By Howard Pousner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Astronomer David Dundee has an out-of-this world offer for anyone who ventures to Cartersville's Tellus Science Museum next Tuesday evening to witness the ultra-rare phenomenon called the transit of Venus.

"We are promising that everyone who comes to watch, if they save their receipts, can get in free to the museum for the next Venus transit," he said with tongue firmly planted in cheek, knowing that there will not be another sighting of the planet's passage between the Earth and sun until 2117. "You know, we know no bounds of generosity."

Actually, astronomy aficionados know no bounds of enthusiasm when it comes to the transit of Venus. Most mortals think of the appearance of Halley's Comet as the rarest of celestial events, visible from Earth every 76 years, give or take. But that is rather commonplace in comparison to the quirky transit of Venus, which won't be spotted from this mortal coil for another 105 years after Tuesday.

People who "collect" astronomical phenomena the way bird watchers check rare winged creatures of their lifetime lists consider the Venus transit, in which the planet appears like a black coin passing right to left across the face of the sun, a holy grail of sorts. That's why they are helping organize viewings across the metro area, from Grant Park to Grayson.

Stone Mountain Park is expecting the largest crowd, easily in the hundreds, who will hike up the mountainside or take the Summit Skyride to the top of "the Rock" before or during sunset. There, members of the Atlanta Astronomy Club will have some 20 solar-filtered telescopes set up for the public to gaze into and 50 pairs of eclipse glasses to lend. (Remember, kids, it's extremely dangerous to stare at the sun without protective filters.)

Atop the outcropping, 1,683 feet above sea level, they will be able to experience a viewing unobstructed by trees or buildings. That means a longer possible viewing -- for about 2 hours and 45 minutes, starting around 6 p.m. -- than anywhere else for miles around, if the skies are not covered by clouds.

"It's going to be great," said Daniel Herron, the club's board chairman and observing chairman. "If the weather is clear, you're raised up higher than anything in the area so you're going to get that extra time. ... We may see 30 or 40 more minutes of the transit because we're a little higher than the horizon.

"I'm really excited," he added, "just extremely excited."

Originally posted here:

Astronomy buffs eye Tuesday's transit of Venus with anticipation