot of company on this one. I saw Venus yesterday as it moved across the face of the sun. I had my doubts as the afternoon clouded up and a gentle rain persisted until about 7:30 pm. I had downloaded the transit times for Hyde Park from the US Naval Observatory so I knew that it started at 4:05 and would last for about five hours. The clouds parted so I got out my homemade pinhole box observer and it did not provide a decent resolution of the image. I called a neighbor that likely had a welder's helmet and he was kind enough to go to his shop and within ten minutes I was trying to see the image. It was too small. I grabbed my binoculars, put on the helmet, put the binocs in front of that and wow -- there it was! It was at the four o'clock position and in about 10% in from the edge. Like the bottom middle below. About ten minutes after my viewing the clouds filled the viewing area. Some opportunities don't last long. Fun stuff. Next viewing in 105 years in 2117.

An image from NASA:

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