VT Press Releases

Hi,

I'm sending these press releases out tonight to media organisations (that I can find contacts for!) in Dublin and some national papers. Thanks to Dr. Ian Elliott for re-writing my 2000 word essay into a sensible length press release!

Posting them here in case anyone wants to use them as a template for sending to local media in your area.

Cheers,
~Al

PRESS RELEASE


Irish Astronomers prepare for a Historic Event – the Transit of Venus 2004

For immediate release:

On Tuesday, 8th June 2004, from 6.20am to 12.24pm, we can witness a very rare astronomical event when the planet Venus crosses in front of the Sun. Venus will appear as a circular black dot on the bright disk of the Sun. This Transit of Venus will be visible to millions in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

In Dublin, astronomers from the South Dublin Astronomical Society and the Irish Astronomical Society will be gathering from 6am at Sandymount Tower to observe the transit with a variety of special telescopes. A telescope equipped with a hydrogen-alpha filter will show detailed structure on the Sun’s surface. Members of the public are invited to take part in this historic event.

Only five transits of Venus have ever been witnessed, the first in 1639 and the last in 1882. The 1769 transit was observed on Tahiti by Captain James Cook, then an unknown young lieutenant. Cook later explored the coasts of New Zealand and claimed Eastern Australia for Britain.

Previous transits were used to estimate the Astronomical Unit (the distance from the Earth to the Sun). Knowledge of the value of the Astronomical Unit is the first step in estimating the distances to the stars and to distant galaxies. Nowadays, thanks to radar, the value of the Astronomical Unit is known to great accuracy (149.597,870 km!), so there is no need for astronomers to observe transits. However, the event demonstrates how transits can help astronomers find planets circling distant stars. Someday we may even be able to search for life on these exoplanets.

The European Southern Observatory is co-ordinating activities across Europe through the website www.vt-2004.org . Individuals and groups are being encouraged to re-enact the historic observations by timing the transit to an accuracy of one second, thus allowing each observer to estimate the value of the Astronomical Unit. On the day of the Transit, the ESO website will carry real time images from around the world and results of the observations.

For up-to-the-minute discussions of the Transit, Irish Astronomers can be contacted at the Irish Amateur Astronomy website www.IrishAstronomy.org , where there is a free message board, a photo gallery, and free magazines to download. Anyone interested in the event or in astronomy in general is invited to join the discussion board on this website.

SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS and details of other events are available at www.venustransit.ie and at www.vt-2004.org .

Expert Scientific Contact: Dr Ian Elliott

Dublin Event Contact: Walter Mee

Sender: Albert White

Ends

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PRESS RELEASE


Irish Astronomers prepare for a Historic Event – the Transit of Venus 2004

For immediate release:

On Tuesday, 8th June 2004, from 6.20am to 12.24pm, we can witness a very rare astronomical event when the planet Venus crosses in front of the Sun. Venus will appear as a circular black dot on the bright disk of the Sun. This Transit of Venus will be visible to millions in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

In Dublin, astronomers from the South Dublin Astronomical Society and the Irish Astronomical Society will be gathering from 6am at Sandymount Tower to observe the transit with special telescopes. Only five transits of Venus have ever been witnessed, the first in 1639 and the last in 1882, and members of the public are invited to take part in this historic event.

Previous transits were used to estimate the Astronomical Unit (distance from the Earth to the Sun) but the event now demonstrates how transits can help astronomers to find planets circling distant stars.

SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS and details of other events are available at www.venustransit.ie and at www.vt-2004.org .

For up-to-the-minute discussions of the Transit, Irish Astronomers can be contacted at the Irish Amateur Astronomy website www.IrishAstronomy.org , where there is a free message board, a photo gallery, and free magazines to download. Anyone interested in the event or in astronomy in general is invited to join the discussion board on this website.

Expert Scientific Contact: Dr Ian Elliott

Dublin Event Contact: Walter Mee

Sender: Albert White

Ends

The Transit of Venus on Radio, TV and the Web

____________________________________________________________________

1. Wednesday, 2 June, 9.00-9.30pm, BBC Radio 4, Duncan Steel on A Shadow
across the Sun.

See www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/venusacrossthesun.shtml


2. Saturday, 5 June, 5.00 - 5.30pm, BBC2 TV: Adam Hart-Davis on how to view
the transit safely.

3. Sunday, 6 June, midnight - 00.25am, BBC1 TV: Patrick Moore's Sky at
Night

4. Tuesday, 8 June - TRANSIT DAY - Live coverage on BBC1 TV:
6.00-9.30am Two reports during the Breakfast programme
9.55am Live update
Noon Live update on third contact.

7.30pm, RTE Radio 1: Future Tense on the transit with Ella McSweeney

11.20pm - 00.20am BBC2 TV: Stardate: The Transit of Venus

5. To find out what is happening around Ireland, log onto
www.venustransit.ie

To follow the progress of the transit around the world see
www.vt-2004.org

_____________________________________________________________________