Re: Off topic: transit of Venus in about 1770
On Tue, 16 Mar 1999, John Pickard wrote: When I was a kid at school more years ago than I care to remember, I was taught that Lieutenant James Cook RN came out to Australia in 1770 (or was it 1772??) to have a look around, and also to observe the transit of Venus in Tahiti. So my question (which I am sure will be answered) is simple: why would anyone cross the road (let alone the world in a small sailing ship) just to see a ToV? Thanks, John Dr John Pickard Senior Lecturer, Environmental Planning Graduate School of the Environment Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Australia John: Your question intrigued me, as I had always just accepted the bare statement, and hadn't thought about *why*, at least that I can recall. Certainly, one part of the question - why travel so far? is clear. The event, like a lunar eclipse, is not visible from all parts of the Earth. In fact, it is slightly more like a total solar eclipse, in that one's position on the Earth affects the view, by parallax. The big question though, is Why did they care?. Seems the project was basically to determine the radius of the Earth's orbit, still undetermined in the late 18th century. Check out: http://www.dsellers.demon.co.uk/index.htm Dave
Off topic: transit of Venus in about 1770
Greetings all, When I was a kid at school more years ago than I care to remember, I was taught that Lieutenant James Cook RN came out to Australia in 1770 (or was it 1772??) to have a look around, and also to observe the transit of Venus in Tahiti. OK, I know what the ToV is, but why go half-way round the world at great expense and logistic difficulty just to see it? No one ever explained this to me. Apparently the education department assumed that it was self-evident! So my question (which I am sure will be answered) is simple: why would anyone cross the road (let alone the world in a small sailing ship) just to see a ToV? Thanks, John Dr John Pickard Senior Lecturer, Environmental Planning Graduate School of the Environment Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Australia Phone + 61 2 9850 7981 (work) + 61 2 9482 8647 (home) Fax + 61 2 9850 7972 (work)
Re: Another off topic
Dave, I'm looking for ideas on field-aligning a polar mount for cameras and/or small telescopes. I will be travelling to Europe this August for the total solar eclipse (see - sundials won't work!), and will be bringing along a portable tracking camera mount. My first reaction is why all the bother. I've taken photos with telescopes at a total eclipse before and the whole thing doesn't last very long, but more importantly its quite bright so the exposures are not very long, hence accurate tracking is not needed. Cheers, John Professor John P.G.Shepherd Physics Department University of Wisconsin-River Falls 410 S. 3rd. St. River Falls,WI 54022 Phone (715)-425-3196, eve. (715)-425-6203 Fax (715)-425-0652 44.88 degrees N, 92.71 degrees W.
Even Further Off topic: transit of Venus in about 1770
And for a discussion of the transit of Venus, teaching astronomy, and love, read Stephen Leacock's short story The Transit of Venus. :-) On Mon, 15 Mar 1999, Dave Bell wrote: On Tue, 16 Mar 1999, John Pickard wrote: When I was a kid at school more years ago than I care to remember, I was taught that Lieutenant James Cook RN came out to Australia in 1770 (or was it 1772??) to have a look around, and also to observe the transit of Venus in Tahiti. So my question (which I am sure will be answered) is simple: why would anyone cross the road (let alone the world in a small sailing ship) just to see a ToV? Thanks, John Dr John Pickard Senior Lecturer, Environmental Planning Graduate School of the Environment Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Australia John: Your question intrigued me, as I had always just accepted the bare statement, and hadn't thought about *why*, at least that I can recall. Certainly, one part of the question - why travel so far? is clear. The event, like a lunar eclipse, is not visible from all parts of the Earth. In fact, it is slightly more like a total solar eclipse, in that one's position on the Earth affects the view, by parallax. The big question though, is Why did they care?. Seems the project was basically to determine the radius of the Earth's orbit, still undetermined in the late 18th century. Check out: http://www.dsellers.demon.co.uk/index.htm Dave === Richard B. LangleyE-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geodetic Research Laboratory Web: http://www.unb.ca/GGE/ Dept. of Geodesy and Geomatics EngineeringPhone:+1 506 453-5142 University of New Brunswick Fax: +1 506 453-4943 Fredericton, N.B., Canada E3B 5A3 Fredericton? Where's that? See: http://www.city.fredericton.nb.ca/ ===
