Saturday 5th June 1.20pm BBC TWO
Adam Hart-Davis explains how to watch safely and how to join the Open University project to use the transit to measure the distance to the sun – as attempted by Captain James Cook in 1769.

Tuesday 8th June 9.50 am BBC ONE
Live visit to the Royal Observatory Greenwich for coverage of the Transit of Venus. Adam Hart-Davis joins the crowds at Greenwich to observe the transit, and brings results from British enthusiasts in Egypt (for guaranteed Sun), and the village of Much Hoole in Lancashire where fans are gathering with telescopes at the home of Jeremiah Horrocks, the first man ever to see a transit in 1639.

Tuesday 8th June Noon BBC ONE
Adam Hart-Davis and the team are live in Greenwich for an attempt to measure the distance to the Sun – and viewers can join in. This is the climax of the Transit of Venus, as the planet crosses the face of the Sun. Adam will explain how to make observations, and will then bring live pictures from the Stardate solar telescope in Egypt as Venus reaches the edge of the Sun. Full results in the evening programme.

Tuesday 8th June 11.20pm BBC TWO
Adam Hart-Davis is again at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, reporting on the event and bringing in results from round the world.
Astronomers are hoping that the latest solar telescopes and pictures from space will give them the best ever view of the transit. The programme includes the results of the Open University’s attempt to get viewers nationwide to time the Transit and make a super-accurate measurement of the Astronomical Unit – the distance to the Sun. But will results be affected by the notorious ‘black drop’ that so troubled Cook in Tahiti, and made it impossible for him to get accurate timings?

Content last updated: 02/06/2004

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