The 1882 transit of Venus on 6 December 1882 (13:57 to 20:15 UTC), was the second and last transit of Venus of the 19th century, the first having taken place eight years earlier in 1874. Many expeditions were sent by European powers to describe both episodes, eight by the United States Congress alone. [1]
Edward James Stone organized the British expeditions. Stephen Joseph Perry and Commander Pelham Aldrich, as captain of HMS Fawn, observed the transit from an improvised tent observatory in Madagascar. [2]
Jean-Charles Houzeau invented in 1871 a heliometer with unequal focal lengths. For the observation of the transit he organized two expeditions: one to San Antonio, Texas, and another to Santiago de Chile. The two expeditions each had an identical copy of Houzeau's heliometer. [3]
The French Academy of Sciences organized ten expeditions to various locations, including Florida, Mexico, Haiti, Martinique, and Cape Horn. [4] For observations of the transit by French expeditions, for the year 1883 the French Academy of Sciences awarded nine Lalande Prizes to scientists, including Jean Jacques Anatole Bouquet de La Grye (leader of expedition to Puebla, Mexico), Octave de Bernardières (leader of expedition to San Bernardo, Chile), and the naval officer Georges-Ernest Fleuriais (leader of expedition to the coast of the province Santa Cruz in Patagonia). [5] [6]
The transit was observed from the United Kingdom by Samuel Cooper in Charminster and Roger Langdon at Silverton, both in Devon, [7] [8] and by W F Denning in Bristol. [9] In Ireland by R S Ball, [10] W Doberck and J L E Dreyer also saw it. [11]
The event was celebrated in music with the Transit of Venus March by John Philip Sousa.
Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande was a French astronomer, freemason and writer.
François Félix Tisserand was a French astronomer.
Sir David Gill was a Scottish astronomer who is known for measuring astronomical distances, for astrophotography and geodesy. He spent much of his career in South Africa.
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun. The duration of such transits is usually several hours. A transit is similar to a solar eclipse by the Moon. Although the diameter of Venus is more than three times that of the Moon, Venus appears smaller and travels more slowly across the face of the Sun, because it is much farther away from Earth.
William Henry Finlay (FRAS) was a South African astronomer. He was First Assistant at the Cape Observatory from 1873 to 1898 under Edward James Stone. He discovered the periodic comet 15P/Finlay. Earlier, he was one of the first to spot the "Great Comet of 1882". The first telegraphic determinations of longitude along the western coast of Africa were made by Finlay and T. F. Pullen.
Louis Niesten (1844–1920) was a Belgian astronomer working at the Brussels Royal Observatory. In 1877 he observed Mars and created a detailed map of its surface features.
Nicole-Reine Lepaute, also erroneously known as Hortense Lepaute, was a French astronomer and human computer. Lepaute along with Alexis Clairaut and Jérôme Lalande calculated the date of the return of Halley's Comet. Her other astronomical feats include calculating the 1764 solar eclipse and producing almanacs from 1759 to 1783. She was also a member of the Scientific Académie de Béziers.
Jean-Charles Houzeau de Lehaie was a Belgian astronomer and journalist. A French speaker, he moved to New Orleans after getting in trouble for his politics in Belgium.
Silverton is a large village and civil parish, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Exeter, in the English county of Devon. It is one of the oldest villages in Devon and dates from the first years of the Saxon occupation.
The Battle of Yungay was the final battle of the War of the Confederation, fought on January 20, 1839, near Yungay, Peru. The United Restorer Army, led by Chilean General Manuel Bulnes, consisting mainly of Chileans and 600 North Peruvian dissidents, attacked the Peru-Bolivian Confederation forces led by Andrés de Santa Cruz in northern Peru, 200 kilometers (120 mi) north of Lima.
Dom Alexandre Guy Pingré was a French canon regular, astronomer and naval geographer.
The Royal Observatory of Belgium, has been situated in the Uccle municipality of Brussels, Belgium, since 1890. It was first established in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode in 1826 by King William I of the Netherlands under the impulse of Adolphe Quetelet. It was home to a 100 cm (39 in) diameter aperture Zeiss reflector in the first half of the 20th century, one of the largest telescopes in the world at the time. It now owns a variety of other astronomical instruments, such as astrographs, as well as a range of seismograph equipment.
Admiral Pelham Aldrich was a Royal Navy officer and explorer, who became Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth Docks.
Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche was a French astronomer, best known for his observations of the transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769.
The corbeta (corvette) ARA Uruguay, built in England, is the largest ship afloat of its age in the Armada de la República Argentina, with more than 140 years passed since its commissioning in September 1874. The last of the legendary squadron of President Sarmiento, the Uruguay took part in revolutions, ransoms, expeditions, rescues, and was even floating headquarters of the Navy School. During its operational history 1874–1926 the Uruguay has served as a gunboat, school ship, expedition support ship, Antarctic rescue ship, fisheries base supply ship, and hydrographic survey vessel, and is now a museum ship in Buenos Aires. This ship may be the oldest in South America having been built in 1874 at Laird Bros. shipyard of Birkenhead, England, at a cost of £32,000. This ship is rigged to a barque sailplan. The ship's steel hull is sheathed in teak.
Louis Thollon was a French astronomer.
The 1874 transit of Venus, which took place on 9 December 1874, was the first of the pair of transits of Venus that took place in the 19th century, with the second transit occurring eight years later in 1882. The previous pair of transits had taken place in 1761 and 1769, and the next pair would not take place until 2004 and 2012. As with previous transits, the 1874 transit would provide an opportunity for improved measurements and observations. Numerous expeditions were planned and sent out to observe the transit from locations around the globe, with several countries setting up official committees to organise the planning.
Charles Émile Stuyvaert was a Belgian astronomer. He was a contemporary of Albert Lancaster, Louis Niesten and Jean-Charles Houzeau.
The following lists events that happened during 1882 in the Kingdom of Belgium.
Jacques-André Mallet ; also Mallet-Favre; 23 September 1740 – 31 January 1790) was a Genevan mathematician and astronomer.