Abstract
AN indirect result of the recent Transit of Venus has been the revival of a nearly forgotten but not uninteresting speculation as to the possible existence of a satellite accompanying her. Nothing of the kind was observed on the late occasion, but the planet's path was so far from central that an attendant might readily have remained outside the solar disc; and therefore, though the negative evidence, if it had required additional strength, would have received it from this non-appearance, it would not have been rendered absolutely conclusive on that ground alone; and, so far as the Transit is concerned, there is still room for an essay like that before us, which, previous in composition though subsequently published, advocates the affirmative opinion. That opinion, after so many years of additional observation since Lambert's memoir in 1777, is not likely to find favour with astronomers now, and certainly will not be established by the present treatise. It is an unpleasant task to express any other than a favourable estimate of any work undertaken with a view to enlarge the boundary of knowledge; but in the present instance it is unavoidable. There is, indeed, a very considerable accumulation of historical matter, and there are some pleasant anecdotes, and a few valuable and little known facts; but the materials of some portions at least are neither complete nor accurate; the pretermission of recent discoveries—especially spectroscopic—is sometimes simply unaccountable; and the hypotheses occasionally partake of an extravagance that outstrips all probability. The subject is, however, as has been remarked, not devoid of some interest, nor, to say the truth, disentangled from some perplexity of an obstinate character; and it is worthy of a more satisfactory elucidation, which might be comprised in a narrow compass, as its literature is not extensive. A few remarks only can be attempted here.
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WEBB, T. The Satellite of Venus 1 . Nature 14, 193–195 (1876). https://doi.org/10.1038/014193a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/014193a0