The Next Transit of Venus.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 23, 17 December 1874, Page 6

The Next Transit of Venus.

In the year 1882, on December 8, will occur a very remarkable .phenomenon, and one that will greatly excite the scientific : world ? namely the .visibletransit of tbe planet Venus 1 across'the disc of the. sun. Few persons now living have, beheld this rare phenomenon, nor is it probable that any person who may-, see it in 1882 will..'■ ever witness the spectacle again. The transit of the same planet across the sun's disc, which took 'place on the, 9th, December,, will, doubtless, have the, .effect of awakening, public., interest, at as early date to the event of 1882. Venus appears, to the inhabitants, of the earth the, most beautiful of all the planetary stars, being the second .from the. sun, : and one of the two inferior planets,..having their, orbits within that of the earth. At the period of her greatest splendour, her light ,is so intense' as 'to , cast a shadow upon the earth's surface;'" and at certain seasons* after long- intervals of she may be seen! shining :with a pale silvery lustre in the. full blaze.of noonday. .At her' maximum; brilliancy, her light is estimated toequal that of twenty fixed stars. In the regions under the equator, atthe'time of her greatest elongatiopi she maybe seen' high above"the" horizon, burning''with- a. clear and steady flame, like a' senting-an aspeot far more splendid than in the latitudes of the north. She appearsas an. attendant, upon,, the sun.;.,and ; may> be. observed by. who descend .into deep open pits or cavities of the earth, following in bis track.. Thisjpiabet pre-■ * seats a very remarkable teleecdpic appearance. The shadows of great ! mountains break the circle of her glimmering - light; and these mountains,, according to iSohroeter, a famous German ; astronomer, r have an.altitude of ; more,,than ..twenty toiles. During her .transitsihier atmosphere}ike a halb of faint penumbral light is distinctly visible. Although about the size of the earth, and performing her annual revolution in about the same period, she is so much ■ nearer the sun than. we, that this luminary - musjk appear, twice as larg* jto her inbabitantß—if sfie haVe anyr-7-as to iis; and the solar rays.musVdescend upon her with a fervour twice as strong as that . with which they reach bur planet. Even, seen from- the earth, so luminous is the - aspect of Venus at certain 1 periods that the! body of the planet may be, discerned with wonderful distinctions through its transparent atmosphere. The preat use, of observation of the transit 5 of Venus, over the. sun's disc to 'determine' the sun's horizontal parallak~an element of very great inipor--1 tance, -since by it we are enabled to calcu- ; late the distance of the earth from the sun;' and directly,the,,distances of the other planets as well as fixed, stars.., The transits of yen'us over the sun's centre pccur alter-•• nately,at'intervals of 8, lfoi ; and'l2i4 years. The last two occured in the years. J 761 and 1769 \ so that anyone'now living who beheld this latter must be : over 1 100 years old; to have seen it even in vw 1 i fancy. .The following table exhibits tin, a conyeniept, form the transits. that „haye, taken place, and will .take place for a per-, iod of more than 300 yeai;s, and also, illustrates the order of the intervals at which these' phenomena" occur :—December 4. 1649, to June 5,176H ifii'j years* June 5, 1761, to June 3,1769, 8 years; June 3.. 1769, to December 8,. 187,4, 105 £ years;. December ,8,. .1874 to December 6, te June,T.2oo4,l2liyjears,; June 7, 2p04, to June a,' 8 the position of the, planet' M apparently yery different? aa seetf' 1 on different-girt of the sun's disci frcmits apparent position viewed from the other' side; and it is by a comparison between: these ; ; apparent -position* -f-nsß viewed at different places during the tran- . "V£#L?!? !■#s*» » Mm )(Qr..,caicula)mg,and working out some of the most .wonder-, ful problems of'astronomical 'science ever" mastered by the mind of mani""" "' ■ '"■ * ' : '' A Bomanco of thS'Transit of Venus. , The rare, phenomenon of. the transit of Venus ; acres?! the, r disc ; of i the a aujnV which • attracted ,all«scientific eyes.on.thejStb inst., •>' -■ to \#^rWM*wy>* under rather touching ckcumatencestwo, centuries agoV! According recently • fsstfety-«' young 'stuffeW; 4! haliea' Horrocks,; had;devoted' hiffisel wirnhrutf' scientific ardour, but without any instruction, to ,the dtudy of agtrbnohiy, and • had - calculated 4 -for r , v himself th^t.,a o •iransj^pfVenus ought to occurr on a November, .when the, extant, authorities had announced that none vybntd take place, during "that' 4 century. 1 Pom 1 -yotfng-lkp?- v rocks was W a little village named Hoole, near Preston, the 24th of 'November, proved to be a Sunday, and,the hour* wben,he:e*pec^d t .thp iransft .tfotjofobV' e wmw v HJ?kfit wm*™*\rfo> which.it was impossible for bun- to find a and ielltt^(itul^n^;'a' tr 'ma'Snamea Crabtree, he watched 1 the shn,; -now clear," now clouded, from dawn till the afternoon/" then, ;aa/he :cbuld fbis B°^R tt ; d u*y for (n auc^; f/ «|an ornamenm i went to his Uttle church antfgpt t&kt the eun/reffecWd oh the paper hfeliad pre- *' pared, showed the smalls round black spot of the plsnetr impinging >on' its ■ i te 9^-lfe [ ,6oHiqck(| !:> haa: command f .pf •. omiMcalduratim'' 1 arid'whicn scientific triumphs; was f veiyuiahortJy- • arrested. died suddenly!iat the' - - / ■