THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1076, 8 December 1882, Page 2

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.

This event, for which pieparations had born anxiously and carefully mole throughout the count! y, t-ok place ye.terday mo'-uing. Dr Hector, who was Incited here to mke his observations, kind'y sum.li, us with tue following inhumation respecting it.—The transit was successfully observed at several p a es. At Auckland 74 iostintaneous photographs were taking.lnrin the time of contact; at Bu'uham aid Christchurch tye observations were tarn n wi hj [rower!til telescopes by Colonel Tupman and Lieutenant C"ke ; also at Dime in, by Messrs Rob rt • lilies and Henry Skey. Dr H'C*or, at Clyde, unfortnnatey lost the .critical observation thr-u-h the int.rven* tion of a email dense cloud for the space of three mi l .tiles j iat at the viy iine when the f "nt ed.e of the pi net was emerging fom the Sun. Tne morning W'S cloudy, but ly seven o'clock large rif s allowed Hi sun to slime on some f.ivo-el ep.ts At 7. 12. Dr H ct«r first got a view of the sun amo -g 1 1- pis-ing el nd's, wh nit ahon out well until 7. i>9 when i f wa- agiin obscured. At this time it was appar.-m. y within le s than a minute of the contact.-Jmt it was no* till four minutes after that the sun again broke out, by wit ch time contact was past, External contact or the last stage was observed at 7 50. All the ananiemens were most perfect, the times were legistored on an electric chronograph, one pin of which recorded tne seconds and the o ho .pin was under Dr Hector’s control. Valuable assistance was rendered to the obsei ver by Major Keddell. R.M.. Mr VcKay. Irisirict Surv. yor ; and Mr Heney, T legraobis . A con-i <eral I« number or per-oos assembled to wi'ness theobse. vat ion, iur strict silence wag maintains I 'y constables under the direction of Mr inspector Hick-on Mr Ward at Cromwell, was sucre r-ful in observing the internal contact, hj it. unto'innately his lelescooeis only of small p -w-r. The iine he used was found bg Dr H-ctor who telegraphed signals to him immediately before and after the event.