Venus Transit

Venus Transit is HUGE these days.

Every morning, around 6:50, I wake up to NPR news on my SONY radio alarm clock. After local news, there is always a "Star Date" feature, sort of an astronomical events calender, which I like a lot. Over two weeks now, it's been talking about Venus Transit, about when people saw it last time(1882), about when you are going to see it this time(Jun 8th, 5:25 am to 7:26 am), about how it is a twice-in-a-life-time astronomical miracle(next one is in 2012, still possible; the one after that is in 2117, not quite likely), and about how you are supposed to observe it(look through a piece of welder's glass, at least No.14).

I have missed most of the major astronomical miracles: Halley's comet and other "easliy observed" comets, numerous "spectacular" meteor showers, lineup of planets...just to name a few.

It's very likely that I will miss this one, too. First of all, I don't have a No.14 welder's glass. Secondly, I don't know if there is any observatory around my city open to the public Tuesday morning. Lastly, and most importantly, I can't get up that early.