Point Venus
{{Short description|Peninsula in Mahina, Tahiti}}
File:Tahiti, French Polynesia - NASA Earth Observatory.jpg
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| image1 = Point Venus Lighthouse, Tahiti (LMS, 1869, p.).jpg
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| caption2 = The lighthouse in 2017
| image2 = Point Venus lighthouse, Tahiti, 2017.jpg
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| caption1 = Point Venus Lighthouse, Tahiti (LMS, 1869, p.){{cite book|editor1-last=London Missionary Society|title=Fruits of Toil in the London Missionary Society|date=1869|publisher=John Snow & Co.|location=London|page=12|url=https://archive.org/details/fruitsoftoilinth17115gut|accessdate=12 September 2016}}
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Point Venus is a peninsula on the north coast of Tahiti, the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia. It is in the commune of Mahina, approximately 8 km east of the capital, Pape'ete. It lies at the northeast end of Matavai Bay.
History
A primary objective of James Cook's first voyage, in {{HMS|Endeavour||2}}, was to observe the 1769 Transit of Venus from the South Pacific. Tahiti, recently visited by Samuel Wallis in {{HMS|Dolphin|1751|2}}, was chosen for the observations. Cook anchored in Matavai Bay on 12 April 1769 and established an observatory, and a fortified camp called "Fort Venus", at Te Auroa, which they named "Point Venus".{{cite book|last1=Salmond|first1=Anne|title=Aphrodite's Island|date=2010|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520261143|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/141 141,147,150]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/141}}
{{Coord|17|29|44|S|149|29|40|W|type:landmark_region:PF|display=title}}