SILCHAR, May 10 - A rare celestial event, the transit of Mercury over the disc of the sun was viewed with great enthusiasm on Monday afternoon by sky gazers, mostly school and college-going students here.
A live sky viewing show was organised by the Department of Physics, Assam University, Silchar in the premises of Silchar College of Commerce. Dr Himadri Shekhar Das, Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics said �despite thick cloud cover, the transit of mercury was visible through the telescope for only 20 seconds, which is satisfying, considering the expectation we all had to witness the historical event.�
He added that earlier people used the transit technique to measure the distance of different planets from the Sun. It is also used to study the atmosphere of the Sun and also of Mercury.� He informed that the event will be visible again in 2032.
Rudeshwar Langthasa, a student of Silchar College of Commerce said, �I am happy I have witnessed the rare event and have come to know about the different aspects of the transit.� Gulapsha Choudhury, a final year student of Astro-Physics at the Department of Physics at Assam University expressed her disappointment saying, �even though I missed the opportunity to witness the transit because of the cloud cover, we are projecting the image of the Sun to the students.�
Dr Apratim Nag, faculty at the Department of Physics and Dr Jaydeep Paul, Assistant Professor at the Department of Commerce at Guru Charan College here said that the initiative is encouraging to bring students to witness such an important event.
Dr Amalendu Chakraborty, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Cachar College laid stress on the need for a dedicated centre provided with proper equipment for the students to carry out such exercises on a frequent basis.
