Abstract
IN nearly all those countries of Europe in which Astronomy is nationally cultivated, preparations are being made for thorough observation of the first of the coming Transits of Venus, which will occur on December 8, 1874. In Russia, whose territory presents many favourable points for observation of the phenomenon, a committee, organised by Professor Struve, has had under consideration during the past two years the establishment of a chain of observers at positions 100 miles apart along the region comprised between Kamschatka and the Black Sea. The principal astronomers of Germany have held two conferences, each of several days' duration, which have resulted in a decision to furnish four stations for heliometric observation of the planet during its transit: one of these will be in Japan or China, and the others probably at Mauritius, Kerguelen's and Auckland Islands; and three of these, with the addition of a fourth station in Persia, between Mascate and Teheran, will be equipped for photographic observations also. A French commission on the subject sat before the war, and reported to the Bureau des Longitudes that it was desirable for their government to provide for observing stations at Saint Paul's Islands, and Amsterdam, Yokohama, Tahiti, Noumea, Mascate, and Suez. Since the close of the war the subject has been reverted to, and lately the Academy of Sciences applied to the Government for the requisite funds; but these could not be granted till next year, the budget for 1872 having been disposed of.
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CARPENTER, J. British Preparations for the Approaching Transit of Venus . Nature 5, 177–179 (1872). https://doi.org/10.1038/005177a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/005177a0