Abstract
BRAZILIAN RESULTS FROM THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.—M. Cruls, in a note to the Paris Académie des Sciences, states that the reports of the various expeditions sent out by the Brazilian Government to observe the transit of Venus in 1882 are almost entirely printed, and will shortly appear. Three stations were occupied, viz. S. Thomas in the Antilles, Olinda in Brazil, and Punta-Arenas in the Straits of Magellan. The Baron de Teffé was in command of the first expedition; M. J. d'O. Lacaille of the second, and M. Cruls himself of the third. The duration of the transit at Punta-Arenas was nearly the mean duration, both ingress and egress being slightly accelerated. The two more northern stations had the duration much shortened, ingress being retarded, and. egress accelerated. The chief observer at each station was supplied with an equatorial of 6.3 inches aperture; and at S. Thomas two other telescopes of 4.5 and 4.1 inches respectively were also used. At Olinda likewise there was a second telescope in use, of 4.5 inches aperture. The method of projection was employed in order to get rid of the physiological effects produced by the intensity of the solar light, and in combining the observations made with telescopes of different apertures, weights were given to them proportional to the square of the diameters of the object-glasses, in accordance with the results obtained from the experiments of MM. Wolf and André. The resulting parallax from the internal contacts is 8″·808.
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 37, 233–234 (1888). https://doi.org/10.1038/037233a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/037233a0