Download or read book Transits of Venus (IAU C196) written by International Astronomical Union. Colloquium and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-06-30 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: IAU C196 coincided with the 8 June 2004 transit of Venus, producing the exciting, eclectic mix that can be found in these proceedings: the amazing history of the English North-country astronomers of the seventeenth century; the AU at a precision of 1.4 m; the explanation for the infamous black drop effect; a possible Mayan observation of a transit of Venus in the thirteenth century; the vexed question of leap seconds and time scales; history, distances, parallaxes, the solar system at exquisite precision and future space missions that will revolutionise astronomy.