Transit of Venus Observed Worldwide
June 6, 1761
Astronomers from Siberia to St. Helena trained telescopes on the sun as Venus crossed its disc - trying, per Halley's old scheme, to measure the solar system. Clouds foiled many; French observers in India were caught by the war. The century's first great international scientific collaboration still produced real numbers.
In context
Also in 1761 (3 other events on record)
- Third Battle of Panipat · South Asia · War
- Harrison's H4 Marine Chronometer Tested · Europe · Science
- Rousseau's Julie, or the New Héloïse · Europe · Culture
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Science
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.