Any of you guys had experience with setting the camera to record a sunrise?

The intent is to speed it up a little faster than real time. But...

How do you know where to set the aperature before the sun comes into view (i.e. while it's still dark)? It seems like automatic settings would make the foreground to dark as soon as the sun appeared. It is going to damage the CCD?

I know a polarized lens is good to help create a blue sky, but would lens be necessary or is it better to just let the light rays splash where the will?

Any tips from those of you that have tried, might be very helpful.

JBJones