Dom Pedro II Observatory, Saint Thomas Island, Danish Possession in the Antilles: Interior View of the East Pavillion with the Equatorial Telescope of the Lieutenant Commander Calheiros da Graça

Dom Pedro II Observatory, Saint Thomas Island, Danish Possession in the Antilles: Interior View of the East Pavillion with the Equatorial Telescope of the Lieutenant Commander Calheiros da Graça Observatorio D. Pedro II, Ilha de S. Thomaz, possessao dinamarqueza nas Antilhas: vista interior do pavilhao de l'Este contendo a equatorial do capitao-tenente Calheiros da Graça Brazilian Astronomical Commission Creator still image picture still image xx 1882 1883 monographic Virgin Islands [publisher not identified] [1882 to 1883] por 1 online resource. This photograph is contained in an album that commemorates the participation of Brazil in the international effort to track the transit of Venus in 1882. This involved the establishment by the Imperial Observatory of an observatory, named after Emperor Dom Pedro II (1825-91), on the island of Saint Thomas in the Danish West Indies (present-day U.S. Virgin Islands). The transit of Venus is a rare astronomical event that occurs when Venus passes between the Earth and the sun, becoming visible in daylight against the solar disk. The transits occur in eight-year pairs at intervals of more than a century. Since the 17th century, astronomers had been especially interested in these transits, as they offered the chance, using multiple observations and complex mathematical calculations, to determine the distance between the Earth and the sun (the Astronomical Unit). There thus was great scientific as well as public interest in the transits of 1874 and 1882. The album is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. Composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library, the collection covers a wide variety of subjects and documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century. The collection, named after Empress Thereza Christina Maria, was inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 2003. Title devised, in English, by Library staff. Original resource extent: 1 photograph contained in an album : black and white ; 20.5 x 13.2 centimeters. Original resource at: National Library of Brazil. Content in Portuguese. Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions. 1882-12-06 Antilles, Lesser Astronomical instruments Astronomical observatories Graça, Francisco Calheiros da, 1849-1906 Memory of the World Scientific expeditions Telescopes Venus (Planet)--Transit--1882 United States of America U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas 520 522 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.wdl/wdl.1760 The Brazilian Astronomical Commission: Transit of Venus on December 6, 1882 2021669534 DLC 210708 20250607110328.3 22136789 Converted from MARCXML to MODS version 3.8 using MARC21slim2MODS3-8_XSLT1-0.xsl (Revision 1.172 20230208) eng