The Recent Progress of Astronomy: Especially in the United States |
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Common terms and phrases
61 Cygni appeared asteroids astronomers axis Berlin body bright Cambridge chronometers clear aperture comet commenced comparison computed declination circle degrees determined difference of longitude disc discovered discovery dome double stars ecliptic electric circuit equatorial erected error eye-pieces feet in diameter feet square Fitz five fixed stars four furnished glass Greenwich heavens heliometer hour circle inches aperture inches in diameter interval Jupiter Lassell Le Verrier longitude mass ment mercury meridian circle method micrometer miles Milky minutes Munich nearly nebula Neptune nights ninth magnitude number of stars object-glass observatory obtained orbit parallax Paris pendulum perihelion Philadelphia pier planet planetary position Professor proper motion recorded refracting telescope result revolving right ascension ring satellite Saturn seen series of observations servations servatory sidereal clock signals small star station Struve tail tele telegraph telescope tenth tion transit circle transit instrument Uranus velocity Verrier visible Walker Washington wire York
Popular passages
Page 205 - Europe, there are existing upward of one hundred and thirty of these lighthouses of the skies; while throughout the whole American hemisphere there is not one. If we reflect a moment upon the discoveries which, in the last four centuries, have been made in the physical constitution of the universe by...
Page 119 - He maintains unconditionally that there is no conceivable form of irregularity, and no combination of irregularities consistent with an actual ring, which would serve to retain it permanently about the primary, if it were solid.
Page 92 - ... perihelia. In the first half of the zodiac we find twenty-five perihelia, while only eight remain for the other half of the circumference. We could not have anticipated any such bias in the orbits if they had always been entirely independent of each other. 4. But the most striking peculiarity of these orbits is, that they all lock into one another like the links of a chain, so that if the orbits are supposed to be represented materially as hoops, they all hang together as one system. The orbits...
Page 205 - ... constitution of the universe, by the means of these buildings, and of observers stationed in them, shall we doubt of their usefulness to every nation ? And while scarcely a year passes over our heads without bringing some new astronomical discovery to light, which we must fain receive at second-hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves off from the means of returning light for light, while we have neither observatory nor observer upon our hah0 of the globe, and the earth revolves in perpetual...
Page 199 - ... we could plainly see that all about the trapezium is a mass of stars ; the rest of the nebula also abounding with stars and exhibiting the characteristics of resolvability strongly marked.
Page 186 - That the depth at which our system is plunged in the sidereal stratum constituting the galaxy, reckoning from the southern surface or limit of that stratum, is about equal to that distance which, on a general average, corresponds to the light of a star of the 9th or 10th magnitude, and certainly does not exceed that corresponding to the llth.
Page 224 - ... in this country, during his absence, upon such celestial phenomena as might be available for the better determination of his longitudes, and their reference to some meridian at home. The Government sanctioned the recommendation, and the observations were directed to be made at Dorchester by Mr.
Page 315 - Society, all the parts employed in a clock for maintaining and regulating the power are entirely dispensed with. It consists simply of a face with its second, minute and hour hands, and of a train of wheels which communicate motion from the arbor of the...
Page 205 - Connected with the establishment of a university, or separate from it, might be undertaken the erection of an astronomical observatory, with provision for the support of an astronomer, to be in constant attendance of observation upon the phenomena of the heavens ; and for the periodical publication of his observations.
Page 122 - An observer at Woodstock, Vt., says that " on viewing the comet through a common three-feet telescope of moderate power, it presented a distinct and most beautiful appearance, exhibiting a very white and bright nucleus, and a tail dividing near the nucleus into two separate branches, with the outer sides of each branch convex, and of nearly equal length, apparently 8° or 10°, and a space between their extremities of 5° or 6°.