Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21332002p&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #320.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.375
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Kepler's third law states Sun-planet distances in AU. International observations of the solar parallax during the 1761/1769 Venus transits gave us the first AU in miles.
Benjamin Franklin promoted American participation in the project. While serving as Ambassador to France he observed that a "dry fog” from the 1783 Laki eruption in Iceland had obscured the Sun, and led to a cold summer and winter.
Using Benjamin Franklin's method I analyzed photometric observations of the dark lunar eclipse made just before the 1761 Venus transit, ice core, tree ring, and Chinese weather data, and conclude that a very large previously unknown volcanic eruption in early 1761 had cooled the world climate.
Observers worldwide found the 18 May 1761 totally eclipsed Moon very dark or invisible, e.g., Wargentin could not see the Moon for 38 minutes even with a 2-ft telescope (Phil. Trans. 52, 208, 1761-1762). Since the totally eclipsed Moon is illuminated only by sunlight refracted by the Earth's atmosphere, the obscuration must have been very severe.
Ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica have large sulfuric acid contents in 1761-1762, precipitated from the global volcanic acid cloud (Zeilinski, J. Geophys. Res. 102, 26625, 1997).
Frost-damaged rings in American bristlecone pines confirm that 1761 was very cold (LaMarche, Nature 307, 121, 1984). Contemporary Chinese chronicles report that heavy sustained snow fell from the Tropic of Cancer to the Yellow River. Wells and rivers froze, e.g., Taihu "Great Lake” and nearby Yangtze tributaries were not navigable. Innumerable trees, birds and livestock perished, etc.
All observations are consistent with the above conclusion. Finally Benjamin Franklin's criteria for a climate-altering volcanic eruption are still universally used. Moreover his legacy continues to inspire climate researchers. See Pang, Eos 74, no. 43, 106, 1993; and as cited in "Earth in Balance,” Al Gore, p. 379, 1993.
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