I •• 11 Science Networks . Historical Studies Founded by Erwin Hiebert and Hans Wußing Volume 37 Edited by Eberhard Knobloch, Helge Kragh and Erhard Scholz Editorial Board: K. Andersen, Aarhus D. Buchwald, Pasadena H.J.M. Bos, Utrecht U. Bottazzini, Roma J.Z. Buchwald, Cambridge, Mass. K. Chemla, Paris S.S. Demidov, Moskva E.A. Fellmann, Basel M. Folkerts, München P. Galison, Cambridge, Mass. I. Grattan-Guinness, London J. Gray, Milton Keynes R. Halleux, Liège S. Hildebrandt, Bonn Ch. Meinel, Regensburg J. Peiffer, Paris W. Purkert, Bonn D. Rowe, Mainz A.I. Sabra, Cambridge, Mass. Ch. Sasaki, Tokyo R.H. Stuewer, Minneapolis H. Wußing, Leipzig V.P. Vizgin, Moskva Helge Kragh The Moon that Wasn’t The Saga of Venus’ Spurious Satellite with the assistance of Kurt Møller Pedersen Birkhäuser Basel · Boston · Berlin Author: Helge Kragh Institute for Science Studies University of Aarhus Building 1110 8000 Aarhus Denmark e-mail:
[email protected] Library of Congress Control Number: 2008933401 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de ISBN 978-3-7643-8908-6 Birkhäuser Verlag AG, Basel - Boston - Berlin This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. For any kind of use permission of the copyright owner must be obtained. © 2008 Birkhäuser Verlag AG Basel · Boston · Berlin P.O. Box 133, CH-4010 Basel, Switzerland Part of Springer Science+Business Media Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF ∞ Cover illustration: see page 15 Printed in Germany ISBN 978-3-7643-8908-6 e-ISBN 978-3-7643-8909-3 987654321 www.birkhauser.ch To Line, daughter of Venus Contents Preface vii List of Figures ix 1 Introduction 2 A moon or not? A century of confusion 2.1 Venus’ satellite observed: Fontana . 2.2 Jean Dominique Cassini . . . . . . . 2.3 The satellites of Mars . . . . . . . . 2.4 James Short and his Contemporaries 1 . . . . 7 7 19 24 29 . . . . 39 44 56 59 68 4 Contemporary analysis and criticism 4.1 Mairan’s explaining away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Ghost images? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Lambert’s orbital elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 77 80 87 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 From climax to anticlimax 3.1 The 1761 Venus transit . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Observations and non-observations . . . . . 3.3 The Danish Connection . . . . . . . .