Observations of the June 8th 2004 Transit of Venus

The 8 June 2004 Transit of Venus was only the 6th time that this event has been telescopically observed by astronomers, the last occurring 6 December 1882. Although such transits today have diminished scientific importance, they are interesting for historical and educational reasons. This paper presents observations acquired in southern Greece and their analyses. Over 1500 timings sent to the European Southern Observatory by observers world-wide resulted in a determination of the Astronomical Unit to within about 0.04% of the currently accepted value.

These observations were supported by funds provided by the Denison University Research Foundation