Friends of the Zeiss

P.O. Box 1041

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230-1041 U.S.A.

Telephone: 412-561-7876

Electronic Mail: < friendsofthezeiss@planetarium.cc >

Internet Web Site: < http://www.friendsofthezeiss.org >

2004 June 3

Tony LaRussa

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

D.L. Clark Building

503 Martindale Street

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15212-5746

Dear Tony:

As you may be aware, there will be a very rare astronomical event occurring in the early morning, just after sunrise, on June 8: the Transit of the Planet Venus across the image of the surface of the Sun. I was happy to see the June 1 Associated Press article regarding this event, published by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; this is the first Pittsburgh-area newspaper article I have seen regarding this event.

Friends of the Zeiss has teamed-up with The Duquesne Incline to provide Western Pennsylvania residents with a venue to view this rare event safely, using an 8-inch Celestron reflector telescope. Due to the early nature of the event in the Pittsburgh area, observing of this event from a high altitude is very advantageous. So, we are thrilled that The Duquesne Incline has agreed to allow use of their Mount Washington observation deck for public viewing of this event.

Enclosed is a copy of the news release we have issued, regarding this event.

We would appreciate it if you could publicize this event in the Monday issue of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

And, we hope you will be able to join us for this historic observing session on June 8. As I mention in the news release, the best viewing will probably occur between 6:15 and 7:00 a.m.

Sincerely yours,

Glenn A. Walsh

Project Director

gaw

Enclosure

Copy: David Miller, President, The Duquesne Incline