THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1635, 8 December 1874, Page 454

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.

SCIENTIFIC PREPARATIONS. The preparations for the observation of this important astronomical event, which takes place to-morrow; are now completed, and we have only to hope that at the various stations the weather will be clear and favorable for the observations. The following is a summary of the preparations which have been made under the control of Major Palmer:—At Grahamstown, Mr Severn will observe with an llin. reflector, of his own construction. At Auckland, Mr. T. Heale, Inspector of surveys, will operate with a 4fin. telescope. At Wellington, it is hoped that Archdeacon Stock will observe with a 4in. instrument of his own. At Rockyside, Dunedin, Messrs Thomson and McKerrow will conduct the observations ; and Lieutenant Crawford, R.N., who came out with Major Palmer, will, with Captain Williams of the ship Merope, be established at Naseby, in Otago. Lieutenant Crawford left Lytlelton for Naseby on Wednesday week,taking with him atransitinstrument, a siderial clock, and a 4'in telescope by Troughton andjSimms. Arrangementshave been made to [place all the sub-stations in direct telegraphic communication with the observatory at Burnham before the important day, Dec. 9, in order that, by means of time signals transmitted from the standard clock at Burnham to these stations, the whole of the subsidiary observatories 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 the Lyttelton Times. At those sub-stations which witness the transit, and are provided with instruments for local time, as is the case with four out of the five, observations will be taken after the transit, for determining the difference 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., Chatham Islands, the Auckland Island, and the Campbell Islands, which are occupied respectively by the Americans, Germans, and French. With the last-named station chronometric connexion has already been commenced, as the French man-of-war Vire, at Port Chalmers, exchanged time signals with Burnham immediately before her defor the Campbell Islands. THE TIME OF THE TRANSIT. The N.Z. Times gives the following calculation of the times of contact of the approaching transit : h. m. s. First External Contact ... 1 25 9 First Internal Contact ... 1 54 34 Last Internal Contact ... 5 27 19 Last External Contact ... 5 57 16 —The above is according to Wellington mean time ; to reduce it to New Zealand mean time, now in general use, a correction of 9min. 15sec. subtractive must be applied. The relative positions of the Sun and Venus are very favorable for those who do not possess good instruments to detect Venus's first appearance on tho Sun's disc, as at first contact, their altitudes being so nearly equal. Venus will appear to strike the Sun on the right hand side exactly on the centre. During transit, instead of going directly across the Sun, Venus will appear to move downwards and leave the Sun at its lower limb, but still on its right-hand side, cutting off a very small segment of a circle.

Venus's diameter is rather less than onethirtieth of the Sun ; she will, therefore, appear as a round black spot upon the surface of the Sun when viewed through a piece of colored glass. IMPORTANT TO OBSERVERS. The Victorian Government astronomer, Mr Ellery, addresses the following remarks and cautions to ordinary observers, in the Australasian : —" For simply viewing the phenomenon very simple apparatus will be sufficient. To good eyes, protected by deep colored or smoked glass, Venus will be visible after she is well on the sun's disc. Any ordinary telescopes, and even binocular, opera, or field glasses, will give a better view; but whatever telescope is used, great care is necessary to protect the eye from the intense glare and heat concentrated at the eye aperture, and if proper sunshades are not provided they must be improvised before attempting to look at the sun, for many have lost or injured their eyesight by not attending to this most necessary precaution. Deeply colored glass, especially a piece of deep red, and a piece of deep green or blue together, would be found very safe and pleasant; a piece of blue and green, or deep neutral tint, will also do nicely. If none of these can be obtained, the oldfashioned smoked-glass will form an excellent substitute. The proper method of making this is Obtain two strips of thin clear glass, say 3in. long by lin. broad (the glass sold for microscopic slides is the best) ; around the margin of one of the surfaces paste a strip of thin writing paper about the eighth of an inch broad, and smoke the surface by holding the slip over a candle with a long wick or a small kerosine flame (without chimney), taking care to warm the glass gradually at first, or it will crack. The proper density of the blackening can be got after a few trials. After the right kind of smoked surface has been obtained, the second glass can be fastened over it; the strips of paper will keep it from coming into contact; by pasting a thin paper over the edges so as to hold the two glasses together a dark shade for observing the sun hi formed, which will last any length of time." THE PRESENT AND FUTURE TRANSITS. The following is from the European Mail: —Several of the scientific journals have elaborate articles on the subject of the transit over the sun which will take place on December 9 next, and for the observation of which her Majesty's Government have voted a sum of £25,000, supplemented by grants from the Governments of France, Germany, Russia, and the United States. The transit will not be visible in this country, but will be distinctly seen in New Zealand, Australia, the East Indian Archipelago, and various parts of southern Asia. It appears that the transit of Venus which was observed by Captain Cook's expedition at Tahiti in 1769, led to the calculation that the distance of the sun from the earth was 95,300,000 miles. It has since been considered—better astronomical instruments having come into use —that the distance is 91,750,000 miles. The next transits of Venus will be on December 9, 1874 December 6, 1882 June 7, 2004 June 5, 2012 December 10, 2117 December 8, 2125 June 11, 2247 June 8, 2255 December 12, 2360 December 10, 2363

JOURNALISTIC ITEMS. A recent paragraph under this heading, attributed to the Cromwell Argus, referring to an issue' of the paper being suspended, owing to the supplies of paper being delayed at Westport, should have been assigned to the Lyell Argus. We derived the paragraph, from a secondary source, and the error was not our own. In its valedictory remarks, the late Westland Register says :—" In the battle that has been fought, and, although we say it, manfully, as far as this paper is concerned, we have endeavored to advocate the cause of the weak and to do justice, as far as in us lies, to that end. Still it early became evident that the profitable production of a second morning paper was not possible, and however unwillingly, we bow to the inevitable, and resign in favor of an elder brother. It is hardly necessary to go over the circumstances that called the Register, under its most recent form, inl o existence, but we may say that the end aimed at has been achieved, and that at the start it was a mere protest against ignorance and presumption. Had the present management of the West Coast Times been in existence it would never have had being."—Messrs Reid and Co., of the West Coast Times, were the purchasers of the plant; and good-will of the paper. In the attempt to establish a second morning paper in Hokitika, the Register Company lost all its subscribed capital, and more, the price realized for the sale of plant and good-will hardly covering existing liabilities. The West Coast Times is of opinion that in Hokitika there is not room for the production of two morning papers creditable to the place and to those concerned in their publication.