The students from the Department of Physics Education, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, UNY made observations on a rare natural phenomenon, namely the Venus Transit. Venus Transit occurs when the planet Venus passes between the sun and the earth. Observations were made in the Astronomy laboratory of the Department of Physics Education, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, UNY, Wednesday, 6/6.

Using binoculars, the students tried to observe this rare moment. In observations using binoculars which were carried out from 7 in the morning until noon, the planet Venus in the form of a black dot in front of the sun was reddish yellow. The point seems to be shifting more and more until it disappears from observation because it has passed.

On the sidelines of observations, astronomy lecturer at UNY, Slamet, MT said, we are lucky now to be able to see this incident, because previously the same incident occurred in 2004. And this incident will only happen again around the year 2117.

“In addition to observing the planet Venus, the students also observed black spots on the sun (sunspots). If the spots are many, it is a sign that the sun is at its peak of activity. This situation can affect the weather, radio, communications,” he continued

He added that from 2011 to 2013, the sun was at its peak of activity in its 24th cycle. But the conditions are not expected to be much different from the peak of activity in the previous cycles. (witono)