Rare Venus transit offers visual treat to sky gazers

The celestial spectacle offered a visual treat to many sky gazers, who trained their telescopes to watch the phenomenon. Scientists and amateur astronomers alike peered up to the skies to watch a dark black spot slide across the fiery face of the Sun.

However, a cloudy sky restricted its visibility from Delhi and some other parts of northern India for some time. Describing the cosmic event as "awe-aspiring", Nehru Planetarium Director N Rathnasree said that the event has a wonderful connection with modern-day research.

Astronomy enthusiasts and sky-gazers gathered at the Nehru Planetarium to watch the planet Venus, also known as the Goddess of Love, appear as a small, dark disk moving across the Sun.

Armed with telescopes and cameras, amateur astronomers camped at the Planetarium in the wee hours and took photographs of the celestial phenomenon. Large projectors, pin hole cameras and telescopes were also set up at the Planetarium to help people see the celestial event unfold.

"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 seen the spectacle in 2004.