The meeting was planned for Cambridge so team members could see the transit clearly—some flew in from the west coast where the transit was not visible.

Among the team members venturing to Cambridge was Jack Lissauer of NASA’s Ames Research Center, who said that the event could help publicize an endeavor which similarly relies on transits for its data.

“There’s something special about actually seeing it,” Lissauer said.

On a personal level, too, Schechner said that viewing the astronomical occurrence through Winthrop’s own instrument was a thrill.

“You really feel like you’re reaching back in time and linking the ages,” Schechner said. “It sounds poetic, but in an event like this, you really get that sense.”

She was pleased that so many people shared in her enthusiasm for astronomy and its history, and feels participants learned much from attending.

“It appealed to so many. It was wonderful to share that with the Harvard community, and the Boston community,” she said. “It all came together here in this one event.”