1882 transit of Venus

{{Short description|Astronomical event}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

File:1882 transit of venus.jpg

The 1882 transit of Venus on 6 December 1882 (13:57 to 20:15 UTC), was the second and last transit of Venus of the 19th century, the first having taken place eight years earlier in 1874. Many expeditions were sent by European powers to describe both episodes, eight by the United States Congress alone. {{cite web |url=http://aas.org/archives/BAAS/v27n4/aas187/S035002.html |title=The American Transit of Venus Expeditions of 1882, Including San Antonio |publisher=Aas.org |access-date=7 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212432/http://aas.org/archives/BAAS/v27n4/aas187/S035002.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}

Edward James Stone organized the British expeditions. Stephen Joseph Perry and Commander Pelham Aldrich, as captain of HMS {{HMS|Fawn|1856|2}}, observed the transit from an improvised tent observatory in Madagascar.[https://ras.ac.uk/library/about-the-library2e45 Transits of Venus, 1874 & 1882, Royal Astronomical Society]

Jean-Charles Houzeau invented in 1871 a heliometer with unequal focal lengths. For the observation of the transit he organized two expeditions: one to San Antonio, Texas, and another to Santiago de Chile. The two expeditions each had an identical copy of Houzeau's heliometer.{{cite web|author=Sterken, Christiaan|title=Jean-Charles Houzeau and the 1882 Belgian Transit of Venus Expeditions|url=http://www.vub.ac.be/STER/JAD/JAD19/jad19_1/jad19_1q.pdf}}

File:Transit of Venus 1882.jpg

The French Academy of Sciences organized ten expeditions to various locations, including Florida, Mexico, Haiti, Martinique, and Cape Horn.[http://www.amphilsoc.org/mole/view?docId=ead/Mss.B.F63-ead.xml Passage de Vénus, Mission de Santa Cruz (Patagonie), Photograph Album, American Philosophical Society] For observations of the transit by French expeditions, for the year 1883 the French Academy of Sciences awarded nine Lalande Prizes 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), and the naval officer Georges-Ernest Fleuriais (leader of expedition to the coast of the province Santa Cruz in Patagonia).{{cite journal|title=LES LAURÉATS DU PRIX LALANDE|journal=La Revue scientifique|volume=TOME 40|year=1887|location=Paris|pages=460–463|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=biIgAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA460}}[http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/past-transits/1882-december-6/ 1882 December 6, Venustransit, by Steven van Roode] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209183404/http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/past-transits/1882-december-6/ |date=9 December 2014 }}

The transit was observed from the United Kingdom by Samuel Cooper in Charminster and Roger Langdon at Silverton, both in Devon,{{Cite web|last=|date=2012-03-04|title=Samuel Cooper 1882 ToV photos|url=https://www.rasc.ca/samuel-cooper-1882-tov-photos|access-date=2021-05-30|website=RASC|language=en}}{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_nature-uk_1882-12-14_27_685 |title=Nature 1882-12-14: Vol 27 Iss 685 |date=1882-12-14 |publisher=Nature Publishing Group |via=Internet Archive |language=English}} and by W F Denning in Bristol.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_nature-uk_1882-12-14_27_685 |title=Nature 1882-12-14: Vol 27 Iss 685 |date=1882-12-14 |publisher=Nature Publishing Group |via=Internet Archive |language=English}} In Ireland by R S Ball,{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_nature-uk_1882-12-14_27_685 |title=Nature 1882-12-14: Vol 27 Iss 685 |date=1882-12-14 |publisher=Nature Publishing Group |via=Internet Archive |language=English}} W Doberck and J L E Dreyer also saw it.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_nature-uk_1882-12-14_27_685 |title=Nature 1882-12-14: Vol 27 Iss 685 |date=1882-12-14 |publisher=Nature Publishing Group |via=Internet Archive |language=English}}

The event was celebrated in music with the Transit of Venus March by John Philip Sousa.