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Transits lose their sparkle

Mercury's crossing of the Sun leaves most pros unmoved.

Captain Cook left England's Plymouth harbour in 1768, bound for Tahiti so he could watch Venus pass in front of the Sun. He navigated across uncharted seas, arriving in 1769 to fulfil his mandate — to time the transit and so provide crucial data for calculating the size of the Universe.

Read the story here.

Posted by Nicola Jones on November 07, 2006
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