readenglishbook.com » Literary Collections » A Short History of Astronomy, Arthur Berry [large screen ebook reader .TXT] 📗

Book online «A Short History of Astronomy, Arthur Berry [large screen ebook reader .TXT] 📗». Author Arthur Berry



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 91
Go to page:
planets in opposition: diurnal method: gravitational methods, lunar and planetary: methods based on the velocity of light: summary of results 363 § 285. Variation in latitude: rigidity of the earth 367
§ 286. Gravitational Astronomy. Lunar theory: Damoiseau, Poisson, Pontécoulant, Lubbock, Hansen, Delaunay, Professor Newcomb, Adams, Dr. Hill 367 § 287. Secular acceleration of the moon’s mean motion: Adams’s correction of Laplace: Delaunay’s explanation by means of tidal friction 369 § 288. Planetary theory: Leverrier, Gyldén, M. Poincaré 370 § 289. The discovery of Neptune by Leverrier and Dr. Galle: Adams’s work 371 § 290. Lunar and planetary tables: outstanding discrepancies between theory and observation 372 § 291. Cometary orbits: return of Halley’s comet in 1835: Encke’s and other periodic comets 372 § 292. Theory of tides: analysis of tidal observations by Lubbock, Whewell, Lord Kelvin, and Professor Darwin: bodily tides in the earth and its rigidity 373 § 293. The stability of the solar system 374 § 294. Descriptive Astronomy. Discovery of the minor planets or asteroids: their number, distribution, and size 376 § 295. Discoveries of satellites of Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Mars, and Jupiter, and of the crape ring of Saturn 380 § 296. The surface of the moon: rills: the lunar atmosphere 382 § 297. The surfaces of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn: the canals on Mars: Maxwell’s theory of Saturn’s rings: the rotation of Mercury and of Venus 383 § 298. The surface of the sun: Schwabe’s discovery of the periodicity of sun-spots: connection between sun-spots and terrestrial magnetism: Carrington’s observations of the motion and distribution of spots: Wilson’s theory of spots 385 §§ 299-300. Spectrum analysis: Newton, Wollaston, Fraunhofer, Kirchhoff: the chemistry of the sun 386 § 301. Eclipses of the sun: the corona, chromosphere, and prominences: spectroscopic methods of observation 389 § 302. Spectroscopic method of determining motion to or from the observer: Doppler’s principle: application to the sun 391 § 303. The constitution of the sun 392 §§ 304-5. Observations of comets: nucleus: theory of the formation of their tails: their spectra: relation between comets and meteors 393 §§ 306-8. Sidereal astronomy: career of John Herschel: his catalogues of nebulae and of double stars: the expedition to the Cape: measurement of the sun’s heat by Herschel and by Pouillet 396 § 309. Double stars: observations by Struve and others: orbits of binary stars 398 § 310. Lord Rosse’s telescopes: his observations of nebulae: revival of the “island universe” theory 400 § 311. Application of the spectroscope to nebulae: distinction between nebulae and clusters 401 § 312. Spectroscopic classification of stars by Secchi: chemistry of stars: stars with bright-line spectra 401 §§ 313-4. Motion of stars in the line of sight. Discovery of binary stars by the spectroscope: eclipse theory of variable stars 402 § 315. Observations of variable stars 403 § 316. Stellar photometry: Pogson’s light ratio: the Oxford, Harvard, and Potsdam photometries 403 § 317. Structure of the sidereal system: relations of stars and nebulae 405 §§ 318-20. Laplace’s nebular hypothesis in the light of later discoveries: the sun’s heat: Helmholtz’s shrinkage theory. Influence of tidal friction on the development of the solar system: Professor Darwin’s theory of the birth of the moon. Summary 406 List of Authorities and of Books for Students 411 Index of Names 417 General Index 425

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIG. PAGE The moon Frontispiece 1. The celestial sphere 5 2. The daily paths of circumpolar stars To face p. 8 3. The circles of the celestial sphere 9 4. The equator and the ecliptic 11 5. The Great Bear To face p. 12 6. The apparent path of Jupiter 16 7. The apparent path of Mercury 17 8-11. The phases of the moon 30, 31 12. The curvature of the earth 32 13. The method of Aristarchus for comparing the distances of the sun and moon 34 14. The equator and the ecliptic 36 15. The equator, the horizon, and the meridian 38 16. The measurement of the earth 39 17. The eccentric 44 18. The position of the sun’s apogee 45 19. The epicycle and the deferent 47 20. The eclipse method of connecting the distances of the sun and moon 50 21. The increase of the longitude of a star 52 22. The movement of the equator 53 23, 24. The precession of the equinoxes 53, 54 25. The earth’s shadow 57 26. The ecliptic and the moon’s path 57 27. The sun and moon 58 28. Partial eclipse of the moon 58 29. Total eclipse of the moon 58 30. Annular eclipse of the sun 59 31. Parallax 60 32. Refraction by the atmosphere 63 33. Parallax 68 34. Jupiter’s epicycle and deferent 70 35. The equant 71 36. The celestial spheres 89 Portrait of Coppernicus To face p. 94 37. Relative motion 102 38. The relative motion of the sun and moon 103 39. The daily rotation of the earth 104 40. The solar system according to Coppernicus 107 41, 42. Coppernican explanation of the seasons 108, 109 43. The orbits of Venus and of the earth 113 44. The synodic and sidereal periods of Venus 114 45. The epicycle of Jupiter 116 46. The relative sizes of the orbits of the earth and of a superior planet 117 47. The stationary points of Mercury 119 48. The stationary points of Jupiter 120 49. The alteration in a planet’s apparent position due to an alteration in the earth’s distance from the sun 122 50. Stellar parallax 124 51. Uraniborg 133 52. Tycho’s system of the world 137 Portrait of Tycho Brahe To face p. 139 53. One of Galilei’s drawings of the moon To face p. 150 54. Jupiter and its satellites as seen on January 7, 1610 152 55. Sun-spots To face p. 154 56. Galilei’s proof that sun-spots are not planets 156 57. The differential method of parallax 165 Portrait of Galilei To face p. 171 58. The daily libration of the moon 173 Portrait of Kepler To face p. 183 59. An ellipse 185 60. Kepler’s second law 186 61. Diagram used by Kepler to establish his laws of planetary motion 187 62. The “music of the spheres” according to Kepler 190 63. Kepler’s idea of gravity 196 64. Saturn’s ring, as drawn by Huygens To face p. 200 65. Saturn, with the ring seen edge-wise To face p. 200 66. The phases of Saturn’s ring 201 67. Early drawings of Saturn To face p. 202 68. Mars in opposition 206 69. The parallax of a planet 206 70. Motion in a circle 214 71. The moon as a projectile 220 72. The spheroidal form of the earth 234 73. An elongated ellipse and a parabola 238 Portrait of Newton To face p. 240 Portrait of Bradley To face p. 258 74. 75. The aberration of light 262, 263 76. The aberrational ellipse 264 77. Precession and nutation 268 78. The varying curvature of the earth 277 79. Tobias Mayer’s map of the moon To face p. 282 80. The path of Halley’s comet 294 81. A varying ellipse 303 Portrait of Lagrange To face p. 305 Portrait of Laplace To face p. 307 Portrait of William Herschel To face p. 327 82. Herschel’s forty-foot telescope 329 83. Section of the sidereal system 333 84. Illustrating the effect of the sun’s motion in space 345 85. 61 Cygni and the two neighbouring stars used by Bessel 360 86. The parallax of 61 Cygni 361 87. The path of Halley’s comet 373 88. Photographic trail of a minor planet To face p. 377 89. Paths of minor planets 378 90. Comparative sizes of three minor planets and the moon 379 91. Saturn and its system 380 92. Mars and its satellites 381 93. Jupiter and its satellites 382 94. The Apennines and the adjoining regions of the moon To face p. 383 95. Saturn and its rings To face p. 384 96. A group of sun-spots To face p. 385 97. Fraunhofer’s map of the solar spectrum To face p. 387 98. The total solar eclipse of 1886 To face p. 390 99. The great comet of 1882 To face p. 393 100. The nebula about η Argus To face p. 397 101. The orbit of ξ Ursae 399 102. Spiral nebulae To face p. 400 103. The spectrum of β Aurigae To face p. 403 104. The Milky Way near the cluster in Perseus To face p. 405

A SHORT HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY.

CHAPTER I.
PRIMITIVE ASTRONOMY.
“The never-wearied Sun, the Moon exactly round,
And all those Stars with which the brows of ample heaven are crowned,
Orion, all the Pleiades, and those seven Atlas got,
The close beamed Hyades, the Bear, surnam’d the Chariot,
That turns about heaven’s axle tree, holds ope a constant eye
Upon Orion, and of all the cressets in the sky
His golden forehead never bows to th’ Ocean empery.”

The Iliad (Chapman’s translation).

1. Astronomy is the science which treats of the sun, the moon, the stars, and other objects such as comets which are seen in the sky. It deals to some extent also with the earth, but only in so far as it has properties in common with the heavenly bodies. In early times astronomy was concerned almost entirely with the observed motions of the heavenly bodies. At a later stage astronomers were able to discover the distances and sizes of many of the heavenly bodies, and to weigh some of them; and more recently they have acquired a considerable amount of knowledge as to their nature and the material of which they are made.

2. We know nothing of the beginnings of astronomy, and can only conjecture how certain of the simpler facts of the science—particularly those with a direct influence on human life and comfort—gradually became familiar to early mankind, very much as they are

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 91
Go to page:

Free e-book «A Short History of Astronomy, Arthur Berry [large screen ebook reader .TXT] 📗» - read online now

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment