Credit: © The Royal Society
    Image number: RS.9605
    Looking for a special gift? Buy a print of this image.

    “Black drop” effect during the 1769 Transit of Venus

    Date
    12 June 1769
    Creator
    William Hirst (British) , Astronomer, Astronomer
    Object type
    Archive reference number
    Material
    Technique
    Dimensions
    height (print): 181mm
    width (print): 109mm
    Subject
    Content object
    space
       > Solar system
          > planet
             > Venus
    space
       > Solar system
          > Sun
    Description
    Views of the teardrop effect observed during transit as Venus is near the solar edge. Four figures of the event seen by Hirst using a 2-foot long reflecting telescope to x55 magnification. Inscribed in ink above “XI p.229”. Not signed.

    The illustration corresponds to figures 5-8 on plate 10 and 11 of the published paper “Account of several phaenomena observed during the Ingress of Venus into the solar disc” by William Hirst, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol.59 (1769) pp.228-235. However, there are no numbered figures on this print, in the manner of the Transactions version.
    Associated place
    <The World>
       > Europe
          > United Kingdom
    Powered by CollectionsIndex+/CollectionsOnline