Editing Black drop effect (section)

==Description==
Just after [[astronomical transit#Contacts|second contact]], and again just before [[astronomical transit#Contacts|third contact]] during the transit, a small black "teardrop" appears to connect [[Venus]]'s disc to the [[wikt:limb#Etymology 2|limb]] of the [[Sun]], making it impossible to time the exact moment of second or third contact accurately.  This led to the failure of the attempts during the 18th century transits of Venus to establish a truly precise value for the [[astronomical unit]].

The black drop effect was long thought to be due to Venus's thick atmosphere, and indeed it was held to be the first real evidence that Venus had an atmosphere. However, it is now thought by many to be an optical effect caused by the combination of the extreme darkening of the Sun's disk near its apparent edge and the intrinsic imperfection of the viewing apparatus.<ref name="aas">
{{cite conference
 |title= Explanation of the Black-Drop Effect at Transits of Mercury and the Forthcoming Transit of Venus by Pasachoff/Schneider/Golub
|conference=American Astronomical Society Meeting 203
|journal=Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
|volume=35
|page=1202
|publisher=AAS
|bibcode=2003AAS...203.0104P
 |date=December 2003
}}</ref><ref name="economist">
{{cite magazine
 |url=http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2705523
 |title= Transits of Venus – Kiss of the goddess
 |magazine= The Economist
 |date=27 May 2004
 |accessdate=2015-05-16
}}</ref>

Observing Mercury simultaneously during its transit in May 1832 with different instruments, [[Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel]] and [[Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander]] noticed a black drop effect (though the term had not been coined yet) with that instrument of less resolution.<ref>F. W. Bessel: ''Durchgang des Mercurs durch die Sonne.'' In: ''Astronomische Nachrichten.'' Band&nbsp;X (1832), No.&nbsp;228, Sp.&nbsp;185–196 ([http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1832AN.....10..185B digital]).</ref> With precise measurements, a black drop effect was observed from outside the Earth's atmosphere during the 1999 and 2003 [[transit of Mercury|transits of Mercury]], although [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] has no significant atmosphere.<ref>
{{cite arXiv
 |last1= Schneider |first1=G.
 |last2=Pasachoff  |first2=J.M.
 |last3=Golub      |first3=L.
 |eprint=astro-ph/0310379
 |title=Space Studies of the Black-Drop Effect at a Mercury Transit
 |year=2003
}} PrePrint or article in Icarus 168, 249–256. Retrieved 2015-05-16.</ref>

{{nat|In the 8 June 2004}} transit of Venus, many observers reported that they did not see the black drop effect, or at least that it was much less pronounced than had been reported in earlier centuries' transits.<ref name="Sky &amp; Telescope">{{cite web |url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/The-Disappearing-Black-Drop-153838145.html |title=The Disappearing Black Drop |last=Shiga |first=David |publisher=F+W Meida, Inc. |magazine=Sky & Telescope |date=24 May 2012 |accessdate=2015-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916205336/http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/The-Disappearing-Black-Drop-153838145.html |archive-date=16 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Larger telescopes, better optics, and [[limb darkening]] may have been factors.