Orchiston, Wayne (Author)
Darlington, Vicki (Author)
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
Volume: 20
Issue: 2
Pages: 223-253
The 1882 transit of Venus offered the final opportunity for astronomers to use these rare events to pin down the distance from the Earth to the Sun. A British party based itself in southern Queensland, but total cloud cover prevented any observations being made on the critical day. In this paper we trace the preparations of the British party, and then show how they laid the foundations for the development of astronomy in Queensland by selling their two 6-in Cooke refractors before returning to Britain. Both instruments were purchased by a Townsville amateur astronomer, Edwin Norris, and although he installed one in an observatory, he made little use of it. However, he subsequently sold the other telescope to J. Ewen Davidson of Mackay, who also erected an obser-vatory for it. Davidson then used his instrument for cometary astronomy, in the process discovering two new comets, one of which now bears his name. Unfortunately, recent attempts to track down the present whereabouts of the two telescopes have failed.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Wayne Orchiston;
(2017)
Cook, Green, Maskelyne and the 1769 transit of Venus: the legacy of the Tahitian observations
Article
Rieznik, Marina;
(2010)
El Bureau des Longitudes y la fundación del Observatorio de La Plata en la Argentina (1882--1890)
Article
Luís Campos Ribeiro;
Henrique Leitão;
(2018)
Astrology With New Eyes: The Telescope in Astrological Prognostication
Article
Poppi, Francesco;
Bonoli, Fabrizio;
Gualandi, Andrea;
(2008)
A Short History of Two Nineteenth-Century German Instruments at the Bologna Observatory: The 16-cm Steinheil Refractor and the Ertel and Sohn Meridian Circle
Book
Gillespie, Richard;
(2011)
The Great Melbourne Telescope
Article
Bjorn Ragnvald Pettersen;
(2019)
Merz telescopes at the University Observatory in Christiania, Norway
Article
McAleer, John;
(2013)
“Stargazers at the World's End”: Telescopes, Observatories and “Views” of Empire in the Nineteenth-Century British Empire
Book
Ileana Chinnici;
(2018)
Merz Telescopes: A global heritage worth preserving
Chapter
Orchiston, Wayne;
(2016)
The ‘Cook’ Gregorian Telescope in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Book
Wayne Orchiston;
(2015)
Exploring the History of New Zealand Astronomy: Trials, Tribulations, Telescopes and Transits
Book
Massimo Bucciantini;
Franco Giudice;
Michele Camerota;
(2015)
Galileo's Telescope: A European Story
Chapter
Orchiston, Wayne;
(2016)
Joseph Ward: Pioneer New Zealand Telescope-Maker
Chapter
Orchiston, Wayne;
(2016)
The Wanganui Refractor and Its Remarkable English Equatorial Mounting
Article
Metz, Don;
(2009)
William Wales and the 1769 Transit of Venus: Puzzle Solving and the Determination of the Astronomical Unit
Book
Kurtz, D. W.;
(2005)
Transits of Venus: New Views of the Solar System and Galaxy
Article
Lingfeng Lu, ;
Huifang Li, ;
(2013)
Chinese Records of the 1874 Transit of Venus
Article
Stavinschi, M.;
(2012)
Romanian Astronomy and the 1874 Transit of Venus
Article
Kapoor, R. C.;
(2014)
Indian Astronomy and the Transits of Venus. 2: The 1874 Event
Book
Chauvin, Michael;
(2004)
Hōkūloa: The British 1874 Transit of Venus Expedition to Hawai'i
Article
Sheehan, William;
Misch, Anthony;
(2004)
Ménage à Trois: David Peck Todd, Mabel Loomis Todd, Austin Dickinson, and the 1882 Transit of Venus
Be the first to comment!