The Smithsonian Institution Libraries is pleased to announce the opening of its current exhibition, "Chasing Venus: Observing the Transits of Venus, 1631-2004", at the Libraries' Exhibition Gallery located in the National Museum of American History, 14th & Constitution Ave. NW, Washington D.C. "Chasing Venus" will tell the story of the transits of Venus using the marvelous illustrations in the rich collection of rare books from the Smithsonian Libraries, supplemented by appropriate artifacts from the National Museum of American History and the United States Naval Observatory.

A series of five noontime public lectures is scheduled to commence on April 8:

Chasing Venus Lecture Series
Lectures start at 12:00 noon -- FREE and open to the public
Leonard Carmichael Auditorium
National Museum of American History, Behring Center

Presented in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution Libraries exhibition "Chasing Venus: Observing the Transits of Venus, 1631-2004"
March 24, 2004 - April 3, 2005

Lecture Series funding provided by NASA Office of Space Science

Thursday, April 8, 2004
"The First Observation of a Transit of Venus: Jeremiah Horrocks and the New Astronomy"
Wilbur Applebaum,
Professor Emeritus, Humanities Dept., Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois

Thursday, April 22, 2004
"Endeavour's Wake: Captain Cook and the Transit of Venus"
Richard Fisher,
Director, Sun-Earth Connection Division, NASA Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.

Thursday, May 6, 2004
"Transits of Venus and the American Expeditions of 1874 and 1882"
Steven J. Dick,
NASA Chief Historian, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C.

Thursday, May 20, 2004
"Transits of Mercury and Venus and the Solution of the Black-Drop Mystery"
Jay M. Pasachoff,
Director of Hopkins Observatory and Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Thursday, June 3, 2004
"Public Reaction to the Transit of Venus, 1882"
David DeVorkin,
Curator of History of Astronomy, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.