Abstract
THE OPPOSITION OF MARS IN 1892.—Early in August, 1892, the planet Mars will come into opposition at a distance sensibly the same as in September of the present year, when it is proposed to make a serious attempt to determine the solar parallax by observations of this planet, a method which has not hitherto been applied under such advantageous circumstances as are now possible, but which is calculated to furnish the sun's distance from the earth with a degree of precision comparable with that to be attained by the observation of a transit of Venus, and with far less trouble and expense. It will not perhaps be without interest at the present moment, when the attention of astronomers is particularly directed to the efficient observation of Mars near the opposition in September next, if we present an ephemeris for the opposition of 1892, the only one of the present century yet to come, which can be to all intents and purposes as favourable as that of 1877. The ephemeris is founded upon the tables of M. Leverrier, which have been applied with sufficient accuracy for the object in view. The positions are for mean noon at Paris.
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 15, 519–520 (1877). https://doi.org/10.1038/015519a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/015519a0