The Hindu : New Delhi News : Capital gears up for rare celestial event

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 06, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Capital gears up for rare celestial event

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JUNE 5. Elaborate arrangements are being made at the National Science Centre here for safe public viewing of the rare celestial event of the century - the transit of Venus - that will take place on June 8. The Centre along with a non-governmental body, SPACE (Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators), will also be organising two-day public workshops and lectures from June 6 on the importance of the event and precautions that need to be taken while viewing the event.

The transit of Venus occurs as when the planet comes at the same plane of the orbit as that of the Earth while moving around the Sun. It is like a solar eclipse except that the angle subtended by the disk of Venus is much smaller than that of the Moon. Thus during the transit, Venus will be seen as a small dark dot moving across the solar disk. The first transit, which happens in pairs, was seen in 1631 and then in 1639. After that it occurred in 1761 and 1769 followed by 1874 and 1882. After June 8, the next transit will happen on June 6, 2012. The transit of Venus will then happen after a gap of 105 years in 2117 followed by 2125.

Terming it as a lifetime opportunity, the SPACE president, Amitabh Pandey, said no one should miss this rare spectacle that would last for almost six hours. "The transit in 2012 will be at the dawn when the chances of visibility is very less. So June 8 is the time that the people should not miss. In Delhi, the transit will start at 10-46 a.m. to reach its maximum at 1-48 p.m. and end at 4-31 p.m. While solar eclipse last for a short duration, the transit will be visible for almost six hours," he said.

Stating that the workshops and public viewing were being organised to inculcate scientific temper among the general public especially students, Mr. Pandey warned against the viewing of the transit with naked eyes or through X-ray films or compact discs as it could severely damage the eyes.

According to the National Science Centre Director, Anil Manesar, they were making arrangements for safe public viewing through projection of the event on big screen. Similarly, such preparations were also being made at three other places in the Capital - Naval Public School, Chanakyapuri; Vasant Valley Public School, Vasant Kunj; and Saviour Convent School, Paschim Vihar.

In the workshops, participants would be told about which solar filters should be used to watch such events safely. As there were various kinds of filters available in the market, so the experts would inform which were safe and which unsafe besides describing the manner in which safe solar filters should be used so that no harm was caused to the eyes while watching the transit, he added.

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