What would Captain Cook think of this?

Fortifications around the observation tent in Tahiti, 1769

My setup, 2012

Google Plus party

For a while now I have been waiting for this years Transit of Venus. Research was completed, welding filters purchased and then the clouds rolled in. Typical of any major astronomical event.

The transit is important to me as in 1769 Lieutenant James Cook sailed to the newly discovered island of Tahiti to observe the transit and help measure the distance from the Earth to the Sun. After the transit he opened sealed orders to search for the great southern land. He did not find this mythical land however he did find and extensively map New Zealand and the East coast of Australia.

Today despite the clouds all was not lost, via Twitter I found a bunch of astronomers in the US hosting a Venus Hangout online in Google Plus. For 6 hours I was entertained with stories and images from people all over the US. Sharing their images of the transit, what equipment there where using and even fence posts, mountains and clouds blocking their view. In one location a squirrel was sitting on a window ledge intently watching the telescope like it was observing. The NASA webcam had 1.9 million people watching.

So what would Cook make of this?

It took him 7.5 months to sail to the other side of the world and 2 months to set up the Point Venus observatory. Contrast that with 243 years later and I sat online in my room at a party with about 6,000 other people from around the world observing the transit. 

The next transit is in 105 years and I won’t be around for that one. Who knows what technology will exist by then.