Transit of Venus on June 6, organisations gear up for the show

Rajkot. A rare celestial spectacle of planet Venus passing between the earth and sun would be visible in the country on June 6 and various organisations and astronomy enthusiasts are gearing up for this rare event. “Venus is going to cross the sun for the last time in this century on June 6, 2012”, Jayant Pandya, chairman of Bharath Jan Vigyan Jatha said here today. “Before this, the transit in which Venus passed directly between the earth and sun was seen in 2004. This incident will not happen in the current century again”, he said. According to him, the next such transit could be witnessed only after 105 years. “After the invention of a telescope, this would be the eighth transit of Venus and the next such event would take place in the year 2117”, Pandya said. President of ‘Kutch-Saurashtra Astronomy Club’ Narendra Gore said that with the help of the Venus transit, astronomers would come to know about the distance between the planets. According to Pandya, North America was the most suitable place to enjoy the celestial spectacle, which could also be seen in India from sunrise till about 10.30 am. His NGO Bharath Jan Vigyan Jatha, which works towards the promotion of scientific approach in human life, is making special arrangements to enable people witness the rare event, he said.