With the nearing of another
'Transit of Venus' it is time to recollect the event on the Thames Goldfields, many years past. Of course it would remiss not to mention the earlier event that brought Captain James Cook to our shores in 1769.
In 1874, a man named
H A SEVERN, used good old kiwi ingenuity, to make a telescope to view the event. Some details on this are above and the full article explains more.
Later the paper publishes full details on the planet and its wonders, plus the calendar of the cycles for viewing the transits. Disappointment filled the hearts of the local folk alas, as the day was cloudy and dull and there were no successful reports from the
'Thames observatory.' A full account of the day as seen from
Professor SEVE(R)N's observatory were supplied to the
Thames Star 16/12/1874.
The early Thames-ites didn't have to wait long, in 1882 the excitement was approaching again.
(Thames Star 2/12/1882) The weather was much better for this event and successful sightings occurred.
