02 July 2004

Images of the transit of Venus from Nepal and Rome

Kedar P. Badu is President of the Galileo Astronomical Society of Pokhara (GASPO) of Kathmandu, Nepal. In a previous feature article, (Scanning the Night Sky in Nepal, The Citizen Scientist, 27 February 2004), he wrote about his conviction that "...astronomy can be a crucial factor in changing social consciousness and accelerating development. Astronomy is a science that allows the practical application of other branches of sciences."

 

The Galileo Astronomical Society of Pokhara (GASPO) of Kathmandu, Nepal, showed the public projected images of the transit of Venus across the solar disk (see below). Photograph by Kedar P. Badu. Click image to enlarge.

Projected image of Venus at the edge of the solar disk. The projection method is an eye-safe mechanism for observing sunspots. Photograph by Kedar P. Badu. Click image to enlarge.

Badu is serious about his passion for astronomy. During the transit of Venus on 8 June 2004, GASPO set up a telescope and projected the solar disk so that spectators could see for themselves a tiny circle of the the Sun being eclipsed by Venus.

For more information about GASPO, see http://www.space-frontier.org/Projects/permission/TeamTelescope/Graphics/nepal/nepal.htm
Also see http://www.geocities.com/kedarbadu/gaspo.html
http://www.geocities.com/kedarbadu/gaspo.html

The transit from Rome

The "Gallery" installment in this issue of The Citizen Scientist features an exceptional image of the transit of Venus sent by Leonarda Fucili, a teacher of mathematics, science and astronomy and a member of the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE).

Fucili writes, "I give you a short report of the events related with the Venus transit observation in Rome. In Rome in the square in front of the S. Angel Castle (Vatican area), the Municipality of Rome organized a public event in cooperation with schools and amateurs groups. I joined the event with my 13-years old students from Scuola Media G. G. Belli in the activities I presented on the web at http://www.vt-2004.org/Education/EduSheet1.html and
http://www.vt-2004.org/Education/EduSheet2.html.

"In the square, my students performed a human model to understand the cycle of Venus, the periodical appearance of Venus in the morning and evening, the pentagram of the positions of Venus in the zodiac, and the rarity of the transits. At the same time, the transit could be observed with telescopes. A lot of people participated with a very good involvement.

"In my school, G. G. Belli, my students and me organized also an exhibition, with activities and didactical materials about the transit."

The Citizen Scientist is grateful to Kedar P. Badu and Leonarda Fucili for sharing their photographs and stories with us. For more reports about and photographs of the transit of Venus, see "The 2004 transit of Venus" by Mark Streitman (TCS, 11 June 2004) and "Notes on the Transit of Venus: 8 June 2004" by Paul Curtin (TCS, 25 June 2004). Also see the news item "The historic 2004 transit of Venus" (TCS, 11 June 2004) with photographs by Ralph Genetti.

Forrest M. Mims III