History of Astronomy – Jeremiah Horrocks and the First Transit of Venus, by Mike Frost – ONLINE
March 16, 2021 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
On Sunday 24th November, 1639, Jeremiah Horrocks observed a Transit of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun, from Much Hoole, a village south of Preston, Lancashire, England. Horrocks and his friend William Crabtree, observing from Salford, Lancashire, were the only people to see the first ever observed Transit of Venus. Horrocks had successfully predicted an event that nobody else knew was going to happen. To see the Transit, Horrocks had to overcome the vagaries of Lancastrian weather; whilst giving due to attention to “greater things, which it was certainly not proper to neglect for these subordinate pursuits”, at St Michael’s church, Much Hoole.
Mike has a few things in common with Jeremiah Horrocks. They’re both astronomers; both grew up in Lancashire; both have (had) relatives in Rhode Island, America. They both attended Emmanuel College in Cambridge (as did a surprising number of other historical characters, some of whom knew Jeremiah). This lecture is a guided tour through Jeremiah Horrocks’s brief, extraordinary life.
Mike lives in Warwickshire, England and is a Systems Engineer working in the steel industry. In his spare time, he is an astronomer and has chased eclipses and visited astronomical sites worldwide.
Mike is a member of Coventry and Warwickshire Astronomy Society , The Society for the History of Astronomy, The British Astronomical Association and The Royal Astronomical Society.
He writes Astronomy related articles and give talks to societies around the UK (and beyond!).
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