Know how big the solar system is? Thank the Transit of Venus.
The universe is almost unimaginably big, but we've come a long way toward cutting it down to a size we can understand, owing in large part to a rare conjunction of the Earth, the Sun, and the planet Venus.invention of the telescope
You can even use your two index fingers in a line, one hand near to your face and the other outstretched as far as it goes, and close one eye, then the other. Your nearer finger will probably bounce from the left side of the farther finger to the right side of it and back again. This is parallax, and it was one of early astronomy's most powerful tools.
If the Sun were nearer to us but smaller, and if it were even further away than it is but many times its actual size, we wouldn't be able to tell the difference since they would appear the same apparent size. Without a single absolute figure to work with, the true scale of the solar system, the size of the Sun and the planets, and their distances from each other was frustratingly out of reach.
Considering the difficulty in seeing Mercury's ingress and egress from the solar disk, Halley determined that the Transit of Venus offered the best chance to record enough accurate data to make the calculations. Unfortunately for Halley, the next Transit of Venus was predicted for 1761, more than 80 years away. Halley was a young man at the time, but not so young that he had any real hope of making any observations himself.
"it is impossible to describe in this short article all the adventures of those who set out to observe the 1761 transit: of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon who set out for the East Indies, but hadn't so much as left the English channel when their ship was attacked by a French warship, leaving 11 dead and 37 wounded; of the Frenchman Chappe who traveled 1500 miles across Russia to Tobolsk by horse-drawn sleigh, once having to round up his deserting guides at gunpoint; of the Frenchman...
日本 最新ニュース, 日本 見出し
Similar News:他のニュース ソースから収集した、これに似たニュース記事を読むこともできます。
Venus and Jupiter shine together over Rome (photo)The ancient city had temples dedicated to the pagan gods associated with these planets.
続きを読む »
Archbishop of Canterbury addresses reconciliation during service in Saskatchewan“That is the tragedy of residential schools, the mystery of no one objecting, the mystery of no one saying, ‘This is outrageous,’ the addiction to process over…
続きを読む »
The Untold Story of the White House’s Record CollectionJimmy Carter’s grandson, John Chuldenko, is unlocking White House mysteries. The record collection is an archive of the nation's music taste back in the 70's.
続きを読む »
The power and purpose of patentsPoliticians have the incentive to take the shorter-run view that patents restrict growth and innovation because of terms, writes CharlesSauer. 'Regardless, history is clear. Patents are good for America and good for its people.'
続きを読む »
With 'Anna: The Biography,' Amy Odell Demystifies One of Fashion's Greatest FiguresOver the past three decades, Anna Wintour has been the subject of many a gossip column, and become a pop culture icon in her own right. But very little has been known about the woman behind the sunglasses — until now.
続きを読む »