Astronomy enthusiasts all over Asia looked to the skies yesterday to watch the planet Venus crawl across the face of the sun in a rare celestial spectacle that will not happen again for more than a century. Venus appeared as a small black dot on the massive surface of the sun as it passed directly between the Earth and the centre of the solar system in its last transit in this century. Amateur astronomers, enthusiasts and students flocked to observatories and viewing stations to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon that takes place less than once a century, in pairs eight years apart. In Manila, an astronomy club and the National Museum Planetarium set up about 10 telescopes in a national park for a public viewing of the event. School observatories also opened their doors to the public. While thick haze obscured the start of the transit, the sun eventually broke through the veil to allow people to view the 6-hour, 40-minute transit. “We are very lucky to have been born in a century where we witness two transits,” said Armando Lee, director of the Philippines Institute of Astronomy and an officer of the Astronomical League of the Philippines. Lee, who brought his wife and six-year-old son to the viewing, said the event should remind people of how short life is. “The next transit will be in 105 years, and we will all be gone by that time,” he said. “This only shows that our life is so short for these celestial events.” Mark Vornhusen, a German national working for a weather company in Manila, said he was curious about the technology changes that would take place before the next transit occurs. “I’m already thinking about what technology will be available for the people then,” he said, as he captured a video of transit using a digital camera with a solar filter over the lens. The Venus transit was first visible on Tuesday afternoon in North America, but it was only viewed entirely in a few places, such as the Philippines and Eastern Australia. Up to 5,000 people took time away from their desks in busy Hong Kong to watch the event on the harbour front at Tsim Sha Tsui, according to Space Museum Curator Chan Ki-hung. Hundreds more turned up at viewing stations around the territory set up by the museum and manned by amateur astronomers. Chan said the weather co-operated and most people had a good view of Venus as it travelled across the sun. “Those who came were very impressed and happy to see such a rare event,” he said. “However, as Venus left the sun there was an atmosphere of sadness among some of the crowd as they realised it was something that would not occur again for more than a hundred years.” Chau Hoi Fung, an astrophysicist from the University of Hong Kong, said the city had a keen fascination with astronomy which was deeply rooted in Chinese history. “Chinese people have always been interested in this type of celestial phenomenon,” he said. “Look at our history. The ancient Chinese emperors were believed to get their mandate from the heavens. We have very detailed historical records of various astronomical events,” he added. The next transit of Venus will take place in 2117. The phenomenon helped unlock mysteries of the universe in the 18th century and launched the first global scientific collaboration in history as astronomers joined forces to gather data that were later used to measure the distance between planets in the solar system. In the US, national space agency Nasa was broadcasting “the best possible views” of the event from its orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory, and there was even a special smartphone app for the event. DPA