Abstract
Horrocks, and briefly Crabtree, through a break in the clouds, had been the only seventeenth-century humans to witness Venus’s silhouette in passage across the Sun. Observing in “pathetic isolation,” they long remained the only members of an exclusive fraternity, sole beholders of what Edmond Halley would call “that sight which is by far the noblest astronomy affords.”
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Armitage A (1953) The pilgrimage of Pingré. An astronomer-monk of eighteenth-century France. Ann Sci 9:47–63
Armitage A (1954) Chappe d’Auteroche: a pathfinder for astronomy. Ann Sci 10:277–293
Baum RM (2010) J.H. Schröter and the atmosphere of Venus. In: Moore P, Mason J (eds) 2011 yearbook of astronomy. Macmillan, London, pp 199–207
Bergman T (1761–1762) An account of observations made of the same transit at Upsal in Sweden: in a letter to Mr. Benjamin Wilson, F.R.S. from Mr. Thorbern Bergman, of Upsal. Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond 52:227–230
Carrère d’Encausse H (2003) L’Impératrice et l’Abbé: un duel littéraire inédit entre Catherine II et l’abbé Chappe d’Auteroche. Fayard, Paris
Chappe d’Auteroche J-B (1761) Addition au mémoire précédent, sur les remarques qui ont rapport à l’anneau lumineux, & sur le diamètre de Vénus, observé à Tobolsk le 6 Juin 1761. Mémoires de l’Académie royale des Sciences 1761:373–377
Chappe d’Auteroche J-B (1772) Voyage en Californie pour l’observation du passage de Vénus sur le disque du soleil …. A. Jombet, Paris
Chappe d’Auteroche J-B (1774) A journey into Siberia made by order of the King of France, 2nd edn. Faden and Jeffreys, London
Cook AH (1998) Edmond Halley: charting the heavens and the sea. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Crease RP, Shiltsev V (2013) Pomor polymath: the upbringing of Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, 1711–1730. Phys Perspect 15(4):391–414
Crowe MJ (1986) The extraterrestrial life debate, 1750–1910: the plurality of worlds from Kant to Lowell. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Dick SJ (1982) Plurality of Worlds: the origins of the extraterrestrial life debate from Democritus to Kant. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Drake ET (1996) Restless genius: Robert Hooke and his earthly thoughts. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Dumont S, Gros M (2013) The important role of the two french astronomers J.-N. Delisle and J.-J. Lalande in the choice of observing places during the transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769. J Astron Data 19:131–144
Duval M, Gendron A, St-Onge G, Guignie G (2005) The black-drop effect during the transit of Venus on June 8, 2004. J Roy Astron Soc Can 99(5):170–176
Duval M, Brault M, Gendron A et al (2012) Size of the black-drop effect versus telescope resolution during the 2004 and 2012 transits of Venus. J Roy Astron Soc Can 106:227–229
Encke JF (1822) Die Entfernung der Sonne von der Erde aus dem Venusdurchgange von 1761. Beckerschen Buchhandlung, Gotha
Ferguson J (1756) Astronomy explained upon Sir Isaac Newton’s Principles. The Globe, London
Ferguson J (1772) Astronomy explained upon Sir Isaac Newton’s principles … to which are added a plain method of finding the distances of all the planets from the sun, by the transit of Venus over the sun’s disc, in the year 1761…London: Printed for Strahan W et al
Fernie D (1976) The whisper and the vision: the voyages of the astronomers. Clarke, Irwin, Toronto, ON
Gregory J (1663) Optica promota…. F. Hayes, London
Grimm FM, Freiherr V (1814) Historical and literary memoirs and anecdotes, selected from the correspondence of Baron de Grimm and Diderot with the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, between the years 1753 and 1769. Trans. by Bland R and Plumptre A. Henry Colburn, London
Halley E (1716) Methodus singularis quâ solis parallaxis sive distantia à Terra, ope Veneris intra Solem conspiciendæ, tuto determinari poterit. Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond 29:454–464
Halley E (1809) A new method of determining the parallax of the sun, or his distance from the earth. Translated from the Latin from the original 1716 paper (PTRS, 29: 454–464). Abridged Trans Roy Soc 6:243–250
Hirst W (1761) An account of an observation of the transit of Venus over the sun, on the 6th of June 1761, at Madrass. Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond 52:396–398
Holden ES (1878) Index-catalogue of books and memoirs on the transits of Mercury. Library of Harvard University, Bibliographical Contributions, No. 1. John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, MA
Huygens C (1698) Cosmotheoros, sive de Terris Coelestibus, earumque ornatu; English translation, translator unknown. Timothy Childe, London
Koukarine A, Nesterenko I, Petrunin Y, Shiltsev V (2013) Experimental reconstruction of Lomonosov’s discovery of Venus’s atmosphere with antique refractors during the 2012 transit of Venus. Sol Syst Res 47(6):487–490
Kragh H (2008) The moon that wasn’t: the saga of Venus’ spurious satellite. Birkhäuser Verlag AG, Basel
de La Lande JJF (1770) Explication du prolongement obscur du disque de Vénus qu’on aperçoit dans ses passages sur le soleil. Suite de mémoires de l’Académie royale des sciences 1770:406–412
Ley W (1963) Watchers of the skies: an informal history of astronomy from Babylon to the space age. The Viking Press, New York, NY
Lomonosov MV (1761) The appearance of Venus on the Sun, observed at the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences on May 26, 1761. (in Russian). Complete Works, vol 11 (Vavilov S, Kravets T (general eds)). USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow and Leningrad, 1950–1983; vol. 4 (1955, Kravets T, Chenakal V (volume eds)), pp 361–376
Marov MY (2004) Mikhail Lomonosov and the discovery of the atmosphere of Venus during the 1761 transit. In: Kurtz DW (ed) 2005, pp 209–219
Menshutkin BN, Speter M (1910) Physikalisch-chemische abhandlungen M.W. Lomonossows, 1741–1752. Aus dem lateinischen und russischen mit anmrkungen. Ostwalds Klassiker der exacten Wissenschaften, no 178. W. Engelmann, Leipzig
Moore P (1961a) Astronomy. Oldbourne Book Company, London
Nemiro A (1939) Astronomy Museum of Pulkova Observatory (in Russian). In: 100 years of Puklovo Observatory (Pulkovo: written in 1939, published 1945)
Newcomb S (1891) Discussion of observations of the transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769. Astronomical papers prepared for the use of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, vol II, Pt. V. Bureau of Equipment, Navy Department, Washington, pp 259–405
Newton I (1959–1967) The correspondence of Isaac Newton, 7 vols. In: Turnbull HW (ed) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Pasachoff JM, Schneider G, Golub L (2005) The black-drop effect explained. In: Kurtz DW (ed) pp 242–253
Pasachoff JM, Sheehan W (2012a) Lomonosov, the discovery of Venus’s atmosphere, and the eighteenth-century transits of Venus. J Astron Hist Herit 15(1):3–14
Pasachoff JM, Sheehan W (2012b) Did Lomonosov see the Venusian atmosphere? Phys Today 65(11):11
Pasachoff JM, Sheehan W (2013) A major discovery in doubt. Sky Telescope 125(1):86
Petrunin Y (2012) Early gears for seeing Venus’s atmosphere. Telescope Engineering Company, Colorado, USA. http://telescopehistory.wordpress.com/
Pierce AK, Slaughter CD (1977) Solar limb darkening. Sol Phys 51:25–41
Pierce AK, Slaughter CD, Weinberger D (1977) Solar limb darkening in the interval 7404–24018 Å, II. Sol Phys 52:179–189
Posch T, Aspaas PP, Bazso A, Mueller I (2013) Austrian-Hungarian astronomical observatories run by the Society of Jesus at the time of the 18th century Venus transits. J Astron Data 19:121–130
Proctor RA (1882) Transits of Venus. A popular account of past and coming transits, 4th edn. Longmans, Green, and Co., London
Rogoszinski Z, Pasachoff JM, Babcock BA et al (2014) Observations of the black-drop effect at the 2012 transit of Venus, 223rd AAS Meeting, National Harbor, MD. Bull Am Astron Soc:Paper #247.16
Rosenfeld RA, Beckett C, O’Brien M et al (2013) The Venus aureole effect: minimum aperture for visual detection. J Roy Astron Soc Can 107:29
Rumovsky S (1762) Expositio observationem occasione transitus Veneris per discum Solis in urbe Selenginsk institutarum. Novi Commentarii Academiæ Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanæ 11:443–486
Schaefer BE (2001) The transit of Venus and the notorious black drop effect. J Hist Astron 32:325–336
Schechner SJ (2012) Astronomy behind enemy lines: colonial American field expeditions, 1761–1780. C41/ICHA Science Meetings at the IAU XXVIII General Assembly, Book of abstracts, pp 27–28.
Schneider G, Pasachoff JM, Golub L (2004) TRACE Observations of the 15 November 1999 transit of Mercury and the black drop effect: considerations for the 2004 transit of Venus. Icarus 168:249–256
Sellers D (2001) The transit of Venus: the quest to find the true distance to the sun. MagaVelda Press, Leeds
Sharonov VV (1955) Commentaries. In: Lomonosov: complete works, vol 4. USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, pp 763–774
Sharonov VV (1960) M. V. Lomonosov. Akademii Nauk, SSSR Inst. Hist., IV
Sheehan WP, Baum R (1995) Observation and inference: Johann Hieronymous Schroeter, 1745–1816. J Br Astron Assoc 105:171–175
Sheehan WP, Pasachoff JM (2013) Atmosphere of Venus: problems in perception. Phys Today 66(7):9–10
Shiltsev V (2012a) Observation of the transit of Venus-2012 with old refractor telescope. beamdocs.fnal.gov/AD-publc/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=4147-v1 (Jun 9 2012)
Shiltsev V (2012b) Lomonosov’s discovery of Venus atmosphere in 1761: english translation of original publication with commentaries. 2012arXiv1206.3489S
Shiltsev V (2012c) Did Lomonosov see the Venusian atmosphere?”. Phys Today 65(11):12
Shiltsev V, Nesterenko I, Rosenfeld R (2013) Replicating the discovery of Venus’s atmosphere. Phys Today 66(2):64–65
Short J (1763) Second paper concerning the parallax of the sun determined from the observations of the late transit of Venus, in which this subject is treated of more at length, and the quantity of the parallax more fully ascertained. Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond 53:300–345
Stoltzmann D (2013) Atmosphere of Venus: problems in perception. Phys Today 66(7):10
Van Helden A (1985) Measuring the Universe. Cosmic dimensions from Aristarchus to Halley. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Wargentin PV (1761–1762) An account of the observations made on the same transit in Sweden. Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond 52:213
Woolf H (1959) The transits of Venus: a study of eighteenth-century science. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
Wulf A (2012) Chasing Venus: the race to measure the heavens. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer-Verlag New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Westfall, J., Sheehan, W. (2015). “This Famed Phenomenon”. In: Celestial Shadows. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 410. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1535-4_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1535-4_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1534-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1535-4
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)