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They came to see venus
Busloads of people gathered at the National Planetarium in Colombo to witness the much talked about Transition of Venus last week. Among the crowds was space prophet Prof. Arthur C. Clarke who said, "This time we had perfect conditions." He added that he and many others were able to see the tiny black spot that was Venus in transit across the Sun beautifully.

"The Professor allowed some of the children to use his telescope and explained the transit to them," smiled Ms. E.M.S.Y Manike, Senior Lecturer at the Planetarium. More than 500 people, including school children, university students, foreigners and the general public came to the planetarium to watch the transit of Venus.

"We saw it clearly and understood what was happening," says Iresha, one of the students from Pasyala Prathamika Vidyalaya who had come to the planetarium on their annual class trip. "We didn't plan to bring them here to see the transition, it was a bonus," smiled W.M. Wickramasinghe, a teacher who accompanied them. "Mine is an amateur interest and I was very impressed by the sight," says Dr. Laurel Botsford, an American living in Sri Lanka, who had come there with her father and friends. - Renu Warnasuriya

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