The transit of planet Venus across the face of the sun - a rare celestial event - will take place on Tuesday giving sky gazers of several generations a spectacle of a lifetime.
Venus will drift across the face of the Sun, as it passes between the Sun and the Earth. Transits of Venus across the disk of the Sun are among the rarest of planetary alignments. Indeed, only six such events have occurred since the invention of the telescope in 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882. The next Venus transit will occur on June 6, 2012.
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Sky watchers are warned not to witness the event with the naked eye. Doordarshan will be telecasting the event live.
The website http://transitofvenus.org/ provides instructions for safe viewing; interactive education and hands-on activities; global observing programs for students; background information, insights into historical endeavors and the adventures of explorers, role of spacecraft and the search for extra-solar planets; and miscellaneous items relating to the transit of Venus.
Expecting cloudy skies in Mumbai and nearby areas, amateur astronomers have already moved to areas in Kutch and Rajasthan to witness the rare event despite the fact they have to tolerate hot weather for several hours, Amateur Astronomer Association sources told PTI.
The event can be witnessed using appropriate sun filter or telescopes, or the technique of Solar Projection. "Never look at the sun without the appropriate solar filter," scientists cautioned.
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