Geomagnetism by the North Pole, anno 1769: The Magnetic Observations of Maximilian Hell during his Venus Transit Expedition (2007)
Aspaas, Per Pippin (Author)
Hansen, TrulsLynne (Author)
Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Volume: 49
Pages: 138--164
As part of the international efforts to observe the Venus transit of June 1769, Protestant Denmark-Norway engaged the Viennese astronomer Maximilian Hell, despite Hell being Catholic and even Jesuit. Hell's site of observation was Vardø in the remote northeastern corner of Norway. He had ambitions to present his journey and scientific results---which reached far beyond astronomy---in a grand work entitled Expeditio litteraria ad Polum arcticum. This work was never printed, although several fragments were published otherwise. Among the pieces not published were his geomagnetic observations. Hell's original manuscripts contain a considerable amount of declination readings as well as notes on instruments, practical procedures, and theoretical reflections involved in his work. In Vardø he set up a magnetic observatory, along with the astronomical one, and recorded, on an irregular schedule, the magnetic declination several times a day from April to June 1769. The records exhibit a clear signature of the diurnal variation as well as magnetic storms. Hell vigorously refuted contemporary suggestions of a connection between magnetic storms and Northern Lights. On the return voyage, a number of observations of magnetic declination along Norway were carried out, with a technique combining a gnomon with observations of the Sun's altitude with a quadrant.
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