Abstract
OBSERVATIONS OF THE TRANSIT OF MERCURY.—Several French astronomers made preparations for observing the recent transit of Mercury across the sun, but the weather conditions on the other side of the Channel were just as unfavourable as they were here. The current Comptes rendus contains a brief note on the transit, by M. Trouvelot. This observer saw Mercury projected upon the sun at 4h. 12m. The planet was sharply defined, and appeared as a circular, intensely black, spot on the luminous background of the sun. In spite of careful observation, M. Trouvelot was unable to detect any trace of a luminous ring such as he observed round the planet during the transit of 1878. The unfavourable conditions of observation, however, are sufficient to explain the absence of the phenomenon.
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 51, 85 (1894). https://doi.org/10.1038/051085a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/051085a0