Jeremiah Horrocks making the first observation of the transit of Venus in 1639

Jeremiah Horrocks (1618 – January 3, 1641), sometimes given as Jeremiah Horrox, was an English astronomer who was the only person to predict, and one of only two people to observe and record, the transit of Venus of 1639. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events The Long Parliament passes a series of legislation designed to contain Charles Is absolutist tendencies. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a person whose area of interest is astronomy or astrophysics. ... The 2004 transit of Venus A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, obscuring a small portion of the Suns disk. ...

Horrocks was born in Lower Lodge, Otterspool in Toxteth Park, near Liverpool, Lancashire. His father was a small farmer; his uncle was a watchmaker; he was relatively poor during his entire brief life. He joined Emmanuel College on May 11, 1632 and matriculated as a member of the University of Cambridge on July 5, 1632 as a sizar. In 1635 he left without formally graduating, presumably due to the cost of continuing his studies. The traditional view is that he supported himself financially by holding a curacy in Much Hoole, near Preston in Lancashire, but there is little evidence for this. According to local tradition in Much Hoole, he lived at Carr House, a substantial property owned by the Stones family who were prosperous farmers and merchants, and was a tutor for the Stones children. He may have been a Calvinist and, through his connection with Emmanuel College, a Puritan, although there is little evidence of his religious convictions. Location within the British Isles. ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... For other uses, see Farmer (disambiguation). ... A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. ... of the Emmanuel College College name Emmanuel College Named after Jesus Christ (Emmanuel) Established 1584 Location St Andrews Street Admittance Men and women Master The Lord Wilson of Dinton Undergraduates 500 Graduates 100 Sister college Exeter College, Oxford College Website Boat Club Wesite Emmanuel front court and the Wren... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... See also: 1632 (novel) Events February 22 - Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published July 23 - 300 colonists for New France depart Dieppe November 8 - Wladyslaw IV Waza elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after Zygmunt III Waza death November 16 - Battle of Lützen... Look up matriculation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... See also: 1632 (novel) Events February 22 - Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published July 23 - 300 colonists for New France depart Dieppe November 8 - Wladyslaw IV Waza elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after Zygmunt III Waza death November 16 - Battle of Lützen... In the 19th century, a sizar was one of a body of students in the universities of Cambridge and Dublin, who, having passed a certain examination, are exempted from paying college fees and charges. ... From the Latin curatus (compare Curator), a curate is a person who is invested with the care, or cure (cura), of souls of a parish. ... Much Hoole is a small village on the outskirts of Preston, Lancashire. ... This article is about Preston, Lancashire. ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... Stone can refer to any of the following: Stone may be used as a building material, as in this dry stone wall A rock. ... In an unadorned church, the 17th century congregation stands to hear the sermon. ... For the record label, see Puritan Records. ...

At Cambridge, he became familiar with the works of Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and others. Horrocks read most of the astronomical treatises of his day, found the weaknesses in them and was suggesting new lines of research by the age of seventeen. He was the first to demonstrate that the Moon moved in an elliptical path around the Earth, he wrote a treatise on Keplerian astronomy and began to explore mathematically the properties of the force that later became known as gravity. Sir Isaac Newton acknowledged Horrocks's work as the bridge which connected him with Copernicus, Galileo, Brahe and Kepler.^[1] Horrocks was convinced that Lansberg's tables were inaccurate when Kepler predicted that a near-miss of a transit of Venus would occur in 1639. Horrocks believed that the transit would indeed occur, having made his own observations of Venus for years.- Kepler redirects here. ... This article is about the astronomer. ... This article is about Earths moon. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ... Sir Isaac Newton in Knellers portrait of 1689. ... Nicolaus Copernicus (in Latin; Polish Mikołaj Kopernik, German Nikolaus Kopernikus - February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) was a Polish astronomer, mathematician and economist who developed a heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory of the solar system in a form detailed enough to make it scientifically useful. ... Galileo can refer to: Galileo Galilei, astronomer, philosopher, and physicist (1564 - 1642) the Galileo spacecraft, a NASA space probe that visited Jupiter and its moons the Galileo positioning system Life of Galileo, a play by Bertolt Brecht Galileo (1975) - screen adaptation of the play Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht... Brahe is the name of two influential families, one Danish and the other one Swedish. ... Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630), a key figure in the scientific revolution, was a German astronomer, mathematician and astrologer. ... Johan Philip Lansberg (August 25, 1561–December 8, 1632) was a Dutch astronomer. ... For other uses, see Venus (disambiguation). ... Events January 14 - Connecticuts first constitution, the Fundamental Orders, is adopted. ... (*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ...

Horrocks focused the image of the Sun through a simple telescope onto a piece of card, where the image could be safely observed. From his location in Much Hoole, he calculated that the transit was to begin at approximately 3:00 pm on November 24, 1639 (Julian calendar, or December 4 in the Gregorian calendar). The weather was cloudy, but he first observed the tiny black shadow of Venus crossing the Sun on the card at about 3:15 pm, and observed for half an hour until sunset. The 1639 transit was also observed by his friend and correspondent, William Crabtree, from his home in Salford. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... is the 328th day of the year (329th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 14 - Connecticuts first constitution, the Fundamental Orders, is adopted. ... The Julian calendar was a reform of the Roman calendar which was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). ... is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the calendar of religious holidays and periods, see liturgical year. ... William Crabtree (1610–1644?), English astronomer, mathematician and merchant. ... For other uses, see Salford (disambiguation). ...

Horrocks' observations allowed him to make a well-informed guess as to the size of Venus (previously thought to be larger and closer to Earth), as well as to make an estimate of the distance between the Earth and the Sun. His figure of 59 million miles (95 million kilometres, 0.63 AU) was far from the 150 million kilometers (93 million miles) that it is known to be today but it was a more accurate figure than any suggested up to that time. A treatise by Horrocks, Venus in sub sole visa (Venus in transit across the Sun) was published by Johannes Hevelius at his own expense in 1662. This article is about Earth as a planet. ... The astronomical unit (AU or au or a. ... Johannes Hevelius Johannes Hevelius (Latin), also called Johann Hewelke, Johannes Höwelcke or Johannes Hewel (in German), or Jan Heweliusz (in Polish), (born January 28, 1611 – died January 28, 1687), was a councillor and mayor in Danzig (Gdańsk). ... Events February 1 - The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. ...

This paper, which caused great excitement when revealed to members of the Royal Society 20 years after it was written, contained much evidence of Horrocks' enthusiastic and romantic nature, including humorous comments and passages of original poetry. When speaking of the century separating Venetian transits, he rhapsodised, "Thy return/ Posterity shall witness; years must roll/ Away, but then at length the splendid sight/ Again shall greet our distant children's eyes." For other uses, see Royal Society (disambiguation). ...

Horrocks also put his energies into the highly complex task of determining the Moon's orbit. He correctly hypothesised that the moon's orbit was elliptical rather than circular, and he anticipated Isaac Newton in suggesting an influence on the moon's orbit from the sun as well as the earth. In the final months of his life he also made detailed study of tides, in an attempt to explain the nature of lunar causation of tidal movements. // Complete orbit The Moon makes a complete orbit about the Earth approximately once every 27. ... Sir Isaac Newton FRS (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) [ OS: 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727][1] was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist. ... This article is about tides in the ocean. ...

Horrocks returned to Toxteth Park sometime in the summer of 1640 and died suddenly and from unknown causes on the 3 January 1641, aged only 22. As expressed by his astronomer friend William Crabtree, "What an incalculable loss!" (Opera Posthuma of Jeremiah Horrocks, ed. John Wallis, London, 1672) is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events The Long Parliament passes a series of legislation designed to contain Charles Is absolutist tendencies. ... William Crabtree (1610–1644?), English astronomer, mathematician and merchant. ...

Further reading

• Peter Aughton: The transit of Venus: the brief, brilliant life of Jeremiah Horrocks, father of British astronomy. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004. ISBN 0-297-84721-X.
• Allan Chapman, "Jeremiah Horrocks, the transit of Venus, and the 'New Astronomy' in early seventeenth-century England", Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 31 (1996): 333-357.

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Jeremiah Horrocks: His Origins and Education
• Chasing Venus, Observing the Transits of Venus Smithsonian Institution Libraries
• History of Jeremiah Horrocks
• BBC report: Celebrating Horrocks' half hour
• O'Connor, John J; Edmund F. Robertson "Jeremiah Horrocks". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.  
• Horrocks and the Dawn of British Astronomy