All eyes on Venus

All eyes were on the sky yesterday as Venus made a rare passage across the surface of the sun as viewed from Earth.

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Students at Chulalongkorn University observe the Venus transit through eye-protective lenses. THITI WANNAMONTA

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Rare Venus transit draws sky-gazers

It was cloudly in Bangkok for much of yesterday morning, but the transit was still visible through the clouds THITI WANNAMONTA

SYDNEY, AFP ? Sky-gazers around the world, professional and amateur, went to their telescopes and viewing glasses to watch a once-in-a-lifetime event as Venus was seen sliding across the face of the sun.

The transit began shortly after 2200 GMT Tuesday in parts of North America, Central America and the northern part of South America, and was visible, with magnification, as a small black dot on the solar surface, moving into Wednesday across the international dateline.

Australia ? for which the movement of Venus carries a unique historical interest ? was one of the best viewing places with the nearly seven-hour spectacle visible from eastern and central parts of the country.

Although broken cloud hampered the view for some in Australia, Sydney Observatory held a sell-out viewing with 1,500 people buying tickets to witness the rare passage ? which will not happen again until 2117.

"It's not like an eclipse where you’ve got something blotting out the sun," Fred Watson, astronomer-in-chief at the Australian Astronomical Observatory, told AFP.

"Venus is 100th of the diameter of the sun so it's essentially just a black spot superimposed on the disc of the sun, but it moves across from one side to the other."

These young students had a nice day for sky-gazing. PRASIT TANGPRASERT

All of the transit was visible in East Asia and the Western Pacific, where weather permitted.

Europe, the Middle East and South Asia got to see the end stages as they went into sunrise Wednesday, while North America saw its opening stage.

The celestial event has special significance to Australia as a previous transit in 1769 played a key part in the "discovery" of the southern continent by the British navy's James Cook.

Captain Cook set sail for Tahiti on HMS Endeavour to record the transit that occurred that year, and after a successful observation he was sent to seek the "great south land" thought to exist in the Pacific Ocean.

During the voyage, he charted the east coast of Australia, staking a British claim in 1770.

transit – the act of moving from one place to another การเดินทางผ่าน
rare – not happening very often  หาได้ยาก
Venus – the planet in the solar system that is second in order of distance from the sun, between Mercury and the earth ดาวศุกร์
draw – to attract or interest somebody ดึงดูดความสนใจ
gaze – a long steady look at somebody/something การเพ่งมอง, การจ้อง
sky-gazer – a person who enjoys  observing the sky
professional – a person who does a job that needs special training and a high level of education ผู้เชี่ยวชาญในวิชาชีพ,ผู้มีวิชาชีพ
amateur – a person who takes part in a sport or other activity for enjoyment, not as a job มือสมัครเล่น
telescope – a piece of equipment shaped like a tube, containing lenses, that you look through to make objects that are far away appear larger and nearer กล้องโทรทรรศน์,กล้องส่องทางไกล
visible – able to be seen ที่มองเห็นได้
magnification – the act of making something look larger การขยายให้ใหญ่ขึ้น
solar – involving the sun เกี่ยวกับดวงอาทิตย์
international dateline – the imaginary line that goes from north to south through the Pacific Ocean. The date on the west side is different by one day from that on the east side
unique – very special, unusual or good ที่มีลักษณะพิเศษ  เป็นเอกลักษณ์
spectacle – an unusual or surprising sight or situation that attracts a lot of attention ภาพที่น่าตื่นเต้น, ปรากฎการณ์
hamper – to stop someone or something from making progress or developing; to hinder ขัดขวาง, เป็นอุปสรรค
observatory – a special building from which scientists watch the stars, the weather, etc. หอสังเกตการณ์
sell-out – a play, concert, performance, etc. for which all the tickets have been sold  การขายหมด
witness – to see something happen – มองเห็น, เป็นพยาน
(solar) eclipse – when the sun disappears from view, either completely or partly, while the moon is moving between it and the Earth สุริยุปราคา  ( a lunar eclipse is when the moon disappears from view)
blot out – to cover or hide something completely ปิดบัง
astronomer – a scientist who studies astronomy, the scientific study of the sun, moon, stars, planets, etc. นักดาราศาสตร์
diameter – the length of a straight line that crosses a circle through the centre เส้นผ่านศูนย์กลาง
essentially – for the most part; mostly true, but not completely true เป็นหลัก, อย่างตามความจริง
superimpose – to put one image on top of another so that the two can be seen combined วางซ้อน, วางทับ
disc – a thin flat round object สิ่งของที่มีลักษณะกลมแบน
stage – a particular point in time during a process or set of events ระยะเวลา ช่วงเวลา
celestial – of or from the sky or outside this world  เกี่ยวกับท้องฟ้า
significance – importance; the importance that something has because it affects other things ความสำคัญ
discovery – an act or the process of finding somebody/something, or learning about something that was not known about before การค้นพบ
continent – one of the seven large land masses on the Earth's surface, surrounded, or mainly surrounded, by sea and usually consisting of various countries (adjective form is continental) ทวีป
exist – to be real; to be present in a place or situation  มีอยู่
voyage – a long journey การเดินทางอันยาวไกล
chart – to make a map of an area ทำแผนที่
stake a claim – to say or show publicly that you think something should be yours