Charles Green (astronomer)

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Charles Green (baptised 26 December 1734 29 January 1771) was a British
astronomer, noted for his assignment by the Royal Society in 1768 to the expedition
sent to the Pacific Ocean in order to observe the transit of Venus aboard James
Cook's Endeavour.

Contents [hide]
1 Early life and education
2 Career in astronomy
3 Voyage of the Endeavour and the Transit of Venus
3.1 Criticism of Green and his observations
4 Subsequent voyage of the Endeavour and the death of Green
5 Personal life
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Early life and education[edit]
Born sometime in December 1734, Green was the youngest son of Joshua Green, a
prosperous farmer who lived near Swinton in Yorkshire. His education, according to
his future brother-in-law William Wales, was chiefly at a school near Denmark
Street in Soho, London. This school was run by his eldest brother, the clergyman
Rev. John Green, and the younger Green went on to become an assistant teacher
there,[1] continuing his studies in astronomy until he joined the staff of the
Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1760.[2]

Career in astronomy[edit]
Green was appointed as Assistant to the Astronomer Royal, James Bradley, succeeding
the astronomer Charles Mason who left to join the expedition to the Cape of Good
Hope to observe the 1761 transit of Venus. Following Bradley's death in 1762, Green
continued in the role of assistant for Bradley's successor Nathaniel Bliss. Due to
the ill-health of Bliss, much of the work of practical observational astronomy
devolved upon Green at this time.

In 1763, Green, along with the astronomer Nevil Maskelyne, was instructed by the
Board of Longitude to make the voyage to Barbados to act as monitors of the test of
John Harrison's H4 chronometer, which was in the running for the Longitude Prize,
the prize offered by the British Government for the devisor of an accurate method
of determining the longitude of a ship at sea. Their duties, after they arrived in
Barbados and were awaiting the chronometer's arrival on another ship, involved
determining the local longitude by observation of the Galilean moons of Jupiter to
determine the local longitude,[3] and after the arrival of the mechanism which was
in the care of Harrison's son William, the comparison of the results of the
chronometer with their astronomical observations to judge the mechanism's accuracy.
On the voyage to Barbados, the pair were also using their observations to determine
the accuracy of the lunar distance method,[2][4] Maskelyne's own method of
calculating the longitude of a ship at sea. An argument ensued between Maskelyne
and William Harrison, which dragged in Green, as Harrison was of the opinion that
Maskelyne was not an impartial observer and was a rival of his father in the
pursuit of the Longitude Prize. A compromise was reached in which the monitoring of
the Harrison mechanism was undertaken by Maskelyne and Green on alternate days.[3]

Green's return to England in the autumn of 1764 coincided with the death of
Nathaniel Bliss; Green returned to Greenwich to continue Bliss' work until the
appointment of a new Astronomer Royal.[4][5] The new Astronomer Royal proved to be
Nevil Maskelyne. Green briefly served under him as assistant, but left Greenwich
after a disagreement with his new superior. Wales' account says that Green was
involved in a survey to determine the feasibility of transporting water from the
River Colne to provide water to Marylebone in London, although Green's survey
confirmed the fears of mill owners downstream that the canal would result in a
failure of the water supply needed for their operations and led to the scheme being
dropped.[2] Although this is unmentioned in Wales's short biography, Green is
recorded as being the purser on the HMS Aurora in 1768. In that same year, the
Royal Society appointed him to accompany James Cook's voyage to observe the 1769
transit of Venus;[5] despite their earlier disagreement, Maskelyne who was serving
on the Society's Transit of Venus Committee recommended his former assistant for
the post.

Voyage of the Endeavour and the Transit of Venus[edit]

Sketchings of the 1769 Venus Transit by Captain James Cook and Charles Green,
showing the black drop effect.
Green joined Cook's first voyage of circumnavigation in 1768, accompanied by a
servant. Green was one of two official astronomers appointed by the Royal Society
to observe the transit; the other was Cook himself, who was a capable observer in
his own right.[6] Green was to receive 200 guineas from the Society for the
appointment. (Cook was to receive 100 guineas for his role in making the
observations.)[7] The Society provided instruments for the expedition, including
two reflector telescopes built by James Short, two clocks and an astronomical
quadrant; these were supplemented by a telescope in the possession of Daniel
Solander and another provided by the Navy.[6][7]

The expedition arrived at Tahiti, the chosen site for the observation of the
transit, on 11 April 1769, anchoring in Matavai Bay on the north-western coast of
the island two days later. A camp (Fort Venus) was established and the astronomical
equipment was in place by the start of May. Of paramount importance for Green was
the calculation of an accurate position of the location, which he calculated using
the lunar distance method and by observation of the moons of Jupiter.[6] The
removal of the quadrant from the camp - either by the local Tahitians or by members
of the expedition who traded it to the Tahitians[2] - threatened to derail the
enterprise, but it was soon recovered, albeit disassembled into pieces and with
some damage, by the expedition botanist Joseph Banks, accompanied by Green.

The day of the transit, June 3, was a clear day and the transit was visible in its
entirety. Although Cook had taken the precaution of sending two groups to outlying
islands, the principal observation party remained at Fort Venus, where Green, Cook
and (independently) Solander recorded the times of the transit. Cook noted in his
log that the times recorded by the three observers for the times of contact
differed significantly;[6] this anomaly, now generally attributed to the black drop
effect, would cast significant doubt, in the eyes of the Royal Society and Nevil
Maskelyne, on the usefulness and value of the observations later.

Criticism of Green and his observations[edit]

Due to Green's death on the homeward voyage, the work of collating and analysing
his results fell first to Cook, and ultimately to Nevil Maskelyne. Cook admitted
that Green's papers were in a disorganised state, when he inspected them after
Green's death, and that some of the timings were inconsistently recorded in various
of the astronomer's papers.[6] The Astronomer Royal was critical of Green's work,
especially of the observations Green made to calculate the latitude and longitude
of Fort Venus[8]

It has been noted that although the times for the contacts given by the three
observers (Green, Cook and Solander) present at Fort Venus vary, they show no
pattern of inconsistency attributable to one observer alone.[6]

Subsequent voyage of the Endeavour and the death of Green[edit]

Following the departure from Tahiti, the Endeavour continued south-westwards as
Cook carried out his orders to further explore the Southern Ocean. The expedition
reached New Zealand in October 1769, giving Green an opportunity to observe the
transit of Mercury from land. A landing was made at an inlet that would be
subsequently called Mercury Bay on 3 November; the transit was successfully
observed by Green on November 9.[9]

On reaching Australia, and during Cook's voyage along the coast, he named an
island, Green Island, after the astronomer in June 1770.[5][10] Green, by this time
had contracted scurvy.[11]

The Endeavour was forced to make for Batavia (present-day Jakarta) for repairs.
Disease were rife in the Dutch-controlled city, including malaria and dysentery;
Green contracted the latter, dying on 29 January 1771, twelve days after the ship's
departure from the port.[5] Cook, in recording Green's death in his log, went on to
add that Green had been in ill-health for some time and his lifestyle had
contributed to his early death.[12] An account published in a London newspaper
described his final hours He had been ill some time, and was directed by the
surgeon to keep himself warm, but in a fit of phrensy he got up in the night and
put his legs out of the portholes, which was the occasion of his death.[5][13]

Personal life[edit]
Green married Elizabeth Long in March 1768 in London;[1] the records of the Royal
Society mention making a provision of 50 per annum for his wife for the duration
of the expedition.[5] Green's sister Mary married the astronomer William Wales, who
was part of a Royal Society expedition to Hudson Bay to observe the 1769 transit of
Venus and who replaced Green for Cook's next voyage.[14][15]

See also[edit]