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YIII.— NOTES OF TRANSIT OF VENUS, AS SEEN AT THE 

 CRAWFORD OBSERVATORY, UTJEEN'S COLLEGE, 

 CORK, 6th DEC, 1882. By iPROFESSOR ENGLAND. 



Communicated by Howard Grubb, p.e.s.a. 



[Read, December 18, 1882.] 



The time was taken by chronometer set to Greenwich time, and 

 checked by the signal gun at 1 o'clock of the day of the transit, the 

 proper allowance being made for the time occupied in the trans- 

 mission of the report. The 'observations were made with the 

 8-inch refractor, furnished with polarizing eye-piece. The field 

 of view was by this contracted to about 5' diameter. 



The telescope was directed to the sun at about 1^ 30"^, and 

 adjusted so that the E. limb of the sun bisected the field of view, 

 and the planet should appear near the middle. *A few minutes 

 before the calculated time of contact my attention was altogether 

 directed to the dark part of the field, hoping to see Yenus before 

 contact. In this respect I think the limited field was an advantage ; 

 • but no appearance whatever was observed until after 2^ 2"^, when 

 a slight notch was observed on the sun's limb very near the centre 

 of the field. It took a few seconds before I could be absolutely 

 certain of this, on account of the apparent undulatory motion on 

 the sun's edge. The observation may therefore be considered of 

 710 value as regards time of contact. The planet gradually ad- 

 vanced on the sun — the disc beautifully defined — until it had 

 somewhat more than half entered on the sun's disc, when the part 

 without the sun became visible, the eastern edge being distinctly 

 luminous, very similar to what is seen in the moon a few days after 

 new moon, except, of course, the planet was much darker than the 

 moon, no difference being apparent between the part on the sun's 

 disc and that without it, except near the eastern edge. The cusps 

 now gradually approached, and at 2^ 21°^ 51^ I signalled to my 

 assistant to register the time. It was notj however, until twenty 

 seconds after, viz. 2^ 22"^ 11^, that I felt satisfied of contact, and 

 the limb of the sun was only clearly visible outside the planet at 



