His celebrity was not, however, of such a
kind as the Royal Astronomer of Austria that he was ought to
enjoy. A not unimportant element in his fame was a suspicion of
his being a black sheep in the astronomical flock. He got under
this cloud through engaging in a trying and worthy enterprise. On
June 3, 1769, an event occurred which had for generations been
anticipated with the greatest interest by the whole astronomical
world. This was a transit of Venus over the disk of the sun. Our
readers doubtless know that at that time such a transit afforded
the most accurate method known of determining the distance of the
earth from the sun. To attain this object, parties were sent to
the most widely separated parts of the globe, not only over wide
stretches of longitude, but as near as possible to the two poles
of the earth. One of the most favorable and important regions of
observation was Lapland, and the King of Denmark, to whom that
country then belonged, interested himself in getting a party sent
thither. After a careful survey of the field he selected Father
Hell, Chief of the Observatory at Vienna, and well known as editor
and publisher of an annual ephemeris, in which the movements and
aspects of the heavenly bodies were predicted.
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