[From Terry]
The Education and Public Relations Department of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has just announced the Venus Transit 2004 (VT-2004) Programme.
On 8 June 2004, the planet Venus will pass in front of the Sun. A transit of Venus is extremely rare - the last one occurred in 1882, 122 years ago - so no living person has seen one. The June transit will be easily observable from Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia so it is likely to attract the attentions of millions of people on these continents. It offers a wonderful opportunity to promote astronomy.
The VT-2004 programme is directed at the general public, school students and their teachers and especially amateur astronomers. ESO invites all interested persons to participate in the VT-2004 Observing Campaign and the VT-2004 Video Contest. Comprehensive information is available from the website
www.vt-2004.org
.
In Ireland the VT-2004 programme will be promoted and co-ordinated on an all-Ireland basis by the ASGI and Armagh Planetarium. A National Steering Committee (NSC) with its own website is being established. The full text of the ESO Press Release is available at
www.eso.org/outreach/press-r...4/pr-03-04.html
Cheers,
~Al
  