First transit of the sun since 1882
By Dan Falk, Globe Correspondent *|* June 1, 2004
In 1761, Harvard professor John Winthrop left Cambridge for a 13-day journey to Newfoundland, taking along two students, two telescopes, a pendulum clock, an octant, and other precision navigation instruments. As the French and Indian War swept across North Americas European colonies, Winthrop undertook the first scienti? c research expedition in his continents history.
The astronomer and his team lugged their equipment up a hill to their chosen observing site, and camped out. The skies were clear as dawn broke on June 6, and the months of preparation paid off.
At 4:18 a.m. the men became the only North Americans to witness the transit of Venus, the rarer-than-twice-a-century event when the second planet passes directly between the Earth and the sun, and appears as a tiny black dot in front of the bright solar disk.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2004/06/01/spotting_venus/
By Dan Falk, Globe Correspondent *|* June 1, 2004
In 1761, Harvard professor John Winthrop left Cambridge for a 13-day journey to Newfoundland, taking along two students, two telescopes, a pendulum clock, an octant, and other precision navigation instruments. As the French and Indian War swept across North Americas European colonies, Winthrop undertook the first scienti? c research expedition in his continents history.
The astronomer and his team lugged their equipment up a hill to their chosen observing site, and camped out. The skies were clear as dawn broke on June 6, and the months of preparation paid off.
At 4:18 a.m. the men became the only North Americans to witness the transit of Venus, the rarer-than-twice-a-century event when the second planet passes directly between the Earth and the sun, and appears as a tiny black dot in front of the bright solar disk.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2004/06/01/spotting_venus/
this being June 2nd just how was I supposed to "view" this historic event anyway, and why would I want to again?
