Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-09-07
PREPARATIONS PoR gHE TRANSIT OF
VENUS

! on the 9th Of next December the astron.
omers OF the civilized world will have an
opportunity to observe for the last time IN
thelr hves Venus on the suns disk. The
neXe time that tie transit will be visible
| VIII De IN the year 1904. After the coming
transit Is over the members OF the expedi-
tions OF astronomers will make their OBJ.
serVations, which will occupy some months.
venus Is now growing more brilliant every
evening. Through the autumn she will
continue to grow more and more brilliant.
until she appears as thin crescent, silver
DOW. Then she will disappear as star, to
reappear on the Oh of December as black
DOT on the suE. The transit will be OBJ
served IN Western and Central Europe,
North and South America and Australia,
and thousands OF telescopes will be trained
upon the sun from public and private OBJ
servatorles. Observations will be taken in
TINS country at Cedar Keys, Fla; San An
tonic, Tex, and Fort Thorne, N. NJ. There
VIII be tour foreign stations, namely Cape
| OF Good Hope; Santa Cruz. Patagonia
Santiago, Chile, and one in New Zealand.
The party for the latter station will start
out hrse ard expect to leave about the lst
OF September. 1t will be in charge of Ed
WIZ Smith, of the United States Coast Sur
~ WV hao lCI oil asslSb6uL 1IOiGSSGT
Pntchett, of Washington University, st.
Louis. The party for Patagonia will leave
| about the same time and will be sta
toned near the mouth Of the Chico river.
Lieutenant S. W. Very, United States
Navy, will be in charge of this party, with
.. b. Wheeler as assistant and William
Bel, of Philadelphia, and Irbin Stanley, OF
Carmel, Ind, assistant photographer. The
two other parties for foreign stations will
| start about the middle of September. The
one going to Santiago, Chiie, will be in
| charge OF Prof Lewis Boss, of the Dudley
Observatory, Albany, n. Y. Miles Rock,
OF tho Naval Observatory, will be assist.
ant astronomer, and I. Marceau, of Canaan.
daigua, n. Y, chief photographer and
Gustav Theilkuhl, of Philadeiphis, assist.
ant photographer, The other party, under
| the charge of Prof. Simon Newcomb. the
Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac,
will go to the Cape of Good Hope Lieu.
tenant Thomas L. Casey, Jr., U. S. A,
will be assistant astronomer: Julius Ulke.
of Philadelphia, principal photographer,
and Ensign Holcomb, U. S. N. assistant
| photographer. the partieg fer the stations
iE the United States will not start until
the middle OF October, and the personnel
has not been agreed upon as yet. Professor
Hall will have charge of the party at San
Antonio, Tex; Professor Eastman at Cedar
Keys, Fla; Professor Davidson aE Fort
Thorne, N. NJ, and Professor Hardness
the one in this city.
| An apparatus similar to that which will
be employed at all the stations has heen
erected at the Washington Observatory,
and the practice of photographing the sun
has bean made familiar to all those who
are members OF the parties. This appara-
tus consists OF a long shed, having e. one
end photographing lens and a heliostas,
which turns the rays of the sun and throws
them horizontally into small frame house
at the other end OF the shed, where the
photograph IL made. With the exception
of this apparatus, which ia very simple.
and is to be erected by the parties upon
their arrival at their destinations, no equip
ment of instruments is needed. A small
equatorial telescope will be taken along to
observe the contacts-the beginning and
the end OF the transit. Congress appropri.
| ated SI5 OC0 20 equip the different parties,
30 that there will be 10 lack Of funds. The
foreign Governments will, it is understood
at Washington, send ont parties to observe
the transit as follows The French will send
| an expedition to Santa Cruz, Patagonia,
and Will also have stations in Florida. The
Belgiaus will have one station in San An.
tonic, Texas, and another at Santiago,
Chile. The Germans will have two sta
lions at Santa Cruz, one at Hartford, Conn,
and one at Aiken, s. c. The English will
have one at Cape of Good Hope and one on
the islands of Madagascar, New Zealand
and Australia. The English southern sta
tons will be in the West Indies.-[N. Y.
| Telegram, August 25th.