Multilingual comic book for students on the Transit of Venus

Venus, the second planet from the Sun, sometimes comes exactly in between the Earth and the Sun. This event, called the Transit of Venus, is set to occur on June 6th 2012. This transit will be visible in India from sunrise till 10.30 am and we will see Venus as a black dot, crossing the surface of the Sun. The next transit will occur only after a gap of 105 years.

There is a national campaign to get as many people as possible to see this rare celestial event. In order to spread awareness and to mobilize interest, the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA, Pune) is publishing a graphic comic about the history and the science associated with the transit of the Venus Transit. The story behind this event has been beautifully and humorously illustrated by Ms. Reshma Barve.  This work has been translated into more than 10 Indian and Foreign languages by volunteers. This includes  MARATHI, HINDI, TAMIL, GUJARATI, BENGALI, KANNADA, TELUGU, FRENCH, SPANISH, ITALIAN ETC.  The
PDF files of these comics are made.  A few English and Marathi copies have been printed for distribution among schools. We encourage everyone to download the book, distribute it widely, and print and photocopy it as well.

Since the early 1600s, Astronomers knew the distances between the various planets and the Sun only in terms of the Earth-Sun distance. The most accurate method available to determine the value of the Earth-Sun distance in kilometers was by accurately timing the moment Venus entered or left the disk of the Sun. Astronomers from many countries tried to do so in 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882 with great difficulty. This comic describes the story through cartoons, and leads up to the 2012 Transit. It explains the current motivation for observing this event and ends with a number of ways for us to safely observe the Transit.

As a prelude to the Transit, NCRA, along with Aksharadhara, is releasing the Marathi version of the comic book at 6:30 pm on Friday, 1st June, by Dr. Anil Awachat and Shri D. Mahajan at AKSHARDHARA BOOK GALLERY, SANAS PLAZA, BAJIRAO RD.

We hope that a large number of us will be able to witness this unique and beautiful celestial eclipse together !

Contact : Niruj Mohan Ramanujam, NCRA, Pune, 020 25719241