A donkey strolls past me nonchalantly. I laugh, watching the beast tackle the cobbled streets of Istanbul’s Old City with a curious grace. I can hear prayer songs emanate from some of the most ornate places of worship in the world. Home to over 13 million people, Istanbul is an intriguing metropolis of extremes. It [...]
Archive for June, 2012
Jun
7
Transit of Venus helps hunt exoplanets
Every now and then a dark spot glides across our Sun. This rare moment hits when the planet Venus slides in between the Sun and Earth, obscuring a small portion of the sun. During a transit, Venus can sneak as close as 38 million kilometres to our home planet. The transit usually lasts about six [...]