British Transit of Venus Expedition, Station D, 1874

British Transit of Venus Expedition, Station D, 1874. Photograph showing two men and a woman with a telescope in a wooden observatory building. The equipment and structure are part one of five separate global expeditions sent by the British Government to view the 1874 Transit of Venus. These rare astronomical events that occurred in 1874 and 1882 allowed astronomers to accurately measure the size of the Solar System. It is not clear whether this photograph was taken at the expedition's site at Station D (New Zealand?) or before its departure. All the expedition's equipment and portable observatory buildings were assembled beforehand in the park at the Old Royal Observatory, Greenwich for testing. ©SSPL/Science Museum