Transit of Venus dot once in 1 century visible in the Philippines

• Watching Venus - June 5, 2012 06:09 am t0 14:49 PM +8GMT (Philippines Time)

Turning on the alarm clock is not required for those who wake up late in the Philippines because Venus is visible for more than 6 hours all over Philippines archipelago.

Filipinos can view a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical spectacle tomorrow, when the planet Venus makes its way across the sun.

The so-called Transit of Venus won't happen again until 2117.

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)-Space Sciences and Astronomy Section officer-in-charge (OIC) Dario Dela Cruz said the passage of Venus will be best observed from 6:09 a.m. to 12:49 p.m. facing the eastern horizon this Wednesday.

"This event will not occur again until the next lifetime. We will have to wait for another 105.5 years to witness it," Dela Cruz said.

According to PAGASA Administrator Dr. Nathaniel Servando, Mercury and Venus transits are the only passages that are seen from Earth.

"Since the planets Mercury and Venus orbit inside the path of the Earth around the sun, they too can come between the Earth and the Sun. However, since these planets have a tiny apparent diameter as seen from Earth, the transit is seen as a small black disk moving across the face of the sun," he explained.

On the average, there are 13 transits of Mercury in a century.

Dela Cruz explained that transits of Venus occur in pairs, with more than a century separating each pair.

There are only eight events that occurred since the invention of the telescope – 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882, 2004, and the upcoming June 6 event.

Dela Cruz pointed out that the 2004 and 2012 transits form a contemporary pair separated by eight years.

The next two transits of Venus will occur on 2117 and 2125.

Aside from the Philippines, the entire transit will be visible in Greenland, North and Central America, Pacific Island, Australasia, Asia, East Africa, and most of Europe, Servando said.

He advised skywatchers that the safest way to observe a transit is to project the image of the sun through a telescope, binoculars, or pinhole onto a screen, but the event can be viewed with the naked eye using filters specifically designed for this purpose, such as an astronomical solar filter with a vacuum-deposited layer of chromium, eclipse viewing glasses, or Grade 14 welder's glass.

"An earlier method of using exposed black-and-white film as a filter is no longer regarded as safe, as small imperfections or gaps in the film may permit damaging UV rays to pass through. Also, processed color film (unlike black-and-white film) does not contain silver, and is transparent to infra-red. This may result in burns to the retina," Servando said.

"Observing the sun directly without filters can cause a temporary or permanent loss of visual function, as it can damage or destroy retinal cells," he added.

Venus transits have been significant in gaining the first realistic estimates of the size of the solar system, and it continue to be of relevance to other ongoing scientific exploration.

Continue reading

International Court of Justice may cancel judgeship of Senator Merriam Santiago

Group of individuals which lodged petition for rejection and reconsideration for Miriam Defensor-Santiago's assumption of her International Criminal Court (ICC) judgeship.

Malacanang Palace expressed rutted feeling after "That's a private initiative. I did see it on the news... and that will be up to them because we nominated Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

"It's a free country, the senator's verdict should be respected in the same way that the opinion of the other people should also be respected," Valte said.

She said the nomination had been borne out of the record of the senator and that the government did push for Santiago and "she's already there."

"I think it should end there... She has been accepted, she will be assuming her post –I'm not sure if within the year – but that is something that is already done," Valte said.

She added there was no truth to reports that the administration would strike back at the senators who did not vote for the conviction of chief justice Renato Corona.

Valte said it would be up to Santiago to decide when to assume her post because she wanted to finish the impeachment proceedings. "That was upon her own request to defer her oath taking and her assumption of duty... Her only reason given was that she wanted to finish the trial," she said.

The petition addressed to the ICC said: "We have taken the liberty of writing to you on behalf of concerned Filipino organizations and individuals in the Philippines and overseas who subscribe to and actively advocate the goal of competent, honest and progressive governance of our homeland.

"We are respectfully bringing to your attention a serious matter that affects the image and reputation of the Philippines and, potentially, the image and reputation of the International Criminal Court," it said.

The petition said as an independent court that "tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and as a court committed to the observance of the highest standards of fairness and due process, we respectfully assume that you require those you have elected to your roster of judges to meet the most stringent standards."

In addition to mastery of international jurisprudence and forensic skills, the petition stated "we assume that you also require a sound mind, emotional and psychological stability, unsullied integrity and incorruptibility, as well as patience, civility and impeccable decorum."

"We submit that a person who is emotionally or psychologically unstable, prone to fits of uncontrollable rage, lacking in patience and empathy, ruthless with the feelings of fellow human beings, bereft of civility and uncaring about decorum does not deserve a place in your honorable court," it said. "We further submit that an individual who has admitted to having publicly lied and who has demonstrated partiality, prejudice, lack of principles and questionable integrity as a public official does not deserve to be a judge, much less a judge of the International Criminal Court," the petition added.

In this regard, the petitioners said they "regret to inform" the ICC that such an undeserving individual like Santiago had been elected to the ICC, in a lapse of good judgment on the part of the Philippine government.

"We are bringing this matter to your attention for fear that you may construe her uncivilized behavior and her loose ethics as epitomizing the Filipino people. While, ironically, it should be a source of pride for Filipinos to have one of our own elected to your honorable court, we are embarrassed by the ill-considered nomination of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Far from representing the best of us, she typifies the worst. We fear that her presence in the International Criminal Court will make us the laughing stock of the world," the petition said.

"While it is entirely your prerogative to determine how to deal with Senator Defensor-Santiago, in light of these revelations, we respectfully submit that the onus will also be on your collective heads should she, as a judge of the International Criminal Court, display the kind of boorish and bizarre behavior that has been her trademark in the Philippine Senate and in other public fora. We, therefore, respectfully submit that a reconsideration of her election to the International Criminal Court is called for and that her nomination be rejected upon reconsideration," the petition read. 

Read more in PhilSTAR 

Continue reading