June 5, 2012: Another fun celestial event! I just couldn't believe our luck in witnessing this transit. I finally, after MUCH calling around, procured #14 welder's glass from a place downtown so we'd be able to watch the transit. When I asked the man on the phone to hold some glass for me as I'd be driving out from Santa Monica, he offered to meet me after work because he lives in Venice! So we met Wayne, at liquor store in Venice, with cash to buy four pieces of welder's glass (one for Antonio's birthday gift). We met some friends at Erik's work to see the event, and to our surprise we found an elaborate setup at the rooftop gardens! An attorney at another firm in the building was on the roof with a telescope, binoculars, and eclipse viewing glasses, and greeted us as if he'd been expecting us. It was fun to look through his high-tech devices and see the little spot that was Venus moving across the sun. He, on the other hand, was really excited to look through our welder's glass as he'd never seen it before, and declared it clearer than the eclipse viewers. Cool! When we got home in the evening, we learned that one of our neighbors is an astronomer at UCLA. She had an awesome telescope set up in the alley, so we went downstairs to "view" a little more. What a super day. I hope Violet has a memory of it. If not, these pictures will have to suffice:
Violet, viewing through the welder's glass. She was SO excited to carry the little pieces of glass around:
Daphne babysitting the babies who came to view with us:
Venus, transit!
Transit of Venus cupcakes I made for Tone. See Venus transiting? Across the sun cupcakes??
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