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Transit of Venus documents


Comments concerning my 'A Transit of Venus Primer' Southern Stars 51 (1) 3-18 & covers (2012)

  • Download (PDF, 8.5 Mb)

  • To fit within the available space, various footnotes were edited out:

    Note that because of the 243-year transit cycle, the 2012 transit will be very similar to the one observed by Cook from Tahiti in 1769. That is, Venus's track across the disc of the Sun will be very similar to that seen by Cook. However the visibility will be different because the Earth is at a different rotation angle. In 1769 Cook was able to see the whole of the transit, while in 2012 only the end of the transit will be visible from Tahiti.

    Extracts of Cook's observations appear to have been multiply-copied by a secretary, with each copy signed by Cook. The extracts include sketches showing the arc produced by refration in Venus's atmosphere and the black drop.

    Link to a brief description of the nature and importance of transits of Venus.

    Electronic versions of the illustrations in 'A Transit of Venus Primer'

    These illustrations may be used freely in display boards, posters etc.

    Additional references

    When I wrote the Transit of Venus Primer I had been unable to obtain a copy of Wayne Orchiston's "The Nineteenth Century Transits of Venus: an Australian and New Zealand Overview" Journal of Astronomical Data, 10, 219-308 (2004). However, I've just discovered that the paper can be downloaded via this link [37 Mbyte]. The article includes additional information concerning the expeditions to New Zealand.

    Additional graphical matter

    1874 expeditions

    1882 expeditions



    william @ bitbucket.tobin.fr (Edit out spaces and "bitbucket.", which have been added to fool web crawlers.)

    Revised: 2017 November 08