All content   Copyright © 2009 Ricardo Borba

On June 8, 2004 at sunrise, I joined a group of fellow astronomers from the RASC, Ottawa Center to observe and share with the public the first transit of Venus in 122 years. We set up our equipment at the Chapter's parking lot at Pinecrest. We had fairly clear skies but some clouds and morning haze were still present low in the East. The Sun took a while to clear those clouds, but when it did, it brought us the most pleasant surprise: the Transit of Venus, at least at that point, was a naked-eye event! The Sun, being still low in the hazy horizon, was a beautiful dark orange ball -- with a pimple on it (never look at the sun without proper eye protection).