1874 Transit of Venus Expedition to Hawaii

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/1874-transit-of-venus-expedition-to-hawaii

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the expedition year?1874
2. What is the organizing body?Royal Observatory, Greenwich, under the direction of Astronomer Royal George Biddell Airy

Transit of Venus: An astronomical event where Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, appearing as a small, dark silhouette against the Sun's disk.
Astronomical Unit (AU): The standard unit of distance in astronomy, defined as the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, approximately 149.6 million kilometers.
Solar Parallax: The apparent shift in the position of the Sun when viewed from two different points on Earth, used to calculate its distance.
Black Drop Effect: An optical illusion observed during transits of Venus and Mercury, where the planet appears to distort and cling to the Sun's edge.