Bicentennial of the observation of Venus by Captain James Cook.
Map of the Pacific Ocean showing transit of Venus across te Sun from Tahiti,
and portrait of Captain James Cook.
Stamp isued on 03.06.1969.
Face value: 10 cents of Australian dollar.
Designed by V. Whiteley from a sketch by J. Cowap.
Printed by Harrison and Sons Ltd., London.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 39 x 26 mm.
Catalogues
- Michel No. 101.
- Scott No. 122.
- StampWorld No. 101.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 99.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 101.
On June 3, 1769, British navigator Captain James Cook, British naturalist Joseph Banks, British astronomer Charles Green and Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander recorded the transit of Venus on the island of Tahiti during Cook's first voyage around the world. During a transit, Venus appears as a small black disc travelling across the Sun. This unusual astronomical phenomenon takes place in a pattern that repeats itself every 243 years. It includes two transits that are eight years apart, separated by breaks of 121.5 and 105.5 years. These men, along with a crew of scientists, were commissioned by the Royal Society of London for the primary purpose of viewing the transit of Venus. Not only would their findings help expand scientific knowledge, it would help with navigation by accurately calculating the observer's longitude.
