Rare transit of Venus unfolds in the morning sky

New Delhi: A rare celestial spectacle, transit of Venus, the last for this century, unfolded in the morning sky all across the country on Wednesday, enthralling the astro enthusiasts.

Scientists and amateur astronomers alike celebrated the arrival of the Transit of Venus, peering up to the skies to watch a dark black spot slide over the surface of the Sun.

The awesome spectacle was visible all over the country, including the national capital. However, a cloudy sky restricted its visibility from Delhi and some other parts of northern India.

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  Venus moves across the sun during the transit in Sydney, Australia on June 6.

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  A bird comes into land atop one of the domes of the landmark Taj Mahal as Venus begins to pass in front of the sun, as visible from Agra.

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  Venus is moving across the Sun in Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan province.

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  Venus passes in front of the sun, as visible from Hong Kong on June 6.

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  Venus is silhouetted as it crosses in front of the sun as it sets behind the Kansas City skyline.

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  This image provided by NASA shows the Solar Dynamic Observatory's ultra-high definition view of Venus, black dot at top left, passing in front of the sun.

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  The sun rises over the Baltic Sea as the Venus passes in front seen from Kolobrzeg, Poland.

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  Venus crosses in front of the Sun as seen from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Scientists and amateur astronomers alike peered up to the skies across India to watch a dark black spot slide over the surface of the Sun.

"This was the century's last Venus Transit," Nehru Planetarium Director N Rathnasree said. The event was visible at around 7 am, she said.

Large projectors, pin hole cameras and telescopes were set up to help people see the celestial event unfold at the Planetarium, where a large number of people had gathered to see the rare event.

"It is exciting to see such an event," said a Class X student Soumaya.

"It is too good to resist. It is awesome," Nisha Gupta, a school teacher said, who had earlier seen the 2004 spectacle also.

"The next Venus transit will happen after 105.5 years in 2117, making this a lifetime's event," Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) Director CB Devgun said.

From the Earth, this phenomenon is seen when the Venus passes between the Sun and the Earth. It occurs in intervals of 8, 121 , 8 and 105 years, Devgun said.

"The phenomenon should be seen only through solar filters, special solar glasses or with the help of pin hole cameras," Secretary of Planetary Society of India N Sri Raghunandan Kumar said.

The last Transit of Venus occurred on June 8, 2004 and was visible across India.

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