Stone Mountain Sunset with rare Transit of Venus across Sun’s Disc

IN A NUTSHELL: Among the most popular of all AOC events are our Stone Mountain Park “sunset hikes” - climbing the easy trail to the top of the mountain to enjoy and photograph sunset, then hiking back down together in the evening twilight.  Don’t miss this special "Sun + Venus" edition of the hike!  We’ll meet at 5:00 PM at the usual place by the restrooms at the base of the Walk-Up Trail near Confederate Hall. (See directions and discussion of optional free parking/entrance options below).
  Weather permitting, during the 2-1/2 hours between 6:04 PM and sunset we’ll witness the “transit of Venus” across the disc of the sun from the top the mountain.  Several of my friends in the Atlanta Astronomy Club will bring special dark-filtered solar telescopes up the skylift and will offer free safe views of the transit for our AOC group and other Park visitors.  (See more below.)  The dark silhouette of Venus will make “first contact” with the edge of the sun at 6:04 PM, then by sunset at 8:46 PM its circular disc will have moved about halfway across the sun.  At that time both heavenly bodies will descend as one below the horizon behind Kennesaw Mountain as views of the transit continue for observers in the western U.S. and the Pacific.

WHAT’S the BIG DEAL?!  When it comes to spectacular celestial events, transits of Venus are about as rare and strangely spaced as they come.  About every 100+ years a pair of them are visible, separated almostly exactly 8 years.  The last one was on June 8, 2004, and any of us who are lucky enough to view this one of Tue June 5, 2012 will be among the oldest humans alive if we witness either of the next pair in 2117 and 2125!
  A transit is like an eclipse, when the observed disc of one heavenly body can be seen moving across the disc of another, as in the above time-lapse photo taken of the 2004 Venus transit.  Since the orbit of Venus around the sun is inside our own Earth orbit it can occasionally appear precisely in a straight line between us and the sun, thus resulting in a transit.  This happens so rarely because Venus’s orbit is tilted with respect to that of the Earth.  A similar situation with our moon’s orbital tilt is likewise why total solar eclipses so seldom occur, with the moon’s shadow blocking our view of the sun.
  Cynics may say, “What’s the big deal about a transit?” but avid skygazers and astronomers exult in the visual spectacle of the rare event.  When it transits, Venus is near its closest possible approach to Earth, about 1/3 the distance to the sun, and appears as an unmistakable dark disc, first appearing to touch the edge of the sun, then moving slowly across it.  In the few minutes before sunset we may even be able to view it safely with the unprotected naked eye as the sun reddens and darkens.  This will be our last chance in this lifetime to see our beautiful “twin-sister” of the Earth in such an amazing way, as a tiny “siamese twin” of our sun!

POST-TRANSIT LASERSHOW & MOONRISE OPTION:   As a bonus for any of our hikers who wish to spend an extra hour or so with me in the Park after dark, the new 2012 edition of their free “LaserShow Spectacular” is a fun option that we can enjoy together from the giant lawn below the carving.  Each evening between Memorial Day and Labor Day it begins at about 9:30.
  By the way, just as the LaserShow is ending at about 10:15 the 99% full moon will be rising above the eastern horizon. Likely we'll be able to see this beautiful moonrise just 90 minutes after we see the sun+Venus set!

DIRECTIONS from the US-78 STONE MOUNTAIN FREEWAY/ I-285 INTERCHANGE in NE METRO ATLANTA:
1. From I-285 exit #39B take the Stone Mtn Freeway (US-78) about 9 miles eastward (toward Stone Mtn, Snellville and Athens) and get off at Exit #8, the main Stone Mountain Park entrance.
2. Enter the Park at the admissions gate. (Suggestion: Ask for a Park map.  The daily parking fee is $10 if you don't display the ~$35 annual Stone Mtn parking pass.  There's no per-person charge for entrance.)
3. Take the Park entrance road, Jefferson Davis Drive, 1.1 mile to the Y intersection.
4. Bear Right onto Robert E. Lee Drive, go about 1 more mile westward to Confederate Hall on your left. (As you approach the Hall, avoid bearing right at the Park's western exit).
5. Park in the big parking lot just beyond the Hall.  We'll meet in our usual place for AOC Stone Mountain hikes beside the Restroom Building at the base of the Walk-up Trail.

LAT/LON COORDINATES of OUR WALK-UP TRAIL MEETING SPOT for your GPS or Google.com/maps destination (Use in conjunction with above directions): 33.8106,-84.1617

ALTERNATE DIRECTIONS for FREE STONE MTN VILLAGE PARKING & PARK ENTRANCE, with 6-MIN WALK or 2-MIN BIKE RIDE to our HIKE MEETING SPOT:
1. From I-285 exit #39B take the Stone Mtn Freeway (US-78) about 5.9 miles eastward (toward Stone Mtn, Snellville and Athens).
2. At Exit #5 bear Right onto the Memorial Drive/Stone Mountain Bypass, and go only about 0.6 mile—then bear Right again at your first opportunity up the E. Ponce de Leon Ave. access ramp.
3. Turn Left onto E. Ponce de Leon Ave. and go 0.5 mile to the first traffic light.
4. Turn Left onto James B. Rivers Memorial Drive (avoiding the sharper Silver Hill Rd left turn) and go just 3 blocks (not quite 0.2 mile) to 4th Street.
5. Turn Right onto 4th Street and go about 0.4 mile to the free MARTA parking lot on your left (crossing Mountain Street en route).
6. After parking, walk or ride your bike a half block back out to Mountain Street, turn Right, and proceed straight ahead about 0.3 mile and through the free Stone Mountain Park pedestrian/bicycle entrance gate at the end of Mountain Street. Continue straight ahead through the big parking lot to our meeting point by the restroom building near Confederate Hall.

CLICK HERE for STONE MTN TRAIL MAP:
http://www.stonemountainpark.org/images/ecosystem/trail%20map%202008%20for%20visitors%20at%20CHall.pdf

Free event if you park in Stone Mtn Village and walk into the Park (see special directions above).  Otherwise you're responsible for your daily or annual Stone Mtn Park parking pass.