ARRANGEMENTS FOR OBSERYING THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.

Evening Star, Issue 3667, 23 November 1874, Page 3

ARRANGEMENTS FOR OBSERYING THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.

[By Telegraph ] Chuistchurch, November 23. Sent 12.30 p.m. Received 4.10 p.m. Major Palmer has almost completed arrangements at the Burnham Observatory for observing the transit of Yenu;s also for the establishment of sub-stations of observation. The sub-stations are five in number. At Grahamstown Mr Severn will observe with an eleven- \ F e “®°.Joi’ °f his own construction. At Auckland Mr T. Heale, Inspector of Surveys, will operate with a four-and-one-eighth inch telescope. At Wellington it is hoped that Archdeacon Stock will observe with a 4in. instrument of his own. At Rockyside, Dunedin, Messrs Thomson and M'Kerrow will conduct the observations; and Lieutenant Crawford, R.N. who came out with Major Palmer, will, with Captain Williams, of the ship Mernpe, he established at Nasehy, in Otago. Lieutenant Crawford left Lyttelton for Nasehy on Wednesday last, taking with him a transit instrument, a sidereal clock, and a'four-inch telescope by Troughton and Simms. Arrangements are being made to place all the sub-stations in direct telegraphic communication with the observatory at Bnnjhain before December 9, iu order

that by means of time signals transmitted from the standard clock at Burnham to these stations, the whole of the subsidiary observations may be directly referred to Burnham time. Major Palmer has published a pamphlet of instructions for observers, the greater portion of which is published in this morning's ‘ Lyttelton Times.’ At sub-stations are provided instruments for determining local time. Observations will be taken after the transit for determining differences of longitude from Burnham. Arrangements are also in progress for determining the difference of longitude between Major Palmer's station at Burnham and that of the Americans under Professor Peters at Queenstown ; also for a chronometric expedition in one of Her Majesty’s ships to the three island stations, viz., tbe Chatham Islands, the Auckland Islands, and the Campbell Islands, which are occupied respectively by the Americans, Germans, and French. With the last named station chronometic connections has already been commenced, as on Monday last the French man-of-war Vire, at Port Chalmers, exchanged time-signal with Burnham immediately before her departure for the Campbell Islands.