School students in Australia, Europe and North America will be able to view the transit of Venus across the face of the sun on Wednesday 6 June via the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Remote Telescope in Bathurst.

 

“This is a very exciting week for astronomers and astronomy students as the next transit of Venus will not occur for another 105 years,” said Associate Professor David McKinnon, lecturer and researcher at the CSU School of Teacher Education, who set-up the telescope and manages its operation.

 

“Weather permitting, I will be webcasting vision of the transit on the CSU Remote Telescope website (click on the Events Page) , and this will be accessed by many students locally in Australia as  well as in Canada, the USA, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom,” Professor McKinnon said.

 

“I will be on two one-hour Polycom video conferences to various schools in Victoria and South Australia during the day, and I am collaborating with the University of Hawaii and the Bareket Observatory in Israel to provide ‘triangulation’ to time the contacts of Venus with the sun so that students can work out the distance to Venus for themselves.”

 

The CSU Remote Telescope has been used by international school students for 12 years to study the moon and other celestial phenomena.

 

The CSU Remote Telescope one gigabit Fibre Link is proudly supported by Origin / Country Energy.