Queen Charlottefrom Netflix, tells the only true story the platform has included, turning the saga of novels into a TV series. bridgertonswritten by Julia Quinn. it’s about life Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and her husband King George III from England. IN bridgertons we have already seen that the king suffers from some kind of mental illness, but the plot went through it on tiptoe. Instead of, Queen Charlotte revolves precisely around the beginning of the specified state.
It is seen how, although he has just met her, young Jorge marries, apparently in love with Carlota. However, soon after, he takes her to live away from him without giving her any explanation. During this time, he tries to heal himself so that she won’t be ashamed, but he also turns to one of his great passions: astronomy.
It is at the couple’s first meeting after the wedding that Jorge tells Queen Charlotte that he is looking into the upcoming Venus transitwhich will serve to measure distance between earth and sun. But what is true about all this? Is this part of a real part of the story, or is it a fictional embellishment?
Fiction and astronomical reality in Queen Charlotte
Love for astronomy George III it’s not fantasy. He was a monarch very interested in science and culture, and especially showed great interest in the study of the sky. In fact, in 1788 a French astronomer Joseph-Jerome de Lalande He said the king had come to the conclusion that it was worth investing more in buying telescopes than in killing people. He prioritized investment in culture over military spending, which made him a very special king.
As for the transit of Venus, we don’t know if he was actually possessed; but given the dates, it almost could have been. At least if we only look at the year.
IN Queen Charlotte we see him become possessed shortly after the wedding. The link took place on September 8, 1761 and it is true that the transit of Venus was documented in the same year, although it was a little earlier, i.e. June 6th
As for what you explain about measuring the distance between the Earth and the Sun, that is also true.
Transit of Venus as a measurement tool
In 1691, 70 years before the wedding of the main characters Queen Charlotteastronomer Edmund Gully proposed a way to measure the distance between the Earth and the Sun based on Venus transit. In addition, he predicted that the next one would be the one 1761, so this will be the first opportunity to do the calculations. But let’s first look at what a planetary transit is.
This phenomenon occurs when a planet, in this case Venus, passes between the sun and the earth. This would be equivalent to an eclipse, but only with a planet black dot crossing the sun.
Actually, on the night when Jorge escapes in search of Venus in one of his attacks, he is not watching the transit, but the planet alone. To see the transit, you would need to do so during the day and with your eyes protected so as not to damage them while looking at the Sun. Already in the twelfth century Sunglasses did exist, so even without such knowledge about eye damage, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched.
Now, returning to the question of distances, as Halley well calculated, the transit of Venus is very useful to make parallax calculations. That is, the angular deviation of the apparent position of the object depending on the chosen point of view. In this case, we know that Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun, so the silhouette of its disk can be seen in a telescope with a dark filter. Thus, the circular contour of the Sun provides a reference point for measuring the parallax of Venus and determining the parallax of the Sun.
To do this, several astronomers are placed at large distances. Everyone is watching the movement at the same time and they fix the exact time of entry and exit of Venus across the solar disk. Then, by combining their measurements of time, which will be different for each observer, they can calculate the parallax and use it to derive the Earth-Sun distance.
Consequently, King George would have needed help from other parts of the world to make the calculations. Otherwise, I would be just another observer. What is clear is Queen Charlotte It has a lot of real history. Not only when it comes to the king and his mental illness.
Source: Hiper Textual
