Transit of Venus Captured on Australian Live Feed

A rare spectacle in the atmosphere took place early today. The occurrence, known as the Transit of Venus, marked the planet’s crossing in between the Earth and the Sun. It is but an once-in-a-lifetime celestial event, since the next one is going to take place in 2117. 

The phenomenon had NASA and other astronomers up on their feet and preparations to stream this live, or capture images of Venus crossing the Earth’s sun, were made ahead of time. 

But NASA reportedly failed to capture some of the transit’s movements because of a technical breakdown.

NASA scientists situated in Alice Springs, a place chosen among many locations because it provided a good view of the transit, experienced problems with Telstra, the service provider. This has resulted in the interruption of its live streaming.

Telstra’s systems were apparently down in the Northern Territory, cutting cell phone and landline services. NASA lost about 30 minutes of good feed, but got back online in time to see the transit come into completion. 

The event was visible from 8.15am (AEST) to 2.30pm (CST), where people saw a black dot moving slowly across the sun. But earlier, experts advised people who want to look directly into the sun to wear protective goggles or filters and glasses to avoid harming the eyesight.

The Transit of Venus was most visible in Australia and New Zealand, as well Eastern China, Southeast Asia, Korea and Japan. The phenomenon was first put on record in 1639 by Jeremiah Horrocks, an astronomer. 

The Sydney Observatory notes that it this event is also culturally significant for Australia, as it was the same event that led Captain Cook to this land in 1769, while observing the transit in Tahiti.