A Voyage to Vardø – A Scientific Account of an Unscientific Expedition
(2013) In Journal of Astronomical Data 19(1). p.203-232- Abstract
- After the “Venus Transit Conference” that took place at the University
of Tromsø from June 2 to June 3, 2012, participants were given the opportunity to
either stay in Tromsø until the night of June 5–6, or to participate in a voyage to
Finnmark, where the historical sites Vardø, Hammerfest, and the North Cape were
to be visited. This voyage culminated in the observation of the 2012 transit of Venus
at Vardø.
This paper gives a detailed account of this voyage that lasted from June 3 to June
6, and emphasizes the historical, scientific, philosophical, educational and cultural
involvement of the participants of the voyage and of the local population.
The paper... (More) - After the “Venus Transit Conference” that took place at the University
of Tromsø from June 2 to June 3, 2012, participants were given the opportunity to
either stay in Tromsø until the night of June 5–6, or to participate in a voyage to
Finnmark, where the historical sites Vardø, Hammerfest, and the North Cape were
to be visited. This voyage culminated in the observation of the 2012 transit of Venus
at Vardø.
This paper gives a detailed account of this voyage that lasted from June 3 to June
6, and emphasizes the historical, scientific, philosophical, educational and cultural
involvement of the participants of the voyage and of the local population.
The paper concludes with reflections on the prime condition for success of any
of the Venus transit expeditions of the past: the weather must cooperate in the
first place – not only during the quarter of a day of the transit, but also during the
preceding weeks and months in order to allow the explorers to rightly determine their
geographic positions and correctly set their clocks. The latter factor is no longer an
issue nowadays, but the weather aspect remains today a limiting factor as much as
it was 250 years ago.
Despite the variable and partly clouded weather at Vardø during the time of the
transit, the participants of this expedition were able to observe Venus in front of
the Sun – with interruptions due to quickly moving clouds – between 4.30 a.m. and
the fourth contact at 06:53:20 a.m. A large number of impressive, partly ‘dramatic’
photographs have been taken especially in this time interval. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4196098
- author
- Sterken, Christiaan ; Pippin Aspaas, Per ; Dunér, David LU ; Kontler, László ; Neul, Reinhard ; Pekonen, Osmo and Posch, Thomas
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Journal of Astronomical Data
- volume
- 19
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 203 - 232
- ISSN
- 1385-3945
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 70582b22-198c-445c-92ec-830d3a9a74eb (old id 4196098)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 09:09:28
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 20:51:09
@article{70582b22-198c-445c-92ec-830d3a9a74eb, abstract = {{After the “Venus Transit Conference” that took place at the University<br/><br> of Tromsø from June 2 to June 3, 2012, participants were given the opportunity to<br/><br> either stay in Tromsø until the night of June 5–6, or to participate in a voyage to<br/><br> Finnmark, where the historical sites Vardø, Hammerfest, and the North Cape were<br/><br> to be visited. This voyage culminated in the observation of the 2012 transit of Venus<br/><br> at Vardø.<br/><br> This paper gives a detailed account of this voyage that lasted from June 3 to June<br/><br> 6, and emphasizes the historical, scientific, philosophical, educational and cultural<br/><br> involvement of the participants of the voyage and of the local population.<br/><br> The paper concludes with reflections on the prime condition for success of any<br/><br> of the Venus transit expeditions of the past: the weather must cooperate in the<br/><br> first place – not only during the quarter of a day of the transit, but also during the<br/><br> preceding weeks and months in order to allow the explorers to rightly determine their<br/><br> geographic positions and correctly set their clocks. The latter factor is no longer an<br/><br> issue nowadays, but the weather aspect remains today a limiting factor as much as<br/><br> it was 250 years ago.<br/><br> Despite the variable and partly clouded weather at Vardø during the time of the<br/><br> transit, the participants of this expedition were able to observe Venus in front of<br/><br> the Sun – with interruptions due to quickly moving clouds – between 4.30 a.m. and<br/><br> the fourth contact at 06:53:20 a.m. A large number of impressive, partly ‘dramatic’<br/><br> photographs have been taken especially in this time interval.}}, author = {{Sterken, Christiaan and Pippin Aspaas, Per and Dunér, David and Kontler, László and Neul, Reinhard and Pekonen, Osmo and Posch, Thomas}}, issn = {{1385-3945}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{1}}, pages = {{203--232}}, series = {{Journal of Astronomical Data}}, title = {{A Voyage to Vardø – A Scientific Account of an Unscientific Expedition}}, volume = {{19}}, year = {{2013}}, }