List of observations of solar and lunar transits of unknown objects
 | This article relies too much on references to primary sources. (March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) |
This is a list of observations of solar and lunar transits of unknown objects. Known natural objects that can appear between the Earth and the Sun are the Moon (via a solar eclipse), Mercury (via a transit of Mercury), Venus (via a transit of Venus), and some asteroids and comets. Transits of asteroids and comets can normally only be observed by very large telescopes. For example, all attempts to watch the transit of Halley's Comet in front of the Sun in 1910 failed as result of its small diameter. All such transits can be calculated very precisely.
Unexplained solar transits (incomplete)[edit]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| May 1764 | Hoffmann saw a large round spot crossing the Sun in north–south direction[1] |
| 1802 October 10 | Prediger Fritsch saw an unknown object crossing the Sun.[2] |
| 1822 October 23 | Sunspot observer J. W. Pastorff observed the transit of two objects.[3] |
| 1847 | Benjamin Scott and his five-year-old son observed a solar transit of an unknown object similar in size to Venus.[2] |
| 1849 March 12 | Sidebotham saw the transit of a tiny spot on the Sun.[1] |
| 1859 March 26 | Lescarbault saw the transit of unknown body in front of the Sun.[1][4] Liais in Brasília did not make a similar observation.[2][5] |
| 1862 March 20 | Lummis, ingenieur of Manchester, saw the transit of an unknown object in front of the Sun.[1][2][4] |
| 1865 March 8 | M. Coumbary in Constantinople observed a 48-minute-long transit of an unknown object.[1][2] |
| 1883 August 12 | Bonilla, director of Zacatecas Observatory, saw at least 283 objects crossing the Sun.[6] He took several photographs of them, which still exist, and are claimed to be the oldest UFO photographs. |
Unexplained lunar transits (incomplete)[edit]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1896 July 31 | William R. Brooks, director of Smith Observatory, reported a round object passing in front of the Moon for four seconds. Frank M. Chapman of the American Museum of Natural History suggested that this may have been a bird.[7] |
| 1912 January 27–28 | Frank B. Harris saw an object in front of the Moon that threw a shadow on the lunar surface. He described it as an "intensely black body about 250 miles long and fifty wide, allowing 2,000 miles from tip of cusp to cusp". He suggested it may have been the result of a volcanic eruption.[8] |
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Ledger, E. (September 1879). "Observations or supposed observations of the transits of intra-Mercurial planets or other bodies across the sun's disk". The Observatory. 3: 135–138. Bibcode:1879Obs.....3..135L.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Fontenrose, Robert (1973). "In Search of Vulcan". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 4: 145. Bibcode:1973JHA.....4..145F.
- ↑ "Astronomy and Meteorology", The Annual of scientific discovery: or, Year-book of facts in science and art, 1860, p. 410, retrieved 2011-11-28
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hind, J. R. (1872). "Spots in the Sun". Astronomical register. 10: 256–258. Bibcode:1872AReg...10..256H.
- ↑ Popular Science, Volume 13, pages 732–735, 1878
- ↑ Marsching, Jane D. (2003). "Orbs, Blobs, and Glows: Astronauts, UFOs, and Photography". Art Journal. 62 (3): 56–65.
- ↑ Chapman, Frank M. (September 4, 1896), "Meteor or Bird?", Science, 4 (88): 316, Bibcode:1896Sci.....4..316C, doi:10.1126/science.4.88.316
- ↑ Harris, Frank B., "Peculiar Phenomenon on the Moon", Popular Astronomy, 20: 398–399
This article "List of observations of solar and lunar transits of unknown objects" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
