Point Venus is a peninsula on the north coast of Tahiti, the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia. It is in the commune of Mahina, approximately 8 km east of the capital, Pape'ete. It lies at the northeast end of Matavai Bay.
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History
editA primary objective of James Cook's first voyage, in Endeavour, was to observe the 1769 Transit of Venus from the South Pacific. Tahiti, recently visited by Samuel Wallis in Dolphin, was chosen for the observations. Cook anchored in Matavai Bay on 12 April 1769 and established an observatory, and a fortified camp called "Fort Venus", at Te Auroa, which they named "Point Venus".[2]
In Popular Culture
editPoint Venus serves as the title of Jeff Lorber's smooth jazz hit song Point Venus, from his album "West Side Stories" from 1994.
References
edit- ^ London Missionary Society, ed. (1869). Fruits of Toil in the London Missionary Society. London: John Snow & Co. p. 12. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ Salmond, Anne (2010). Aphrodite's Island. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 141, 147, 150. ISBN 9780520261143.
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