In RP, heavy clouds block rare Venus transit

Overcast skies obstructed the view of star gazers in the country who tried to watch yesterday the transit of Venus across the sun, a phenomenon last seen in 1882.

The view was obscured by clouds brought about by exiting storm "Frank," tropical depression "Gener" and the prevailing southwest monsoon.

According to Elmor Escosia, an astronomer at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), the transit of Venus has not been seen twice by any living person.

"When Venus crosses the face of the Sun, it will be at 106,381,263 kilometers (0.723 astronomical unit) from the Sun. At that point, the planet will be at 43,218,737 kms (0.288 au) from the Earth," Escosia told The STAR.

Yesterday, Escosia and the rest of the Pagasa astronomers also failed to see the rare event despite the astronomical instruments at its Science Garden Observatory in Diliman, Quezon City.

The astronomer, however, has not lost heart. "The Venus in transit will be seen again eight years from now or on June 6, 2012, to be exact," he said.

In the southern part of the country where the weather was less gray, spectators persisted with their dark filters to witness the solar spectacle that began about 2 p.m. until early evening.

"This may not be spectacular like the solar eclipse but the thing is it only happens every 122 years. So it still pays to view it personally," Richie Alubaton, a student in Zamboanga City said.

The alignment happens twice in an eight-year span every 122 years.

Only six transits have ever been recorded: in 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882. The next will be in 2012, but the one after that will be 2117.

The reason for the rarity is because Venus, the second planet from the Sun, has an orbital plane that is slightly tilted to the Earth, the third planet.

The transit is technically an eclipse, although the Sun’s light is dimmed by just a fraction — a tenth of one percent.

Star gazers using dark filters disclosed that the planet Venus was spotted on the upper side of the Sun’s disc like a tiny spot.

Brenda Nazareth, regional director of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), said the first contact was expected at about 1:12 p.m. and the transit would last for six hours.

Nazareth said the spectacle can be visible to the naked eye, but use of a dark filter would have protected the retina. She said the alignment of the planets Earth and Venus with the Sun was also viewed on the Internet.

However, many Internet users who surfed the website to get a view of Venus’ transit ran into something other than dark clouds: most sites were clogged and so the web page was unavailable.

"The first contact started but unfortunately the Internet website was clogged with users," Nazareth said.

Many Zamboanga residents who believe in folk tales wonder about any adverse astronomical effect the alignment could bring.

Local radio stations were flooded with calls about the possible significance of the Venus transit, especially as it comes in 8-year intervals every hundred years.

In case of a total solar eclipse — which occurred in 1988 when the moon transited between the Earth and Sun and was also visible in the South –old folks believe this is caused by a dragon or minokawa swallowing the sun, and thus something of an omen.

Clouds obstructed the view not only in the Philippines but in other parts of Asia as well. Observatories in Japan reported rain and the transit coincided with the cloudy monsoon season in Thailand.

It was also cloudy in Hong Kong, but that didn’t stop more than 100 people, including students, senior citizens and children, queuing up at the Hong Kong Space Museum, where several telescopes were waiting.

In Sydney, a blue sky gave about 40 people looking through telescopes at the city’s observatory a clear view of the transit as it began mid-afternoon. Telescopes were set up on lawns and inside, while an image of the transit was projected onto a white screen for safe viewing.

"Venus is marching into the sun," said Andrew Constantine, an education officer at the observatory. "It’s very exciting."

The sight had special significance for Australians, as the country’s east coast was "discovered" by British explorer James Cook on his way home from viewing the 1769 transit in Tahiti. — With Roel Pareño, AFP