h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A9043959 - The History of the Transit of Venus - post 41

Hi Annie.

Some more comments:

An H2G2 Researcher -- I think it is always h2g2 rather than H2G2.

The first footnote should be part of the main text.

reoccur --> re-occur

"Since it has been shown that most individuals who sustain sun-related eye injuries are children and young adults, it is a preventable tragedy." -- this still reads oddly. It is a preventable tragedy no matter what age the person is.

"By exactly measuring the transit of Venus, it would be possible to calculate the solar parallax" -- this would be clearer as follows:

By exactly measuring the transit of Venus at a number of widely spaced locations on the Earth's surface, it would be possible to calculate the solar parallax

There were astronomers in the Bible, you may recall --> There were astronomers in the Bible; you may recall

you may recall the three Magi --> you may recall the Magi (the Bible doesn't mention how many of them there were)

The first (that we know of) drawing of a sunspot -->
The first drawing of a sunspot (that we know of)

utelized --> utilised

but no record exists of him having witnessed them -->
but no record exists of anyone having witnessed them

where they could be viewed from the Earth -->
where on the Earth they could be viewed from

I've check up as far as header The 1761 Transit.

Updated thanks Gnomon

I think this entry is ready to be picked now.

You could be right there, G

Thank you both

I'm going to add all contributing researchers now, so if anyone doesn't want to be added, they can either remove themselves or ask me to do it, I won't be offended.

Hi Annie,

Ref under 'Early Sun-Watching', perhaps you could/should mention Aristotle who, in 300BC was able to visualise an eclpse of the sun due to a 'camera obscura effect'[ caused by the overlapping of leaves in a tree canopy (see my Entry at A2875430.

The extra relevance of this to your Entry is that there is a project called 'Expert System Theo, begun in 1985 named after a pupil of Aristotle who is reputedly the first European to record a sunspot observation. I guess he could quite well have used the C.O. effect for doing this. (see http://physics.open.ac.uk/~ajconway/solarPrediction/solarPrediction.html)

‘ so we can assume another method of safe Sun observation was utelised’. > was utilised


n.b. note that the camera obscura is an instrument par excellence for observing sunspots

I just added an extra para for the 1882 transit - it includes a movie clip.

Amherst College astronomer David Peck Todd (1855 – 1939) climbed to the summit of Mount Hamilton in California to view the transit from Lick Observatory. He used a solar photographic telescope and took 147 negatives. The glass plates were securely stored and lay undiscovered for 120 years. When they were found, digital technology was used to create a movie, providing the most complete surviving record of a historical transit of Venus. Todd may have had this purpose in mind, at that time his peers were taking the first tentative steps into chronophotography (the recording of sequential motion) - the parent of cinematography.

Hi BigAl I'll go check those links, thanks

OK BigAl I have added:

Since the dawn of time, mankind has been fascinated by the heavenly bodies in the sky, their movements and mysteries. Aristotle (384 - 322BC), the great thinker and philosopher, watched a partial solar eclipse while sitting under a tree thanks to the camera obscura effect.

including links to your entry and the Aristotle entry and another entry on philosophy.

Is that alright?

Yes that's fine

This is a minor quibble. In footote 2 you speek of the Maias
Google only uses this spelling in Spanish speaking pages.
In English language ones it spells it Mayan. Any reason for the choice of spelling here?

Yes, it should be the Maya or the Mayans.

...sorry folks, my bad. It was taken from the bit I had posted here. In portuguese it's also Maia.

Maya!

HELL

One typo fixed!

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've therefore moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

I'm sorry but I found the first part totally confusing!

There was a transit in 2004 and there's one in 2012 but I've found one in June 2008.

The RA for the sun in 2012 is 4h59 and the declination is 22°42'
For Venus it's 4h57 and 22°42'

For the 9th. of June 08 the sun is at 5h12 and 22°59 and Venus 5h12 and 23°03