The 243rd anniversary of Captain Cook's observation of the transit of Venus

Date: Friday 18 May 2012
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Location: Room 701, Rutherford Building
Contact: For further information regarding this event, please contact Rosalie Reilly by sending email to rosalie.reilly@canterbury.ac.nz or by calling 7404
Audience: The general public

William Tobin
Vannes, France
(William is in New Zealand thanks to support from the
Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa)

The 243rd anniversary of Captain Cook's observation of the transit of Venus

We tend to favour round numbers when celebrating anniversaries, but when transits of Venus are concerned, there is no anniversary like the 243rd. Why is this? Indeed, what is a transit of Venus? Why was Cook sent half-way around the world to observe the one on 3 June 1769 from Tahiti? Why did the British, French, Germans and Americans send half a dozen scientific expeditions to New Zealand to observe the 19th-century transits in 1874 and 1882? Are transits of Venus still of any scientific interest? Why, 243 years after Cook, should we look out for the final transit of this century, on June 6? And where does Léon Foucault (of pendulum fame) fit into all this?

Biography
William was an academic staff member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Canterbury for 20 years from 1987. He was involved in many astronomical activities in the Department, including a number of years as Director of Mt John University Observatory and was instrumental in the development of the use of CCD detectors for imaging and spectroscopy. He also has a passion for the historical perspective of things astronomical, including arranging celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Townsend Telescope at the Arts Centre of Christchurch.