Staff reporter
GUWAHATI, June 1 – The Gauhati University Observatory (GUO) has made arrangements for capturing the transit of Venus – a rare celestial event – and is organising a public observation programme at the GUO campus on June 6 morning.“We shall deploy two telescopes, one three-inch and other nine-inch. With the help of the three-inch telescope, we shall directly project the image on a viewing screen and the nine-inch telescope will relay the transit to a multimedia screen through its planetary imager,” Dr Madhurjya P Bora, in-charge of Gauhati University Observatory told The Assam Tribune.
The transit will also be webcast live on the Gauhati University website. The webcast link is available in the beta site of the university, i.e., www.gauhati.ac.in/beta.
The observatory will open around 5 am on June 6, and the public is welcome to join in watching the event. A limited number of sun-safe goggles will also be available for the public.
Meanwhile, in a press meet organised by the Pragjyotish Amateur Astronomers’ Association, Guwahati Planetarium and ASTEC, the ASTEC Director HC Dutta said that the Guwahati Planetarium will also set up specialised equipment to provide the public with a view of the celestial event. Two huge screens will depict the movement of Venus as it passes between the Earth and the Sun.
The Guwahati Planetarium’s doors will be open for the public right from the time the phenomenon begins till it ends, he added.
In a pioneering development, 219 Arya Bhatta Vigyan Kendras in each development block of Assam will be open to students and public to let them view the event. Each of the Kendras has been provided with protective viewing gear with which people can view Venus on its path across the Sun.
