Carr House
On 24 November 1639 a young man called Jeremiah Horrocks was the first man to view a transit of Venus, from Carr House in Much Hoole, a small village near Preston. He had re-calculated the astronomical tables and was the only person to realise that a transit would occur in 1639. Since Horrocks viewed the event there have only been four more transits of Venus. On June 8th we will be going to Carr House, to the very room from which Horrocks viewed the transit 365 years ago.

Royal Observatory Greenwich
In 1716, Edmond Halley realised that the distance to the Sun from Earth could be calculated by taking measurements of the duration of the transit of Venus at locations of different latitudes. In 1720 he became the second Astronomer Royal at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Unlike 1639 when only Horrocks and his friend William Crabtree were able to view the transit, in 1761 the whole astronomical world was mobilised and expeditions were shipped off to distant lands to view the transit and calculate the distance to the Sun. The Royal Observatory was heavily involved in these expeditions, so it is of great historical significance that the Stardate mission control will be based here.

Sharm El Sheikh
Scientific expeditions of the 18th and 19th centuries travelled far and wide to view the transit. This year it is not a government sponsored expedition of scientists and astronomers that is travelling to Egypt, but a group of amateur enthusiasts going to enjoy a transit holiday on the edge of the Sinai Desert. The distance to the Sun can now be much more accurately calculated using radar, so these holiday makers are going to be guaranteed the opportunity to see the transit. Sharm El Sheikh has experienced rain only twice in the past seven years, lasting for less than an hour on each occasion, so astronomers are hoping it will be blue skies on the day to see the transit. Let's just hope for clear skies back in Blighty!

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