Clouds UGH!!!

The clouds just wouldn't cooperate. Like many central Floridians I was relegated to the Internet to "see" the once in a life time event.

All in all, I'm glad I could, at least, get to watch the transit. I followed Venus as it entered the Sun's limb. Once the dot of Venus "broke free" of the edge of the sun and began its slow march across the sun's surface I was satisfied that I can say I saw it.

I set my telescope up in hopes that the clouds may offer a window of opportunity... but, to no avail.

Here's the objective lens without the solar filter.

...... and here it is with the white light solar filter in place.

This is a 110mm (4.25 inches) William Optics refractor.

I enjoy using this scope while on the road. It's relatively easy to set up and it's very good for planetary and double star observation. It's a "short-tube" which provides a very wide field of view.

I set it up just around 1815 hours only to break it down about thirty minutes later. You guessed it, I saw a tiny "window" in the sky and set it back up. That's when the solid gray clouds settled in. To add insult to injury, just after I set the optical tube in its case, it began to rain.

 And, that's astronomy, besides learning about the celestial dome surrounding Earth, it teaches humility and patience,

I hope many of you got to see the Venus Transit of 2012.

Now we can wait for the Transit of Mercury in 2016!