Oxford witnessed an astronomical spectacle not seen in living
memory when Venus crossed the face of Sun last Tuesday. Earth’s closest planetary neighbour became visible as a
black dot on the Sun’s surface at 6.19am for the first time
in 122 years. The University’s Museum of the History of
Science and the Hanwell Community Observatory set up special
equipment, such as telescopes fitted with solar filters, in the
University Parks, where the transit could be viewed by members of
the public from ten to twelve o’clock. Viewing was aided by
good weather and relatively clear skies. Other events planned to mark the transit included an
exhibition entitled ‘The most noble problem in nature’,
about how astronomers hoped to use the event to measure the size
of the solar system, as well as a play at the Burton-Taylor based
on records from the last transit in 1874. The next transit
visible from Britain will be in 2247.ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004
243 years until our next black dot
