The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-11-02
The Transit OF Venus.

On the 9th Of December will occrr an
event Of utmost Importance TO tho os.
Economical world-the transit of Venus
across the face Of the sun; and all civil.
lied countries will send out scientific
parties to take observations. The United
States alone has undertaken To comm
eight parties -S75, 600 having been an.
proprlated for the expeditions by Con-
gress-and Of these four are TO sail far
foreign stations, at tho Cape of Good
Hope, New Zealand, Patagonia and
Chilli. The other four will take obseryo.
tIons at Washington, at San Antonio
Texas, at Cedar Keys and at Fort Tborne
New Mexico.
The Importance of the event il partly
due to it's rarity, The last transit was
on December 8, 1874 eight years ago
but the next one will not take place un.
til June 7, A. ID. 2O04. Transits occur
always Ill pairs, with an interval Of eight
years between the two transits. But The
interval between the pairs is vast. There
are only four transits to every period of
two hundred and twenty-five wears.
Their periodicity is so we'll known that
the date OF future transits, and even the
hour and minute. has already been cal.
cuIated to the 30th century of our era.
Thus we know that in the SOth century
OF the Christian era the first transit wifi
occur on the 18th of June, 1916, Mt pre.
ciseiy twenty.three minutes aud thirty
seconds past nine in the morning, and be
OF short duration while the second will
occur on June l4th, 1884, at two minutes
and twenty-five seconds past three in the
afternoon, and will last for seven hours
and fifty.two minutes. Tho interval be.
tween transit pairs is 1881 years, plus or
minus eight years.
Ihe great intrinsic Importance Of the
transit is, OF course, in the fact that it
ai0rds The most certain means Of aecar-
tanning the exact distance between the
earth and the sun. in the previous calcu.
lation OF which there still remains a DOS i.
s:h!e e::c. of half d million miles. BE.
sldes this method there are five other
rays oi calculating the suns distance :
firat, by the swiftness of light second,
by the alteration Of light during tele.
scopic observations; third. by the move.
ment Of the moon; fourth, by the mass
of the planets fifth, by the opposition
of Mars, Flora, etc. The result of all six
methods combined yields very nearly the
came figures. The present transit NAV.
under favorable conditions, give us such
positive aud precise results, that there
will no longer be any doubt as to the
distance of the sun.
IT all the planets moved with equal
speed such phenomena would never oc.
cur, or would assume permanent form.
Venus would either appear continually
like bright moth between the earth and
the sun, or she would never cross his
flaming disc before our eyes. But the
comparative swiftness Of the planets in
their course is very different. While the
earth moves with n velocity about seven
ty:hve times greater than that of rifle
ball, Mercury travels one hundred and
seventeen times more swiftly-and while
the earth makes Gas, 900 leagues day,
Venus travels 10000, and Mercury
900, or 3,036, 900 miles. It's when
Venus, pursuing the earth in her race
around the sun, overtakes her and passes
by, that the transit occurs.