In 1769 Lieutenant James Cook traveled to Tahiti
to observe the transit of Venus which occurred on Saturday June 3 rd:
“This day prov'd as
favourable to our purpose as we could wish, not a Clowd was to be seen the
Whole day and the Air was perfectly clear, so that we had every advantage we
could desire in Observing the whole of the passage of the Planet Venus over the
Suns disk: we very distinctly saw an Atmosphere or dusky shade round the body
of the Planet which very much disturbed the times of the contacts particularly
the two internal ones. D r Solander observed as well as M r Green and my self,
and we differ'd from one another in observeing the times of the Contacts much
more than could be expected.”
The goal was to take measurements that would be used to calculate
the distance of Venus from the Sun--which would then lead to knowing the
distances of the other planets from each other. Unfortunately the instruments
of the time were not fine enough for the effort and the measurements were too
rough to be useful. But Cook’s voyage of discovery continued and he continued
on in search of the “Terra Australis Incognita” in the South Pacific Ocean and discovered
and charted the east coast of Australia.
We learned this (and much, much more) after making landfall
at Point Venus in Tahiti, anchoring where Cook
did. It was part of what Maia called, “Sleeping where Cook slept. Can we stop
now? Cook is getting on my nerves… I’m ready for a new topic.”
Point Venus though intrigued her. The low,
sandy peninsula covered with ironwood is where Captains Wallis, Cook, Bligh
(and us!!) landed after anchoring their (our!) ships behind the reef. Cook built
a platform on the black sand beach near where a creek cuts the
peninsula in two. It was here that he waited for an inky spot to glide across
the sun. Small, dark, almost perfectly round, it was no ordinary sunspot—it
was the key to measuring
the size of the solar system. Or so hoped the Royal Academy,
which sponsored Cook’s Voyage.
These
days Point Venus is a park. And its highlights also include Tomb of King Pomare V and the phare (lighthouse) that was built
by Thomas Stevenson, one of Scotland's
famous lighthouse engineers and father of the author Robert Louis Stevenson. The park is
steeped in the kind of history that’s impossible not to feel and not easy to
shake off.
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| Point Venus |
And
it came seeping back when we learned that Venus is
transiting the sun, tomorrow. Not as dramatic as an eclipse—but much more rare,
perhaps the best reason to watch the transit is a historical one. Already I can
recall the heavy scent of tiare flowers, the weight of warm humidity, the
feeling of black sand between my toes and that mysterious feeling of being
linked to a memory I can’t quite recall.
Tomorrow is the transit of Venus. Check it out--just likeCook did 242 years ago. If you miss it the next one won’t happen until 2117.
