The Hindu : Rare celestial event on June 8

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 28, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Rare celestial event on June 8

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, FEB. 27. A rare celestial event will occur on June 8 when for many hours, Venus will align exactly in the direction of the sun.

It will appear as a black dot on the Sun's disc. This is called the transit of Venus, a release from the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre said.

The last time such an event was visible in the country was in 1874. The transit is important as it provides a unique opportunity to measure the distance between the earth and the sun.

The Centre, in collaboration with SPACE, a New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation, is using the event as an opportunity to impart quality science education to students. Schoolteachers will be trained to measure the distance and in turn impart knowledge to the students.

Nirupama Raghavan, former director, Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, conceived the project named `Vamana' after the mythological story of Vishnu who measured the three worlds in three steps.

Experiment by students

In the first step, students will measure the Earth's radius by studying the length of the shadow cast by the gnomons (sticks) at noon. This will be compared with the same measurement received from the student observers in other parts of the country. The centre and other coordinators have trained teachers to guide the students.

The experiment is being performed by the students on February 28 and 29 to commemorate the Science Awareness Year 2004. The radius measured on each day by student groups in Chennai, Tiruchi and Nagercoil will be displayed at the centre.

The participating students are from Minicoy, Ahmedabad, Kanyakumari, New Delhi, Kanpur and Chennai. As many as 1,800 students are participating in Tamil Nadu alone, the release added.

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