The 1882 transit of Venus, which took place on 6 December 1882 (13:57 to 20:15 UTC), was the second and last

transit of Venus frameless, upright=0.5 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 (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a trans ...

of the 19th century, the first having taken place eight years earlier in 1874. Many an expedition was sent by European powers to describe both episodes, eight of them alone were approved and financed in 1882 by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

Edward James Stone Edward James Stone (28 February 18316 May 1897) was an England, English astronomer. He was born in Notting Hill, London to Edward and Sarah Stone. Educated at the City of London School, he obtained a studentship at King's College London, and i ...

organized the British expeditions sent to observe the transit.

Stephen Joseph Perry Stephen Joseph Perry SJ FRS (26 August 1833, in London – 27 December 1889) was an English Jesuit and astronomer, known as a participant in scientific expeditions. Life He belonged to a well-known Catholic family. His schooling was firs ...

and Commander

Pelham Aldrich Admiral Pelham Aldrich, CVO (8 December 1844 – 12 November 1930) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer, who became Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth Docks. Biography He was born in Mildenhall, Suffolk, the son of Dr. Pelham Aldrich and El ...

, as captain of HMS , observed the transit from an improvised tent observatory in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Jean-Charles Houzeau Jean-Charles Houzeau de Lehaie (October 7, 1820 – July 12, 1888) was a Belgian astronomer and journalist. A French speaker, he moved to New Orleans after getting in trouble for his politics in Belgium. In the U.S. he continued his journalistic ...

invented in 1871 a

heliometer A heliometer (from Greek ἥλιος ''hḗlios'' "sun" and ''measure'') is an instrument originally designed for measuring the variation of the sun's diameter at different seasons of the year, but applied now to the modern form of the instrument ...

with unequal focal lengths. For the observation of the transit he organized two expeditions: one to

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, and another to

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. The two expeditions each had an identical copy of Houzeau's heliometer. Transit of Venus 1882

The

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

organized ten expeditions to various locations, including Florida, Mexico, Haiti,

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

, and

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

. For observations of the transit by French expeditions, for the year 1883 the French Academy of Sciences awarded nine

Lalande Prize The Lalande Prize (French: ''Prix Lalande'' also known as Lalande Medal) was an award for scientific advances in astronomy, given from 1802 until 1970 by the French Academy of Sciences. The prize was endowed by astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 180 ...

s 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 San Bernardo () is a city of Chile, part of the Greater Santiago conurbation. Administratively, it is a commune and the capital of the Maipo Province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Berna ...

), and the naval officer Georges-Ernest Fleuriais (leader of expedition to the coast of the province Santa Cruz in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

). The transit was observed from the United Kingdom by Samuel Cooper in Charminster and Roger Langdon at Silverton, both in Devon, and by W F Denning in Bristol. In Ireland by R S Ball, W Doberck and J L E Dreyer also saw it. The event was celebrated in music with the

Transit of Venus March The "Transit of Venus March" is a march scored for military brass band written by John Philip Sousa in 1883 to celebrate the 1882 Transit of Venus and published by the J.W. Pepper Company. The work was erroneously thought to be lost for over 10 ...

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

References

External links

1882 December 6, Venustransit, by Steven van Roode
{{Venus 1882 in science Transit of Venus December 1882 events