Why were the transits of Venus in the 18th and 19th centuries so eagerly anticipated by the astronomers of that period? They were only of passing scientific interest as nothing of interest was predicted to be determined by the transits They hoped that an accurate measurement of the planet's diameter would finally be determined They thought they would let them more accurately measure the depth of Venus' atmosphere They hoped that, by using Kepler's third law, an accurate timing of the transits would allow them to more accurately determine the true distances of the planets