Maia and The Transit of Venus
Posted on: June 18, 2012
[Kerean] “If Maia lives to 106, she’ll be able to look back at this photo and say she saw the PREVIOUS transit of Venus.”
Did you see the transit of Venus on June 5th? Since Maia’s dad and my dear husband is an astrophysicist, astronomical events of this kind don’t usually go unnoticed. Even if I have to sometimes remind him about it.
The 5th of June was a cloudy day here in Central Pennsylvania. As the sun became closer and closer to setting (optimal viewing time), we also had to contend with it getting hidden behind the Mount Nittany mountain range. We had to decide whether or not to continue hanging around Bellefonte, PA where our chances of seeing this historic event was quickly diminishing, or to make a mad dash around the mountain in the hopes of a better view.
Dear husband was not going to settle for missing it so we jumped in the car with the Maia Bear and went on a wild sun setting chase. We made it on the other side of the mountain just in the nick of time! As luck would have it, the sky was cleared and the transit of Venus was in clear view. Serendipitously, above a quarry off the main road, Andrew Sicree, a physics teacher in the area appeared just when we did and with a sunspotter in hand. We got great views via the sunspotter and also wearing our eclipse glasses.
We will never forget where we were during the transit of Venus on June 5, 2012. And, 106 years from now, Maia will look back at these photos and say she saw the previous one with her parents standing above a quarry off the main road in a small Central Pennsylvania town.
(Thanks to the resent subscribers to this blog. It’s nice to know that there are people reading it who aren’t related to me. Cheers, Kerean)
Me and the Maia Bear
“Venus is that little black dot on the face of the Sun. There are also clouds.”
PoviChildren 
Leave a comment