Clint Stallard

Stinky Bottom

It’s Saturday and on this day in history:
1631 Pierre Gassendi observes 1st ever transit of Mercury predicted by Kepler
I chatted to AI about this:
This was a landmark event in the history of astronomy.
On 7 November 1631, French astronomer Pierre Gassendi became the first person to successfully observe a transit of Mercury, an event in which Mercury passes directly between Earth and the Sun, appearing as a tiny black dot moving across the Sun's face.
Why was it important?
The observation had been predicted by Johannes Kepler in his Rudolphine Tables, published in 1627. Kepler's calculations indicated that a transit of Mercury would occur in 1631.
When Gassendi observed the event from Paris, it was a major confirmation that:
Kepler's planetary calculations were remarkably accurate.
Planets orbited the Sun as described by the heliocentric model.
Astronomers could successfully predict celestial events years in advance.