A ST R O NO M Y

”
A HAND ) M AN UAL FOR
S TUD E N TS AND OTHE R S

“
M £ 4 ”
J BY

F w . .

p YS O N , FR . . S .

A S TRONO E M R R O Y AL FO R S C O TL A N D ;
PR O FE S S O R O F AS TRO N O MY IN TH E U N I VE R S ITY OF E D I N B UR G H

WI TH 9 5 D I A GR A ZU S A N D IL L U S TR A TI ON S

NE W YOR K

E . P D U T TO N 69
.
°
CO .

1
9 1 8
 PR E FA C E

IN t hi s little book I have attempted to give an

a cc o u nt of the metho d s employe d by astrono m ers and
the reasons for some of the propositions they advance .

Astrono m i c al i nvestigations freq u ently seem com pli

c a t e d owi ng to the amo u nt of subsi d iary detail ,
but
the pri n c iples u n derlyi ng them are si mple an d us u ally
adm it of a c lear statemen t wh i c h can be followed by
a gen eral reader I n the i ntrod u c tion to his le c t u res
.

d elivere d at I pswi c h i n 1 8 48 S i r George Ai ry d raws

'

attention to an attit u d e towar d s Astronomy which is

still prev alent S u c h q u estions as the d eterm i nation
.

of the d istan c e of the S u n or M oon a r e c o n s i d e r e d as

'

beyon d or d i nary compre hension the i nstr u men ts with

whi c h astronom i c al m e a s u r e m e n t s a r e m ade are sup
'

po se d to be b ase d o n o b c r e an d d i ffi c u lt pri nciples ;

“

therefore the best a layman can do is to accept state

ments on the personal credit of the astronomer maki ng
them . He poi n ts o u t that this is an exaggerate d
V i ew. The p ri nciples i nvolved i n measuri n g the dis
tan c e of the M oon are no more abstr u se than those
employe d t o fi n d the d istance of a tree on the other
'

side of a river Astronom i c al i nstr u men ts are as

.

simple i n pri n c iple an d far less c omplicated i n detai l

than a lathe or a steam engi ne I t is quite true that
-
.

i n both i nstruments an d m ethods many s u bsi diary

details m u st be atten d ed to when great accuracy is
req u i red i n order that distu rb i n g c a u ses may b e
allowe d for or eli m i nate d . B u t an explanation of
the essential p ri n c iples may be given whi c h can be
readily u nderstood with or d i nary c are an d attention .
 PR E FA CE

’
As far as possible an h istorical order has been
followed The reader s atten tion has been drawn to
.

the des i rab ility of m aki ng f or h i m self certai n observa

ti o n s of the sky which do not requi re the use of a
telescope E very educated p e rson ought to see w ith
.

his own eyes how S u n M o on S tar s an d Planets m ove , ,

i n the sky an d be able to i nfe r f ro m his o w n observa

,

tions the m ovemen t of the E arth about the S u n the ,

co m parative n earness of t he M oon an d other co m mon ,

places of Astrono m y .

I t i s di ffi cult to acknowledge fully m y obl igations

to the authors of books an d papers wh ich I have con
M ention shoul d be specially made of M r
s u lt e d .

’
Arth u r B erry s Hi s t o r y o f A s tr o n o m y P rof Y ou n g s ’ .

“
.
,

G e n e r a l A s tr o n o m y an d the articles by P rof N ew

,
.

”
co m b o n Astrono m y an d P rof H ale on S pec .

t ro s co p y i n the E n c y c lo pce d i a B r i ta n n i ca .

I am i n debted to the Ast rono m er R oyal S i r

W i llia m Ch ristie P rof B arn ard P rof R itchey an d
,
.
, .

othe r astron o m e rs for per m ission to reproduce photo

graphs p ubl ished by them an d to M r W B Bla i k i e , . . .

for the map taken fro m h is M o nth ly S tar M a p s

p ubl ish ed by the S cottish P rovi dent Association .

I wish to e xpress my thanks to a n u mbe r of frien ds

"

for hel p i n various di rections M r Heath fi rst as . .

,

s i s t a n t of the R oyal O bservatory E di nb urgh copied , ,

a n u m ber of p h otographs an d supplied m e with the

drawi ng o n p 1 7 2 ; M r S torey assistant at the
. .
,

O bservatory an d M r M a c G r e g o r assi s ted with the

, .

d iagrams I a m m uch obliged to M r S tore y an d to

. .

D r J R eyn olds G reen who read the book i n p roof

. .
, ,

for thei r val uab le criticis m an d su g g estions .

F W D YS O N
. . .

/
R oy a l Oés er va f o ry , E
M ar e z 7 , 1
9 1 0.
 C O N TE N T S

CHAP
AN CI EN T AS T R O N O M Y

TH E CO PE R N I CAN S YS T E M

TH E L AW OF G R A VI TAT I O N
AS T R O N O M I CA L IN S T R U M E NT S

TH E S UN
’DI
S S TAN CE

THE S U N

TH E SOLA R S YS T M E
D I S TAN CE S AND M O VE M E NT S OF TH E S TA RS
S TA R S AND N E B U LAS
‘

D OU B LE S TA R S AND LU S T E R S
C .

VA R I A BLE S TA R S AND NE W S TA R S

THE S I D E R E A L U N I VE R S E
 C HA PTE R I
AN CI ENT A S TR O N O M Y
A S T R ON O M Y is the Ol dest of the sciences The .

orientation of the pyram i ds or of S to nehenge the ,

m ythology of the G reeks an d the rel igious fest i vals of

the Jews are fa m ili ar evidences of astrono m ical know
ledge i n early civilizations The con s tan t repetition
.
,

d ay by day m onth by mon th or year by year of

, , ,

si m ilar phen omena both i nvite d an d ai ded study of

the heavenly bodies B efore the dawn of history m en
.

wondered what caused the risin g an d setti n g of the

S u n an d Moon each day why the M oon w ent th rough
,

her phases eac h mo nth an d why O rion reappeare d

,

e ach year i n the sky as su rely as the seasons ret u rned .

An out o f door life was favou rab le to a knowledge of

- -

the heavens an d the tribes of Chal d ea an d Arab ia

,

two or th ree thousan d years ago were perhaps better , ,

a c quai nte d With the appearan c e of the sky than we

are to d ay M o d ern c on d ition s of l ife are not favo u r
-
.

able to the general c u ltivation of practical astrono m y .

B u il d i ngs c i r c u ms c ribe the view of the S k y clo c ks an d

,

watches save us the tro u ble of observi ng the S u n an d

stars for ti me an d artifi c ial ill u m i nation makes us
,

in d epen dent of moonl ight B ut the followin g phe

.

13
 A S TR ON O M Y
no m e na of the S kies ought not t o be m erely read of i n
books b ut shoul d be veri fi ed by actual observation
, .

( )
1 The di urnal m ove m ent of the S u n ; the di f ferent
positions of the S u n i n t he sky i n su mm er an d wi nter .

2 ) The ph ases of the M o on ; the rapi d m ove m en t of

(
the M oon a m on g the stars .

( 3 ) The diu rnal m ove m e n t of the stars ; the appear

ance of di fferen t constellations at di fferent ti m es of the
year .

b
O er vat o n o f t he Sun
s i — In the lati tu de of Lon don the
S u n rises on m i dsu m m er day at about 3 h 45 m . .

at a poi n t on t he ho rizon con si dera bly north of east .

At m i dday wh e n due south it is high i n the S k y

, ,
.

I f we take a stick an d poi n t i t hori zon tally an d tu rn

‘

it gradually towards t he v e r t i c a l we S hall not be ,

p o i n ti n g to the S u n till the stick has been turned

th roug h rather m ore than two th i rds of the right -

angle b etween the h o rizon tal an d ve rtical di rections .

I t sets i n the even i ng about 8 h 1 9 m at a poi n t o n

. .

the hori zon con s i derably north of west F ro m m i d .

su mm e r to m idwi n ter it rises later an d sets earl ier

each day ; the poi nt of the horizon where it rises
gradually S hifts fro m n orth of east to due east an d ,

then to south of east ; an d the poi n t where i t sets S h ifts

i n the other di rection fro m north of west to due west ,

an d then t o s ou th of we st I n m idwi nter the S u n

.

rises at 8 h 7 m an d sets at 3 h 5 1 m an d at n oon

. . . .
, ,

i nstead of bei ng high up i n the sky it is only ,

o r one S ixth of a right angle above the horizon

- -

,
.
 A N CI E N T A S TR ONO M Y 3

From m idwi n ter to m idsu m mer the days lengthen

and the S u n at noon is highe r each day M i d way .

between m idsu mmer an d m i d wi nter on M ar c h 2 2 an d ,

S e p 2 2 the S u n rises due east an d sets d u e wes t,

.
,

an d day an d n ight are equal i n length This suc c es .

sion of p he n o/m e na r e p e a t s itself year by year an d is ,

m ore s t r i ki n g i n the latit u de of the B ritish I sles than

i n the more southern coun tries fro m wh ich our
astronom ical knowledge was derived .

D iagram I ill ustrates the path of the S u n across the

S k y at di f ferent ti mes of the year Th e c ircle N E S is
.

the horizon an d N PZ S
,

the m eri di a n or ci rcle of

the sky cut by a verti cal
plane i n a di rection d u e
north and s outh . The
diagram represe nts the
eastern half of the s k y
the pa rt ab o ve N E S
being above the horizon
a n d visible an d the part
,
Di g I a . .

below N E S below the

horizon a n d i nvisible O n m i dsum me r d ay the S u n
.

travels from A to C between m i d n ight an d m i dd ay ,

c rossi ng the horizon at B (i e risi ng) at 3 h 45 m

. . . .

—
All poi nts of the c i rcle AB C are 6 6 5 from P i e 0
,
. .

if we d ivi d e the ar c of the sphere from the pole P to

the opposite one i n to 1 8 0 parts all poi nts of the
,

—
circle AB C are 6 6 25 parts from P B ut on S eptem
L .

B 2
4 A S TR ONO M Y
be r the S u n is 9 0 from P At m idn ight o n
°
22 .

that day i t is at D rises at E ( due east ) at 6 h o m

, . .
,

an d is at its h i ghest poi nt F ( due south ) at 1 2 h o m -

. .

Whe n we co m e to D ece m ber 2 2 the S u n is I I fro m

P At m i dn ight it is at G does n ot reach H i e
.
, ,
. .

does n ot rise ti ll 8 h 7 m an d is at K ( due so u th ) at

’
. .
,

1 2 o clock .

S o lar Day —It is not qu ite correct to say that the S u n

’
.

is due s o u t h e x ac t ly at 1 2 o clock but this is s u ffi ,

c i e nt l true for the explanati on given i n the last

y
parag raph The i n terval of ti m e between the m oment
.

when the S u n is due south one day to the m o m en t

when it is due south the next is called the solar day ,

an d is the natu ral u n it of ti m e The length of the solar .

day is n ot qu ite c onstant b ut varies to the exten t of

,

one m i n ute at di fferent ti mes of the year I ts average .

len g th throughou t the year is the m ean solar day an d ,

is exac tly the 2 4 hours of ou r clocks an d watc hes .

Year .
— The exact ti m e the S u n takes to go through
the cycle of chan ges described above is the year The .

length of the year can therefore be fou n d a p p r o x i

m ately by coun ti ng t he n u mber of days from a par
t i c u la r day i n an y year to the day i n the followin g

year when the S u n is the same height i n the s ky at

.
’
n oon When the S u n s height at noon or i n tech , ,

n i c a l language its a lti tu d e is measured a c curately i t

, , ,

i s fo u n d that after 3 6 5 days have elapsed fro m M arch

2 2 the S u n is n ot quite so h i gh but after 3 6 6 d ays is ,

h i g her Thus the year does not c onsist of a n exa c t

’
.

n u mber of days .
 A N CIEN T A S TR ONO M Y 5

The G reek astronomer H ippar c hus made ac c urate

, ,

observations which S howed that the year was rather ‘

—
less than 3 6 5% d ays a year of 3 6 5% d ays gi v ing ,

accor d i ng to his c al c ulation s an error of only one ,

d ay i n 3 0 0 years .

Calend ar . It is h ar d ly ne c essary to refer to the

-

di fficulties d i fferen t nati o ns experienced with thei r

c hronology till a civil year was d evised whose aver ,

age length was equal to that of the actual solar or

tropical year O u r calen da r is derive d fro m the one
.

i ntrod u ced by J ul ius C aesar with the advi c e an d assist

ance of S osigenes Every fourth year on this system
.

is a leap year an d consists of 3 6 6 days The error

, .
,

a c cordi ng to this reckon i n g is m ore than was sup ,

posed by H ipparch u s an d is very app roxi mately 3

,

d ays i n 400 years I n co u rse of ti m e this s m all error

.

a cc u m ulated till i n 1 58 2 the equi noxes m i d su m mer

, , ,

day et c all fei l on d ates 1 0 days di fferen t fro m those

,
.
,

on which they ha d fallen i n A D 3 2 5 the year of the . .

,

Council of N ice I n the reformation of the c ale ndar

.
,

which was then i ntrodu c ed by Pope G regory X I I I It ,

was ordai ned that the c entu rial years shoul d not be
cou nte d as leap years u nless the n u mber of centuri es
is d ivisible by 4 without remai nder Thus 1 70 0 1 8 0 0 .
, ,

1 90 0 are not leap years b ut 2 0 0 0 is a leap year With .

,

this c orre c tion the average length of the C ivi l year

only d i ffers fro m the solar year by one d ay i n about
33 00 years .

Ob ser vat i o n o f t he Mo o n — E ach month the M oon

c hanges from new to ful l and from full to new .
6 A S TR ONO M Y
These chan ges i n ’
the M oon s a p pearance are called
its phases an d observat i on S hows that as the phase of
,

the M oon changes the an gle between t he di rections of

the S u n an d M oon changes also The new M oon is
.

always seen i n the west near the setti ng S u n when

half ill u m i n ated its di rection m akes a right an gle with
-

that of the S u n ; an d whe n full its di rection is

,

diamet ri c all y opposite to that of the S u n The c orrect

’
.

i nterp retatio n of the M oo n s phases was given by

—
A ri stotle ( 3 8 4 3 2 2 vi z that i t is a spherical
.

body i ll u m i n ated by t he very distan t S u n O ne half

,
.

of the sphere is b right an d the other dark The .

appearance of the M oon fro m the E arth depen ds on

whether the E arth is i n a posi tion from wh ich m uc h
or l ittle of the i ll u m i nated part is visible .

D i g II
a . .

I n the right half of D iagra m I I the appearance of

the M oo n is S hown : ( 1 ) a few days afte r it i s new ;
2 ) shortly after fi r st quarter ; ( 3 ) full ; ( 4) S hortly b e
(
 A N CIEN T A S TR ONO M Y 7

fore thi r d quarter ; ( 5) a few days be fore it is new .

I n the left half the ill um i nated an d u n il lu m i nate d

parts of the M oon are sho wn at c orrespon d i ng ti m e s .

Another observation whi c h the reader shou l d make

c onsists i n noti ng the position of the Moon with refer
ence to the s t a r s o n tWo c onsecutive n ights I n this way
’

its rapi d m ove m en t across the sky will be d u ly a p p r e

c i at e d
. The distan ce moved i n 2 4 hours will be fou n d
to be very consi derab le app roxi mately
, or 3 t h 1
3

part of the whole cir c u m feren c e of the sky D iagram .

I I I illustrates this : if the M oon is at M one n ight it 1 ,

will be at M at the same ti me on the followi ng n ight

2
.

Further observa 7 7H I

tions of the M oo n
will S how that it is
alwa S to be fo u n d
i
i n a e r t a i n narrow
Q I
"

belt o f stars This

.

belt is called the

zo d i a c
,
an d its c en
IO
tral line is the
D i g III a
e c li p ti c
. .

. The e c li p
tic is a n i magi nary c i rcle which divides the whole
sky i nto two equal portions an d is exa c t ly like the
,

line forme d on a globe by its i ntersection with a

plan e passi ng th rough the c en tre .

Mo nt h I t is well worth while to verify for oneself

that when the M oon is new it is i n the same part of
,

the sky as the S u n an d that it travels rou n d the sky

,

and rea ches the S u n agai n i n one month The len g th .

8 A S TR ONO M Y
o f the m onth is app roxi mately 29% days b u t varies a ,

l ittle fro m m on th to m onth The ti mes of new an d

.

full M oon were carefully i n v estigated by the ancient

astronomers fo r pu rposes of chronology
’
.

Met o n s Cy cle —A S a lu nar month con sists of a p

p roxi mately 2 9% days,
twelve mo n ths wil l con t ai n
app roxi m ately 3 54 days an d as this is 1 1 31 days short
,
-

of the year c onsi derable di fficulty was experienced i n

,

harmon izi n g a syste m of ch ron ology depen di n g on the

Moon with one depen di n g on the S u n M eton who .
,

lived betwee n 40 0 an d 50 0 B C discovered ( if i n deed

. .
, , ,

the discovery is n ot older ) that i n 6 940 days th e re

are al m ost exactly 1 9 years an d also 2 3 5 lu nar m on t hs
, .

C o n sequently i f the dates of new an d full M oo n are

,

kn o w n for 1 9 years the sa m e dates will serve for t he

,

next 1 9 years an d so on A little co m plication arises

, .

i n p r actice fro m the way leap years happen to fall '

b u t this cycle discovered by M eton is still the basis by

wh ich Ch ri s tian cou nt ries fix the festi val of E aster .

As showi ng the accuracy attai ned by M eton i n the

m easure of the len gth of a m onth it m ay be n oted ,

that m odern observations S h o w that 2 3 5 m o nths is

ab out 7 2 hou rs less th a n 6 940 days or that M e t o n s
11 ’ ,

rule m akes the m onth only two m i n utes too S hort .

Ob ser vat i o n o f t he St ar s — W e will now m ake a pre

l i m i nary observatio n of the sta r s I n the northern
.

he m isphere the Great B ear i s one of the most striki ng

constellations . I ts appearance is wel l d escribed by
its A m erican na m e the D ipper When it is once
,
.

reco g n ized it can always be fou n d without any d i ffi

 A N CIE N T A S TR ONO M Y 9

c u lty .I ts position i n the S k y is di fferen t at di ff erent

times of the n ight an d at di fferen t times of the year .

B u t i t always preserves the same form ; the stars do '

not c han ge thei r relative positions b ut t he constell a ,

tion moves as a whole .

fl a k Ho s
-

o fv

Di g IV
a . .

The c hara c ter of this m o vem e n t is easily seen .

I f a l i ne be drawn as i n Diagram I V an d produce d

, , ,

it passes nearly through another star This star calle d .

'
,

the Pole S tar is al w ays to be foun d b y lo o k i n g due

,

north an d ( i n the latit u de of G reat B ritai n ) at an

altit u d e of about or somewhat above the poi n t
m i dway between the zen ith an d the northern horizo n .

If the G r eat B ear be wat c hed at i ntervals f o r a few

 IO A S TR ON O M Y
hou r s it wi ll be seen to be tu rn i n g about the Pole
S tar In the diagram its po s ition marked A B C
.
, , , ,
’
is S hown at 6 p m . m 1 d n i g ht
.
, an d 6 a m o n i

, . .

J an uary 1 N ot on ly the G reat B ear b ut all th e stars

.
,

are seen to partake of this motion at the sa m e rate .

The ti m e they take to m ake a complete revol ution is

evi den tly not v e ry f a r fro m a day for on con s ecutive
.

days at the sa m e hour they are i n nearly the sa m e

position s .

I f we take a con stellation fu rther fro m the N orth

ri

Di g
a . v
.

Pole l ike O rion we fi n d that u nl ike the Gre at B ear

, , , ,

it c a n n o t b e seen at al l ti mes o f the year O n January .

 A N CIEN T A S TR ONO M Y 1 1

1 O rion is a lit tle to the west of south at m i d n ight ;

on Ap ril 1 it is nearly setti n g i n the west at m i dn i ght
on J uly 1 it is not seen an d Oc tobe r I it is rising i n
,

the east at mi dn ight B u t its appearance shows n o

.

c han ge an d its position is always m i dway bet w een

,

Alde baran an d S iri us At whatever part of t he year

.

"

'

it is obs e rved it de scribes the same j o u rney i n the

sky risi ng at the s ame poi n t of the horizon reachi ng
, ,

the same altitu de when d u e s outh an d se tti ng at the

same poin t of the horizon The stars of this c o n s t e l
.

lation l ike those of the G reat Bear keep at const a n t

, ,

distances fro m the pole .

The move m ent of the stars i n the S k y is exactly

W hat We S hould see if we were at the centre of a

D i g m f Ci l ( VI )
a ra o rc e s .

great globe on whi c h they were fixe d an d the globe ,

t u rne d abo u t an axis poi nti n g to the pole Thus .

,

in D iagram V I wh ich rep resents the eastern hal f of a

,
12 A S TR ONO M Y
globe 1 1 1 is the path of a star wh ich never sets ; 2 2 2 of
,

a star wh ich is j u st at such a distance fro m the pole

that it rises at the n orth poi n t of the horizon 3 3 3 i s the
path of a star sti ll farther from the pole wh ich rises ,

t o t he north of east an d i s above the horizo n for the

greate r part of its path b ut below i t for a shorter

( dotted ) part ; 444 is the path of a star wh ich is 9 0
°

fro m t he pole an d for half of its path it is above t he

,

horizon for the othe r half below it an d i nvisible ; 555

,

shows the path of a star m ore than 90 fro m the pole

°

the part of its path du ri n g wh ich i t is above the

horizon i s less than half an d such a star rises at a
,

po i nt south of east ; 6 6 6 is the l i m iti ng path of a star

whi ch never rises i n the latitu de fo r which the diagram
is draw n .

This rep rese ntation of the stars as fixed poi nts on

a tu rn i n g sphere agrees with t he facts t hat the stars
do not c hange thei r relative positio ns an d that all
,

d e scribe parallel ci rcles i n the sky i n the sa m e ti m e .

Th is ti m e is approxi m ately 4 m i n utes less than 2 4

hours Th us each star is at the sa m e poi nt of its dai ly
.

path 4 m i n utes earl ier than it was on the precedi n g

day I n a m o nth this m ak es the very perceptible
.

di fference of two hou rs an d those stars wh ich rise an d

,

set rise an d set two hou rs earlier each month Thus

,
.

the stars wh ich are seen due south at m i dn ight at

one ti m e of year are due south at m i dday afte r six
m ont hs They are not seen owi n g to the glare of
.
,

the sun l i g ht b ut that is the on ly reason and with a

, ,
 A N CIE N T A S TR ONO M Y 1
3

teles c ope fai rly b right stars m ay be seen i n the m i dd le

of the d ay .

The stars then d o not c hange their positions i n the

, ,

sky relatively to o ne another but they a ll move ,

to g ether like so many poi nts pricke d on a vast S phere

whi c h t u rns u n iform about an axis poi nti ng to the
pole Thi s v e f y a n c Ie n t discovery is i mportan t becau se
.

it states these everyday phenomena of the fixed stars

s u c ci n c tly an d accurately I t also f u rn ishes us with a .

new poi n t of view with regar d to the m ovements of

the other heaven ly bodies the S u n M oon and planets , ,
.

I nstead of consi dering their m ovement across the face

of the S k y we may consi der thei r m ove m en ts with
,

reference to the stars That the five planets M ercury .

, ,

Ven us M ars J upiter an d S aturn do not remai n i n the

, ,

same position relatively to the fixed stars bu t wan der ,

a m on g them is very readi ly see n

,
Thei r motion is .

not nearly s o quick as t ha t of the M o on illustrate d

—
_
—
,

i n D iagram I I I b ut is eviden t for some of the m when

,

thei r positions are c ompare d after an i nterval of a

few days an d for others after a few weeks The
,
'

S u n however presents a di fficulty

, ,
I ts l ight obsc u res .

the stars an d preven ts a d i rect deter m i nation of its

,

positio n on the celestial S phere B y caref u lly o b s e r v .

i ng the position of the S u n j u st before it sets relatively

to Ven us or the M oon an d afterwards when the n ight ,

was dark eno u gh for the stars to be seen observi ng ,

the position of Ven us or the M oon relatively to the

stars early astrono mers were able t o mark the position
,
1 4 A S TR ON O M Y
of the S u n day by day on the celest i al globe This i s
.

a very easy task i n a m odern observatory thanks t o

,

the i nstru m ents we n ow possess fo r m easuri ng an gles

,

an d clocks for accu rately m easu ri ng ti me B ut with

.

D i g VII
a . .

the s 1 m p le apparatus possessed by the Chal deans ,

E gyptians an d Greeks it was far from bein g an easy

task .

I n the acco m panyi n g m ap wh ich represen ts two

,
 A N CIE N T A S TR ONO M Y 1
5

halves of a c elestial globe on whi c h all the brightest

stars are marked the p osition of the S u n is marke d
,

for the first day of each month I t will be seen that

.

these positions all l ie on the dotted l i ne c alled t he

D i g V II
a . .

e c lipti c This l i ne is a n i magi nary ci rcle dividing

.

the sphe re i nto two eq u al parts I t is a fixe d li ne

.

among the stars an d goes thro u gh the constellation s

en umerated i n the doggerel li nes
1 6 A S TR ONO M Y
The R a m , t he B u ll, t he He a ve nly Tw i n s ,
An d n e xt t he Cr ab , t he L i o n S hi n e s ,
The Vi r gi n a n d t he S cale s ;
The S c o r p i o n , Ar c he r , a nd He G o a t -

The M a n t hat b ea r s t he w at e r i n g p o t , -

An d Fi sh w i t h g li t t er i n g t a i ls .

I t is i m portan t to n otice that the S u n makes this

sa m e j ourney a m ong the st ars each year an d that its
j ou rney is i nt i m ately associated with the chan ges of i t s
position i n the sky referred to o n pp 2 3 an d ill us .
, ,

t r a t e d i n D iagra m I For the Ci rcle of the ecliptic on

.

the globe is i n some parts nearer to the north pole

than i n others I t cuts the e q u i n o c ti a l or c i rcle i n t he
.

S k y m i dway between the poles i n two poi n ts whic h

are 90 away fro m the poles an d half way between

°

,
-

°
the m is as S ho w n i n the m ap 2 3 5 nearer to or farther
’
, ,

fro m the poles O n M arch 2 2 the S u n s position i n

.

the ecl i p tic is at one of the poi nts where the e q u 1 n o c t i a l

is cut I t is then 90 fro m the poles an d its path i n
°
"

.
,

the sky on that day i s the circle D E F of D iagra m I .

The days an d n ights are equal an d the S u n rises due ,

east an d sets due west The S u n moves alon g the ecliptic

.

th rough P isces Aries an d Tau rus an d on J u ne 2 2 t

, , I

—
has reached a poi nt 6 6 distan t fro m the north pole 0
.

D u ri n g this period the days have len gthened an d the

n ights shortened i n the northern hem isphere .

The converse process goes on i n the next three

m onths whi le the S u n passes through Gem i n i Cancer ,

an d Leo t ill on S epte m ber 2 2 the days an d n ights are

,

agai n equal The S u n conti n u es to m ove fart her from

.
 A N CIE N T A S TR ONO M Y 1
7

the north for the next three m o nths till Dece m ber 2 2 ,

w hen the shortest day i n the northern an d longest i n

the southern h em isphere occurs I t then m oves n orth .

ward and on M arch 2 2 co m pletes its circle

,
.

This an n ual m ove ment of the S u n accou nts for the

c han g i ng of t he co n stellations visible at n ight at
d i fferen t ti m es of the year For example i n J u ne .
,

at m idday O rion is i n the southern sky below the S u n ,

an d with a telescope the b righter stars may so m eti m es

be seen b ut it is i n D ecember when the S u n is at the
, ,

opposite part of the s k v that O rion is seen towar d s

t he south at m idn ight .

The discovery of the move m en t of the S u n am ong

the stars is the fi rst great lan d m ark i n the history of
astronom ical s c ience The date of the discovery is
very u n c ertai n an d has to be i nferred from slen d er
-

evidence like the na m es of the constellations thro u gh

whi c h the S u n passes I t is p robably between 2 000
"

and 3 0 00 B C . .

E cli p ses o f t he S un an d Mo o n — E c lipses of the S u n an d

Moon especially of the S u n are very strikin g pheno
, ,

m ena . Ex c l u din g the Ch i nese ac c ou nts the earliest ,

ecl ipse of which we ha ve any recor d is referre d to on

a B abylon ian tablet an d has been i dentified with o ne
which oc c u rred i n 1 06 2 S o m e verses i n the B ook
of Am o s e g c hapter vi i i ver 9
,
. . to d arken the
.
,
.
,
“
”
earth while it is yet d ay may be taken as an i n dica ,

tion that the writer had seen the total eclipse of the
S u n whi c h passe d across S amaria on J u ne 1 9 76 3 B C ,
. .
1 8 AS TR ON O M Y

Fro m the fact that Thales is said to have predicte d

“
an ecl ipse wh ich occu rred i n 58 4 i t is clear that
con si derable knowledge o f these pheno m ena was
possessed at that ti me i n I on ia B ut to the B aby
.

lon ian s belongs the honou r of havi n g discovered a

law i n these appare ntly very i rregular occurren ces I t .

was doub tless percei ved soon a fter records were kept
that ecl i pses of the S u n occurred at the ti m e of new
M oon an d those of the M oon at the ti m e of full M oon
, .

The correct explanation was g iven vi z the i nter , .

position o i the M o o n between the E arth an d S u n In

the case of a solar ecl ipse ; an d the i n terposition o f the
E arth between the S u n an d M oon i n the cas e of a
l u nar ecl ipse B ut a s the path of the M oon a m ong
.

the stars does not coi nci de with that of t he S un b ut is ,

i ncl i ned to it at a s m all angle the th ree bodies are

‘

n ot su ffi ciently i n a straight li ne for eclipses to occu r

at every ne w an d f ull M oon The path of the M oon i n
.

the sky is a ci rcle i ncl i ned at about 5 degrees to the

ecliptic the path of the S u n ( see p
,
The two poi nts
.

of in tersection of these ci r c les are called the nodes o f the

’
Moo n s orb it I f the M oon is su fficien tly near a n o d e
.

whe n i t is n ew o r full an eclipse of the S u n or M oo n

respecti vely will oc c ur From ou r present kn owledge
.

of t he m o ve m e n t s of t he M oo n an d of its nodes W h ich

” ’
-

m ove ro un d the ecliptic i n 1 8 years an d 7 m on ths i t —

can be shown that after 2 2 3 m on ths the relative pos 1
‘

t i o n s o f the S u n M oon an d the n o des of the M oon s

‘

,
’
,

orb it wi ll be nearly t he sa m e Th us after this period

.
 A N CIEN T A S TRONO M Y $
9

eclipses Wil l re c u r This very curious cycle called the

.
,
-

S aros was dis c overed by the B abylon ian astronomers

,

fr o m thei r observatio ns of eclipses of the M oon The .

pe r iod is 2 2 3 m onths or 6 58 5 3 days or approxi mately ,

-

18 years an d 1 1 days I f then the ecli pse s are

"
.
, ,

r e c o r d e d/ w h ic h OcCii r i n one period of this duration

those i n the next period m ay be p redi c te d an d so on , .

As the relationship between the n u mbers is not q uite

exa c t an e c lipse m a y i n s o me cases o c cu r wh i c h is n o t
,

predi c ted by the cycle an d i n some cases an ecl ipse

,

predicted i n _t hi s way may not occu r b ut the extre m e ,

cases where the rule fails fro m one cy c le to the next

are very few The d at e of the dis c overy o f the S aros
.

c ann o t be fixe d with c ertai n ty b u t m ust have been

‘

so m e c enturies before t he Christian era .

The Planet s — B esides the S u n and M oon there are

fi ve other celestial bo di es visible to the naked eye
which m ove a m ong the stars O f these Mercury is .

only o cc asionally seen i n Great B ritai n Ven us is best .

known as a b rilliant even i ng star wh i c h is someti mes

visible i n the west about the ti me of su nset At .

other times it is a m orn i ng star an d rises before t he

S un . The identity of the even i ng an d morn i ng star is .

s aid to have been discovered by Pythagoras Ven u s i s .

always seen i n a di rection not far from that of the S u n ,

the largest angle between them bein g The planet

passes fro m S i d e to S i d e of the S u n as the S u n pursues
its c ir c it of the sky an d when on one si d e is seen as
u ,
?

the m orn i ng star an d when o n the other as t he e v e n i n g

-

C 2
20 AS TR O N OM Y

star N ext to Ven us J up iter i s t he m ost b rillian t of

.
,

the p lanets I f its position amon g t he stars i s plotted

.

down each day on a celestial globe or on a m ap of the

stars i t wil l be seen to be someti mes movi ng rou nd
’
,

t he s ky i n th e di rection of the S u n s a n n ual m otion ,

b ut so m eti m es to be m o vi n g i n the opposite di rection .

It s total m ovement In a su ffi ciently long i nterval is

’
.

i n the same se nse as the S u n s m otion b ut the i r r e g u

"
,

la r i t i e s of i ts m ove m en t will be seen from D iagra m

VI I I givi ng its m ove m en t fro m 1 90 8 S ept 2 0 to 1 90 9
, , .
, ,

J uly 1 0 M ars an d S atu rn exhib it a si m ilar i rregular

.

move m en t a m on g
t he stars The .

m ost i m portan t d if
ference between the
m ove m en ts of these
th ree planets is tha t
D i g VIII
a . .

M ars takes 2 years ,

J upite r 1 2 years an d S aturn years to com plete the

c i rcui t of the sky .

The G reek astronomers succeeded i n exp ressi n g the

observed m ove m e nts of the planets as well as of the ,

S u n an d M oon by mathe m atical fo r m u l ae so that

, ,

their position co u l d be c alculated an d p re d icted This .

was an i m m ense step i n the p rogress of astronomy .

A form ula however emp i r i cal it may be which cor

, ,

r e c t ly rep resents t he facts si m pl i fi es thei r state m en t

,

a n d bri n gs the m i n to orderly arrange m en t an d s m all

co m pass As an exam ple we m ay take the rep rese nta

.
 A N CIEN T A S TR ONO M Y 2 1

ti on of the movement of J upiter as given by the G reek

geometri c ians .

Let the poi nt I i n D iagram I X make the c i r c u it Of

~

the sky i n 1 2 years R epresen t this by the m ovement

.

of I roun d the c irc u mfer

ence o f the Ci rcle Whose
I

c en tre is E M eanwhile
.

let the po i nt J move ro u n d

a ci r c le of the ra d ius of
E I i n the cou rse o f one
year As seen fro m E
.
,

J when at J will be 1

movi n g i n a retrogra d e
di rec t i on when at J i n a
, D i g IX
2 a . .

forward one This e p i

.

c yclic movem ent of I as seen from E presents the

mai n features of the m ove ment of J upiter amon g the
stars namely its alternate p rogression an d retro
, ,

g r ess io n
. F u rther by taki ng the ,
ra d i i of the ci r c les
and the periods i n which they are des c ribed i n s u itable
proportions the m ove m en t of J i n the diagram as seen
,

from E agrees i n a m oun t with t he observe d m otion

of J upiter i n the sky .

Hi p p ar chu s H ippar c h u s one of the greatest of all

.
,

astron omers l ive d at R ho d es an d made observation s

, ,

between 1 46 an d 1 2 6 B C He i nve nte d trigonometry . .

,

an d by its ai d ma d e geometrical rep resentations of the

m o t 1 o n s of the heaven ly bo d ies by means of epi c ycles ,

e c centri c s et c i n clos e n u m e r i c al a g ree m e nt with t he

, .
,
 22 A S TR ONO M Y
best an d m ost detailed observati o ns which were then
“

possible Fo r example it was known that the S u n

.
,

m o ved a cross the sky more rap i dly i n wi nter than i n

su m mer H ipparch us showed that the m ove m en t would

.
‘

be accu rately represen ted if the S u n m oved u n ifo rm ly

rou n d the Ci rcle whose centre is O ( D ia gra m X ) b ut the ,

e arth fro m which it is seen had the slightly eccentric

positio n E H e fixe d the pos i tion of E as bei n g 9 3 t h

.
l

part of the radi us distan t

fro m O an d i n such a ,

di rection that the S u n was

at A on J u ne 1 -

A H ipparchus m ade a .

great step i n u n ravelli ng

the m otio n o f the M oon ,

whic h when observed i n

,

detai l a n d w ith a o Cu rac y

Di g X a
,

is extremely co m plicated
. .

As i n the C ase of the S u n he fou n d that its v aryi ng

”

rate Of m otion cou l d be represen ted by su pposi ng the

-

E arth to be placed e cce n trically In a circ le w hos e

-

’
c i rcu m f e rence w a s u n i f o r m l d e s c r i b e d b v the M oon He
y
discovered that to represen t the motio n ac c u rately the
l i ne correspon di n g to E A of the last d 1a g r a m revolves
i n a ti m e which he fi xed at 9 years This is known as .

the m ove me nt of the apse He also deter m i ned the

’
.

i ncli nati on of the M oon s orbit to that o f the e c l i ptic

to b e an d S howe d that the poi nts wher e the ci rcle
whi c h t he M o o n tr aced on t he celestial s p her e cut the
' ‘ ‘
‘

x
 A N CIEN T A S TR ONO M Y 2
3

ecliptic are not fixe d but m o ve roun d i n a perio d

of 1 9 years Thus i n D iagram X I if N A M B is the
’
.
, l l

ecliptic an d N C M D the M o on s orb it ; the an gles

, l l

at N an d M were fou n d to be
1 1
an d the p oi nts N

Di g X I
a . .

M c arryi ng the ci rcle N C M D with them m ove d I l

rou n d N A M B i n 1 9 years
I l
.

Perhaps t he m o s t fa m ous of the discoveries of

“

Hipparchus is that o f t he pr e c e s s i o n o f t he e q u i n o x es
r
a .

I n the ye a r 1 3 4 B C the appearance of a new star

. .

i n the constellation S corpio led H ipparchus to m ake

a catalogue of 1 0 8 0 stars for co m parison with cata
’

lo g u es m ade at other dates He determ i ned the posi .

tio n of t he stars with all possible precision When

"

he co m pared this catalogue with earlier ones he fou n d

that the stars had S hifted thei r positions with reference
to the eq u i noxes or poi n ts i n the sky where the ecl iptic
cuts the equ i noctial As the stars all showed the sa m e
.

shift the change i n thei r positio ns was attrib uted by

,

hi m to a movem e nt of the equ i noxes i n an opposite

dire c ti o n .
2
4 A S TR ONO M Y
The mean i n g of this discovery wi ll be u n derstood
m o re clearly by referen c e to the m ap on pp 1 4 1 5 .
,
.

The ecl iptic or path of the S u n amon g the stars does

not chan ge ; its cou rse is th rough the constel lation s of
A ries Tau rus etc B ut i n the m ap i t w ill be seen
, ,
.

that the S u n is m i dw a y between P isces an d Aquari u s

at the ti m e when it crosses the equ i noctial i e at , . .

the ti m e i n s pri n g when the S u n is j ust 9 0 fro m t he °

pole an d the days an d n ights are equal I n the ti m e .

of H ipparchus the e q u i n octial was i n a d i ff erent posi

tion an d cut the ecliptic at a poi n t i n the c o n stellation
Pisces 2 8 fro m its p resent p osition The equ i noxes
,
°
.

move rou n d the ecl iptic i n years a m ove ,

ment discovere d by H ip parch us by the di fferences b e

twee n his catalogue an d one con structed 1 50 years
p r e v i o ir s ly N ow . the p ole o f the sky bears the sa m e
r ela t i o n fi t o t he equi noctial as the pole of the E arth does

to the E qu a tor bei n g 90 away fro m every part of it

,
°
.

As the equ i noctial move s the pole necessa rily mo ves

too an d thus p recession states that the poi nt of the
,

S k y ab o u t which the stars tu rn slowly chan ges i t s

position describ i n g amon g the stars i n

,
years
°
a s mall ci rcle whose radi us is 2 3 5 At p resen t the
po le is ne a r the st a r Polaris I ts positions 6 500 years
.

ago an d years a go are S hown on the map .

The e ffect of the p recession of the equ i n oxes is to

change the ti m e of year at which the constellations
are vi sible O ri o n is at present a wi nter constellation
. .

W e s ee it d u e so ut h at m i d nigh t i n D ece m ber 6 0 00 .

 A N CIE N T A S TR ONO M Y 2
5

years ago it was d u e so u th at mi d night i n the

a u tum n I n 6 00 0 years m ore i t will be d ue south at
.

m i d n ight i n the sp rin g These c hanges b rought abo u t

.

by precession i n the positions of the stars i n relation

to the seasonal changes of the S u n can be i n so m e
i nstance s u sed f o r chronological p u rposes For
"

- .

exa m ple Hesiod gives i nformation about the ti mes of

,

risi n g an d setti n g of S i ri us at c ertai n ti m es of the

—
year the year bei n g defined by the seasons which -

c a n be u se d to verify the app roxi mate date at whi c h

he wrote The appr o xi mate d ates of some of the

.

pyra m ids an d some temples have been determi ned by “

m o re o r less c onj ectural relatio nships between the

position of the S u n an d so m e bright star at the time
of thei r erection the risi ng of the star havi n g been
,

used as a warn i ng of the approach of su nrise at the

’
eq u i n ox or at m idsu m mer s d ay .

Th e D st an
i ce o f the S un M oo n an,d Planet s ,
— That
the E arth is a s phere was believed by Plato an d
Aristotle Thei r rea s ons were the sa me as those given
.

i n modern books on geography except the reason ,

which m ight be expected to convi n c e eve n t he least

refle c tive n a mely that people have bee n round it an d
, ,

nearly all over it E r a t o s t hen es the lib rarian at Alex

.
,

an dria who live d fro m 2 76 to 1 96 B C first determ i ne d

, . .
,

i t s size . He observe d that at the s u m me r solsti c e t he

S u n was verti c ally overhead at S yene i n lower E gypt
b u t at Alexan dria made an angle with the verti c al o f
or 0 t h part of t he ci rcu m fe re nce of a ci rc le
l
5 .
26 A S TR ONO M Y
Taki ng the S u n to be at a distance so m uch greater
than the distance A S D iagram X I I t hat the li nes
, ,

fro m A an d S to the S u n are

p arallel the an gle A OS b e
,

tween the verticals at the two

places is Thus AS
"

Ci rcu mf erence of E arth

7 I 50 .

Thedistance between
S yene an d Alexan dri a was
m easured an d fou n d to b e
5 0 0 0 stadia an ,
d theref o re the
ci rcu m ference of the eart h
was st adia The .

D i g X II
a . .

value of a stadi u m is not

k now n exactly, an d the accuracy of the result can not
be stat ed b ut the met hod is sou n d an d the result not
,

fa r fro m the truth .

Kn owi n g the S i ze of the E arth H ip parchus was

able to m e a su r e t he di s t a nce
of the M oo n When the
‘

M o o n is partiall y ecli psed

t he edge of the S hado w of

the E arth i s se e n as part of

a c i r c le on the M o o n as i n ,

D iagra m X I I I The s ize of .

th is ci rcular shad o w is c o m -

D i g x11 1
a
ared with the s i ze of the
. .

p
“

’
M o o n The app a ren t d 1a m e t e r o f the M o o n is
. or
3 0 thus it is f ou n d that th e S h a d o w o f t he E a rth a t t he
 A N CIEN T A S TR ONO M Y
d istan c e of the Moo n subten ds an angle of D ia
gram X I V ,
in which S , E M are the
, S un, E arth an d

Di g a . x1 v .

Moon shows how the shadow is formed The angle

, .

A E B is thus foun d to be while the angle F E G

u nder whi c h the S u n i s seen is 3 0 ’
1
"I n the d iagra m .

these angles are necessarily grossly exaggerate d ]

W ith these data and m aki n g the assu m ption that
’
,

the S u n s distance i s 2 0 or 3 0 or any large n u m ber of

’
ti m es the M o o n s d istance H ipparchus fou n d that the
’
,

M oon s d istance fro m the E arth was about 59 ti m es

the radius of the E arth an d that the result did not ,

vary m uch with the di ff eren t hypotheses made as to

’
the S u n s d istance p rovided it was a good many ti m es
larger than that of the M oon .

Ptole m y w ho l ive d at Alex a n d ria about A D

, . .

d eterm i ne d the d istance of the M oon by a m ethod

which is substantially the one n ow adopted I f at .

the same m oment the position of the M o on be observe d

from two places A an d B at a c onsiderable dista nc e
apart on the earth ( D iagram XV ) ; a nd Z A M Y E M , ,

1
The an gle g
t hr o u h w hi c h we t ur n in lo o k i n g fr o m o ne

d i r ec t i o n t o a p e r p e n d i c u la r o ne is c a lle d a ri g ht -
an gle . If t hi s
an gle i s d i v i d e d i n t o 90 e q u a l p ar t s , e ac h i s c a lle d o n e d e g r e e , and

w ri t te n O n e S i xt i e t h p a r t o f a d e g r e e i s c alle d a m i n u t e , an d
’
-

w r it t e n I. O n e s i xt i e th
-
p ar t o f a m in u t e is c a lle d a s eco nd
,

an d w r it t e n I
2 8 AS TR ONO M Y

the angles between the di rection s of the M oon an d ,

the verti c als at the two places be measu re d ; kn o wi ng

’
the positions of A an d B on the E arth s su rface it ,

is possible to draw the d i agram below to scale an d

th us i nfer how large O M the distance of t he M oon
,

15 as c o m pared wi th O A or O B the ra d i us of the

'
,

E arth I n actu a l p ractice t rigon o metrical calcula

tions are used b ut that is only because drawi n g to
,

scale can not be d one with su ffi c ient acc u racy

’
.

The M o o n s d i s t a n c e was th u s satisfactori ly deter

m i ned an d Ptolemy tried to use hi s res u lt i n co m
,

b i nation with the ecl ipse method of H ipparch us to

’
,

obtai n the S u n s di s tan c e . He fou n d that the S u n

was 2 0 ti mes as far away as the M oon This Is m uch
.

too s m al l ; we know now that the S u n 1 5 nearly 400

ti mes as far away a s the M oon The method use d by
’
.

P tolemy is not susceptible of givi n g the S u n s distance

with accu racy
The Alm agest .
—Although Ptole m y made several
d iscoveries of very great i m portance the greatest
,
 AN CIE N T A S TR O N O M Y 29

servi c e he ren d ered to astron omy c onsists i n his

treatise 11 6 ) q
,
: or the Al magest as it was ,

c alled later by the Arabian astronomers This work .

c ontai ns the whole b ody of astronom ical knowledge

then known an d was for 1 400 years an astrono m i c al
,

bible .

The pre c eding pag es give some idea of the i m

mense p rogress m a d e by the G reeks i n astronomy .

T hey had reached c orrect i d eas of the shape an d size

of the E arth an d the d istan c e of the M oon ; they knew
that the S u n was much farthe r away than the M oon ,

an d g u essed from the rates of movemen t of the planets

rou nd the sky that thei r distan c es were of a si m ilar
order of magn itude J u piter an d S aturn bei ng the
,

most d istant while the fixed stars were m u c h farther

,

away . Agai n the movemen ts o f S u n M oo n an d

, ,

pl anets ha d b ee n st u died i n c onsi derable detai l an d ,

geometrical and trigonometri c al represen tations of

them ha d been devise d These representations were
.
-

s u ffi c iently acc u rate for the p redi c tion of their positions

and of eclipses I n these geom etrical rep resen tations
.

the E a r t h w a s taken as stationary an d m o vements a t t r i

,

b u ted to the S u n M oon an d planets an d t he celestial

,

sphere of the stars I t may well be that H ippar c h u s

.

an d Ptolemy regar d e d as form ul ae what thei r more

ignorant su cc essors regar d e d as dogmas I n any case .

the skill with which the movements of the heavenly

bodies were traced an d brought i nto relationship with
geometry ma d e astronomy an exa c t scien c e of grea t
scope an d i nterest .
 C H A PT E R I I
R I A
THE C O PE N C N S YS TEM
Co p er ni cus .
-
’
F ro m Pt o le m y s
Al m agest i n the
m i ddle of the seco n d cen tu ry to the D e R e v o lu ti o n i
,

bn s of Cope rn icus i n the m i ddle of the S ixte e n th

centu ry c o m paratively l ittle progress was made i n
,

astrono m y B u t the publ ication of the D e R e v o la

.

ti o n i bn s i n 1 543 was the be g i n n i n g o f a new astro

n o m i c a l era The change fro m the an cien t to the
.

m oder n co nception s of astron omy is associated with

—
fou r great na m es Copern icus Gal ileo Tycho a n d , , ,

K e p le r t ‘
x

Co p er n icus stated two pro p ositions

1 ) That t he di u rnal m ove m en t of the sta rs is appar
(
ent o nly an d results fro m a rotation of the E arth about
,

its axis i n t he o pposite di rection .

( )
2 That the Earth is one of the planets a nd l ike , ,

th em revolves rou n d the S u n

, .

These are the com m onplaces of modern astrono m y ;

it is h o wev e r bot h i nteresti n g an d i m portan t to
, ,

notice t he argu m ents which were adduced i n thei r

f a vou r an d those b rought again st the m
’
,

E ar t h s Di ur nal R o t at i o n — Copern icus showed clea rly

the relative character of m otion The apparen t motio n .

3 0
 TH E CO PERNI CA N S Y S TEM
“

3 1

of obj e cts as seen from the wi n d ow of a railway car

r i a e is so famil iar that i t i s n ot n e ces s ary to elabor
g
ate the proposition that the ap pearance o f m oti o n is
equally p roduced by a movem e nt of the obj ect or
the observer The apparen t mov e men t of the stars i n
.

parallel ci rcle s is i d ent c al with the m o ve m en t wh ic h

-
i

woul d b e produced by a rotati on of the E arth ab o ut

its axis The obj e ctions are the d i fficulty of b e li e v
.
,

i n g i n the m otion o f so large a body as the E arth

that we shoul d be enti rely u nconscious of this m o ve
m ent ; an d that m ovab le bo d ies specially the ai r
, ,

sh o uld not be left behi nd C o pern icus po i nts out

.

that thes e obj ections would apply with far greater

force to a rotation o f the celestial sphere contai n i ng
the stars for thi s i s i m m easu rably larger than the
,
’

Earth an d woul d need t o m o ve at an i m measu rably

,

gr e ater spee d to accom p l ish a di u rnal rotation .

Annu al Revo luti o n o f E ar t h r o und t he S un Th e .

-

an n ual m otion of the S u n among the stars i s as

well explai ne d by an an n u al revol uti on of the Earth
about the S u n as by that o f the S u n about the E arth .

I n D iagram XV I when the Earth is at E the S u n

, ,

w ill appear p roj ected agai nst the sky at e ; when the
'

E arth m oves to F the S u n will appear proj e c te d

’
,
’
agai n s t the sky at f and the ap p earance of the S u n s
,

an n ual move m en t a m ong the stars will be pro d u c e d .

The explanation of t he seas o ns o ffers no d i ffi culty .

The axis roun d which the Earth makes its d ai ly

rotation is fixe d i n a d i re c tion not perp e n di c ular to
3 2 AS TR ON O M Y

the plane m which the E arth revolves rou n d the S un,

Di g
a . XVI
.

b ut i ncli ned at 2 3 to this perpen dicular I n D ia .

gra m XVI I the centre of the E arth desc ribes the

D i g XVII
a . .

ci rcle CCCC abou t the S un i n the d i rection shown by

 TH E CO PE RNI CA N S Y S TE M 33

the arrows As the axis is no t p e rpen d ic u lar to the

.

p lane of th is circle i n J u ne t he northern he m IS p he r e

’
,

is more di rectly u n de r the S u n s rays or the S un] ,

appears higher bei ng di rectly overhead at a poi nt

,

n o rth of the eq u ator S i m ilar ly i n December the .

,

poin t o n t he S u n is directly over

head is so u th o i the equator B y ru n n i ng a kn itti ng .

needle through a ball of wo rsted a m o d e l ca n be con

structed with which the m ove m en t of the E arth rou n d
’
,

the S u n can be i m itated an d the c a ube of the E arth s ,

seasonal changes explained .

The alternations of f o rward an d retrograde motion

of the maj or planets ( see p which is r e p r e .

sented by an e p i c yclic m oti on on the P tolemaic

syste m i s accou nted for at once by Copern icus The
,
.

m ove m en t of J up iter for example is rep resen ted i n, ,

D iagra m I X by a m ov e men t of I rou n d E ( the Earth )

i n twelve years while J ( J u piter ) moves ro u n d I i n one
,

year . D iagra m XVI I I ‘

shows how this would be

represente d on the Coper
n ican system S is the .

S un ; E the E arth d e
, ,

scribes a ci rcle rou n d i t i n

one year J J upiter d e
, , ,

scribes a ci rcle rou n d S i n

twelve years the radi us ,
D i g XV II I a
bei ng five ti mes S E If
. .

the li ne E 1 is d rawn parallel to S J an d J I parallel t o

D
34 A S TR ONO M Y
S E, the n the poi nts I an d J bear the sa m e relation to
E as i n the Pt o le m a 1c diagram , for E I an d I ] ar e
equal i n length an d i n the sa me di rection s i n the two
dia g ra m s Thus i n the Copern ican syste m t he a p
.

paren t m otio n o f J u p i t e r r e la t i v e ly to the E a r t h o r

‘

as see n fro m the E arth is shown to result fro m a

,

m otion of J upi ter rou n d the S u n i n a circle co m

‘ .
,

b i n e d wi th a motion of the E arth

‘

— the poi n t fro m

—
wh ich J up iter i s viewed i n another ci rcle .

The esse ntial features of the m ove m e nts of the

planets Ven us an d M ercury are readily explai ne d .

As they m ove rou n d the S u n i n less than a year they

’
,

w i ll n e c e s s a r i ly b e s e e n f r o m the E arth fi rst on one

,

si de a n d then o n the other

(

si de of the S u n I n D ia
.

gra m X I X i f V e n us is at V
,

when the E arth i s a t E ,

l o o ki n g at the S u n fro m E ,

V e n u s woul d appear o n the

l e ft han d whi le if the Earth
,

’
reach es E when Ve n u s
’
reaches V it will be se en
D i g x 1x
,
~
a
on the ri ght han d Thus
. .

Ven u s will be alternately a m orn i n g an d even i ng Star ,

'
an d can never be more than a ce rtai n an g ular d istan ce
fro m the S u n as it will always be w ith i n th e an gle
,

for m ed by the two tangents fro m the E a rth to the

ci rcle alon g w hich Venus m oves .

Copern icus furth e r showed ho w the relative d i s

 TH E CO PE RNI CA N S Y S TEM 35

tances of t he planets from the S u n coul d be obtai ne d .

As Mercury never gets so far from the S u n as Venus ,

i t m u st d escribe a s maller c ircle ; the knowle dge of

the greatest angle its d i rection can make with that
of the S u n mak es it possible to d r a w this ci rcle to
scale with t he On e described by the E arth S i m ilarly
"

with regar d to Ven us if E K is draw n so that S E K

,

is the greatest angular d i s tance Ven us attai ns fro m

t he S u n ,
i t is on ly necessary to d raw a ci r c le with .

c entre S to give the orb it of Ven us The distances .

of M ars J up iter an d S atu rn are de d u cible from the

,

extent of their retrograde motions Thus Copern ic u s

"
.

was able to draw a plan of the solar syste m givi ng the ,

planets i n thei r order of di s tanc e from the S u n an d ,

at thei r p rop ortionate distances He p o i n te d o u t that

.

this order agre ed with the or d er which coul d be

i nferred from thei r t i m es o f revol ution Th u s M er
-
-

c u ry the nearest goes rou n d the S u n i n 8 8 days

, , ,

Ven us i n 2 2 3 days the E arth i n a year etc an d

, ,
.
,

S aturn the most d istant i n 3 0 yea rs

, ,
D iagr a m XX .
,

taken from the D e R e e o ln ti o n i ba s gives the or d er , ,

b u t not the correct relative d ist a nces I t will be .

noticed that the M oon revolves roun d the E arth as i n

the Ptole m aic syste m an d is c arrie d with the Earth
,

i n its orb it roun d the S u n .

Di ffi cu lt i es o f Co p r n can
e i S y st em — The Copern ican
syste m presented several d i ffic u lties How the Moon .

c o u l d be carried ro u n d the S u n w ith the E arth is a

mechanical problem wh ich was not at that ti me
D 2
3 0 A S TR O N O M Y
soluble A not her obj ection a r ose f ro m the absence
. ,

of any a p p reciable motion of the fi xed stars Thei r .

i mm ense distances a r e fa m iliar to us now b ut at the ,

ti m e wh e n the Copern ican system had to m eet

criticism their distances m ight well have bee n sup
posed to be 1 0 o r 2 0 o r 3 0 tim es the d istan c e o f
, ,

D i g XX
a . .

S atu rn . I f the E arth described a ci rcle rou n d the

S u n, positions when on opposite s ides are a very
1t s

great distance apart I t was to be expected that the

.

stars seen fr o m two p o i nts so far apart would S ho w

, ,

so m e di ffer ences of rel a tive position The only reply.

—
wh ich coul d be g 1 v e n an d it is the correct one was
-

that the distances of the fi xed stars are so great that

the d istance between t he E a r t h a n d S u n is i n a p p r e
'

c i ab le i n c om parison with th e m .
 TH E CO PE RNI CA N S Y S TE M 37

O ther obj ections to the Copern i c an system were i t s

supposed opposition to the B ible an d its d isagree m en t
with the orthodox astronomy fou n d i n t he writings
of Ptolemy an d Aristotle Cu riously enough the
.

authority of Greek te ache rs was its greatest obsta c le ,

although freedo m of thought is a heritage the wo rl d

owes so largely to Greek philosophy I t was a .

hu n dred years before the Copern i c an sy stem com

p l e t e ly s u perseded that of P tolemy .

G a li le o — Galileo supported the Copern ican theory

by arguments which appea led to a wi d er audience
than the m a t he m a t i c a l t reat i s e of Copern icus I n
r
.

1 6 0 9 he le a r n e d t ha t a D u t c h optician had by a com

,

bi nation of lenses d evised an i nstru men t which made

d istan t obj ects see m near Galileo real ized the optical
.

pri nciples wh ich m ust u n derl ie such an i nstrumen t ,

an d soon made one h i m self whi c h magn ified th i rty

ti mes H e poi n ted thi s to the sky an d fou n d that the
.
,

n u mber of stars visible was m uch greater than coul d

be seen with t he naked eye .

'
S een i n hi s telesc o p e t he M o o n p resented the
.

appearance of a mou n tai nou s c ou ntry with d ark

,

shadows cas t b y the ; m o u ntai ns

\
N ear the edge
.

between the b right a n d d ark parts he saw b right spots

where the mou ntai n tops were ill um i nat ed by the
risi ng or the setti ng su n while the valleys were stil l
,

i n darkness . F rom the lengths of t he S hadows he

c alculated the heights of the mo u ntai ns S ome of .

the dark parts he erroneo u sly supposed to be water .

3 8 A S TR ONO M Y
Th us the M oon i nstead of bein g a crystal globe as
, ,

the ol d astro no m e rs bel ieved had m ou ntai ns an d

,

valleys like the E arth .

Poi nti n g h is tel es cope to the planets he fou n d that

they were n ot b right poi n ts l ike the stars b u t discs of ,

sensible magn itu de like t he S u n an d M oon The .

appearanc e of Ven us was especially striki n g I t was .

seen to have phas es l ike the M oon an d the conclusion

,

was I rresistible that l ike t he M oon i t sh i nes by the

, ,

reflected l igh t of the S u n an d not by its ow n l ight

, .

This establ ished a resem

bl ance between Ven us an d
the M o on an d afforded ,

another argu ment i n favou r

of the Copern ican theory
.
.

O n Jan uary 7 1 6 1 0 he , ,

saw th ree small stars i n a

l i n e w 1 t h J up ite r ( D iagra m
XX I ) . B y ac ci den t he
exa m i ned J up iter agai n on
J an uary 8 an d f o un d them
,

i n a di ffe ren t position .

J an uary 9 was clou dy O n .

J an uary 1 0 he fou n d t w o
stars both on the e ast of the
pl anet O n the 1 l t h he
.

D i g xx 1
a . .

fou n d two on the east b ut ,

t he mo st easterly one was m uch the b righter ; On

the 1 2 t h he saw th ree s t ars the th i rd one e mergi n g
,
 TH E CO PE RNI CA N S Y S TE M 39

from behin d the planet du ri n g his o bservations O n

-

the 1 3 th he saw fou r stars Gal ileo perceived that

.

the s e stars wer efour satellites revolvi n g rou n d J upiter

“
j ust as the M oon revolves rou n d the Earth He .

observed the m f urther an d determ i ned thei r period s

,

“
of revolution The anal ogy between J upiter an d his
.

satellites an d the E arth an d M oon was an other argu

’
m ent for the Copern ican theory As J hpi t e r s moon s .

revolve arou n d an d accompany Jupite r m ay no t

’
,

t he E arth s M oon accompany t he E arth i n its r e v o lu

tion about t he S u n ?
’
G alileo s telescope revea led to h i m still another
analogy which lent support to the Copern ican theory .

He discovered spots o n the S u n w hi c h d i d not re m ain

stati o nary but crossed t he disc i n fou rteen days and
, ,

S howe d chan ges i n appearance which as he explai ne d , ,

woul d natu rally arise fro mp erspective when the spots

were seen at an in creasi n g an gle He c oncl uded .

that the S u n rotated on an axis I f the S u n why

-
.
,

not the E arth 9

I n 1 6 3 2 Galileo publ ished his grea t work t he ,

Di a lo g u e on t he Tw o Chi ef S y s t em s
f o t he W o r ld —
a

t he Pt o le m a i c a n d t he Co p er n i c a n The argu m ent s .

i n favou r of the Coper n ican system were put forwar d

w i th un an swerable fo rce an d the book was receiv ed
,

w i th ap plause all over E u r o pe U nfortunatel y for

.

Galileo he had m ade m any e nem ies du ri ng a l ife

,

full of contro versy They procu red his trial by

.

t he I n quisition an d he w
, as co m pelled to a bj u re
40 A S TR ONO M Y
his o p 1 n 10 n s B ut although h is book was con de m ned
.
, ,

the Copern ican sy s tem w a s e f fectively estab lished .

There can be no questio n of the i m portan t part

’
which Gal ileo s tele s cope played i n the substitu t ion of
a syste m o f the worl d wi th the S u n as cen tre ( hel io
cent ric ) for t he Ptole m aic o ne In wh ich the E arth
“

was the cen tre ( geo cen tric )

-
. Copern icus p ut the
geo m etrical a rgu m ents with great fo rce In the D e
R e n o ln ti o n i bn s b ut he had no new facts to b ri n g
,

forward A hel ioce ntric the ory had bee n p reviously

.

p roposed by the Greek a strono m er A ristarchus an d ,

t he B abylon ian astro nomer S eleucus is sai d to have

nearly con v i nced Hi p parchus of its truth . Galileo s ’

telescope tran sfor m ed t he plan ets from b right p o In t s
1 n to worlds, an d th us added a force t o the argu m en ts
of Copern icus wh ich made the m i rresistib le .

Tycho Br ahe — The Copern ican system satis fi ed the

O bserved planetary m otions i n b road outl i n e b ut for
,

m ore accu rate represen tation i t was necessary to add

a n u mber of s m all ep icycl ic or eccen tric m ovemen ts .

I n 1 546 a few years a fter the death of Copern icus

, ,

Tycho B rah e was born Tycho beca m e a great astro

.

n o m i c a l observer as contrasted W i th a theori s t The.

m u ltitu d e an d accu racy of his observations of the S un ,

M oo n an d planets were desti ned to fu rn ish the key by

wh ich the Copern ican syste m was freed from the
n u m erous subsidia ry ep icycles , an d the true
m ove m en ts of the planets discovered Apart from
.

particular di scoveries such as his determ i nation t hat

,

the co m et of 1 57 7 was more d istant t han the M oon ,

 TH E CO PERNI CA N S Y S TE M 4
1

a nd
‘

r ev orou n d the S u n Ty c ho s
lv e d
’ servi c es to
,

astrono m y consist i n the great i m provements he m ade

i n astronomical i nstru men ts an d i n the accu racy o f

O bservations He used h is i n stru ments with great

.

skill an d also real ized the i mportance of m aki ng long

,

series of c ontin uous o b servations

’
.

K epler Ty c ho s observations of M ars passe d i n to

.
-

the han ds of his p up i l an d su c ces s o r Kepler who , , ,

un like his master was a Co pern i c an , For two .

rea s o ns M ars is the most di fficult of the planets

for which to construct tables i n har m ony with the
obse rvations A S M ars someti mes comes near the
.

E arth its m ove m ents can be determ i ned with great

,

p r ecision an d a ny i rregularities beco m e apparen t .

B esides this the orb i t of M ars dive rges m ore fro m

,

the circular for m than that of any of the other planets .

A very co m p licated geometrical system of epicycles

an d eccen trics ( pp 2 1 2 2 ) is requ i red i n order to
.
,

rep rese n t t he motion i n satisfacto ry accordan ce with

the facts .

Kepler tried hypothesis after hypothesis b ut coul d

’
,

n o t by syste m s of epicycles rep resen t T c ho s o b s e r

y
v a t i o n s with su f ficien t accu racy He then trie d other .

forms of cu rves a dari ng i n novation as i t was u n ivers

, ,

ally believed that the celestial m otions m ust be com

posed of ci rcular m ove m ents E ach di f feren t hypo
.

thesis i nvolved an i mm ense a m ou nt of labou r as all ,

the calculations had to be started anew an d i n Kep

’
,

ler s time there were n o logarith m tables or other

modes of S i m plifyi ng n u m erical work Fi n ally Kepler .
,
42 AS TR ONO M Y

tri ed the elli p se a n d fou n d th at with th e S u n i n

‘

’
,

On e of the fo c i he coul d ade q uatel y rep rese nt Ty c ho s

observa tions The elli pse is the c urve wh ich is o b
.

t a i n e d when a cone is cut obl i quely I t m ay a lso be .

con si dered a s the cu rve wh ich a poi n t P describes if

it m oves so that the su m of its distances fro m tw o
poi n ts S an d H r e , ,

ma i ns the sa“m e The .

two poi nts S an d H

are Called the fo ci .

I f they are a long

way apart t he ellipse
Di g XXII a
is .
elongated .
or very
eccentric ; i f cl ose to
gether it ap p ro a ches m ore near ly to a c 1 r o le
‘

B ut .

“
M ars does n o t m ove u n i for m ly i n th is el lipse its
‘

velocity b ei n g greate r when i t is near the S un than

,

whe n it i s further away Keple r disco vered how the

’
.

velocity varies at di fferen t p o i n ts i n the pl anet s orb it

’
.

K epler s Law s — The results were stated i n w ha t are

’
s

kn o w n as K epl er s fi rst an d secon d laws of planetary

m otion ,

1 . The p la n ets m o ve in e lli p

s es ha vi n g t he S un in
a f o cu s ; ’

2 . The s tr ai g ht li n e j Oi n i n g a p lan et to t he S an
’
s w ee ps out eq u a l a r e a s i n e q ua l ti rne s .

Thus i n D i ag ra m XX I I I a pla n et w i ll descri b e t he

’’
lar ge a n gl e A S P i n the same ti m e as t he s m all a ng le
’

,
'
AS P bec aus e the a r ea A S P equals t he area AS P
i

’ .
 TH E CO PE RNI CA N S Y S TE M 43

These famo u s laws were pub lishe d i n 1 6 0 9 They .

we re first estab lishe d for M ars ,

an d i n c ou rse of time f o r the

other planets an d even for ,

the satellites wh ich Galileo

had foun d t O C Ir c u la t e roun d
'

Di g XXIII a . .

J upiter .

I n 1 6 1 9 Kepler discovered a thi r d law which shows

the relationship between the distance of a plan et fro m
the S u n an d t he time i t takes to perform a c omplete
,

revol u tion The more distan t the plan et the longer its
.

period o f revol ution b ut the planets do not m ove at ,

the same rate : e g J up iter is fi ve ti m es as far away

. .

from the S u n as the E arth bu t takes twelve years , ,

not five y ears to complete its revolution

’
.
,

Kepler s th i rd law is
The s q u ar e o fi t he ti m e o f r ev o lu ti o n o f an
y p lan et

a bo u t t he S u n i s pr o p o r ti o n a l t o t he cu be o f i ts m e a n
d i s t a n c e fr o m t he S u n .

The mean i ng of this law will be clearly seen by i n

s p e c t i o n of the f o llowi n g table i n which a is the m ean
’
,

distan c e of a planet from the S u n the E arth s mean ,

distance bei ng taken as 1 an d T is the tim e i n years of ,

its revol ution .

M ercur
y V e nu s E a r th M ars J u pi t er S a tu rn

a 8
3 7
‘

7 3
2 I
9 53 9
-

3 ' '
O 0 58 37 8 1
3 54 40 8 868 o °
1

T °

2
4 1 6 1
5 1 1 88 1
‘

1 1
‘

86
T2
0 8
“ 8 867 9
5 37 4 7
‘

I 1 0
44 AS TR ONO M Y

The agreemen t of the fi gu res i n the secon d li ne with

the correspon di ng fi gu res i n the fou rth l i ne consti tutes
the th i rd la w .

The Ptole m aic astron o m y gave geo m etrical r e p r e

s e n t a t i o n s of the a pparen t m ove m ents of the heave n ly

b odie s The Co p e r m c a n syste m gives thei r real m ove

’
.

m ents Kepler s laws substituti ng the ell ipse for the

.
,

ci rcle gives these real m ove m en ts with all the accuracy

’
,

that Tycho B ra he s re fi ned O bservations de m an ded ,

an d are a concise state m en t o f all the apparen tly

c o m pl icated facts of planetary m otion as far as they
,

had at that ti m e been elici ted by observation .

 ”

C H A PTE R III
/
TH E LATV OF G RAV ITA TI ON
Mo vem ent o f Bo di es i n Cur ved Paths —The
science of
dyna m ics which m ay be sai d to have been fou n de d
,

by Gal ileo led to fu rther i n qui ry i nto the elliptic

,

m otion of the planets Galileo i nvestigated the

.

m otio n of falli n g bodies on the Earth an d H uyghens ,

showed u n der what con ditions a body coul d revolve

u n ifor m ly i n a ci rcle P ut very roughly the con
.
,

dition is that the ten dency to fly Off S houl d be cou n ter

acted by a p ull towards the cen tre For the M oon to .

revolve u n ifor m ly roun d the E arth i n a ci rcle i t is ,

not n ecessary that i t shoul d be pushed i n the d i re c

tion of its m otion b ut i t i s necessary for it to be
,

constantly p ulled towards the E arth otherwise it ,

woul d move i n a straight li ne S i nce bodies on the

.

E arth fall to the grou n d however high we m ay go ,

the E arth m ay be regarded as exercisi ng an attractive

force u pon them M ight n ot th is force con tin ue to
.

act though to a di m i n ished a m oun t at the d istance

, ,

of the M oon ? N ewton p ut this question to hi m self ,

an d answered that if the a t t r a c t 1o n di m i n ishe d accor d

'

in g to the i nverse square of the d istance from the

45
46 A S TR ONO M Y
’
E arth s cen tre the M oon woul d m ove rou n d the
,

E arth i n the Ci rcle i t actually describes As the

’ ’
.

Moon s distance is 6 0 ti m es the E arth s radi us the ,

d i m i n utio n of the attraction accordi ng to the i nverse

’
square of the distance fro m the E arth s cen tre m ean s
’
.

that the attraction on a body at the E arth s su rface

woul d be d i m 1 m s he d ’
at the M oon s distance .

N ewton co m pared the m otio n of the M oon to that of

a b ullet fi red fro m the top of a hill .O ne fi red
horizontally fro m A with s m al l velocity reaches t he
E arth at B ; a
secon d fir ed
,

with greater
veloci ty at C ; a ,

thi rd at D I f .

D i g XX I V
a . . the b ullet coul d
be fi red with su ffi cien t velo city it woul d not fall to
the E art h an d if the velocity were exactly the right
,

a m ou n t the b ullet woul d m ove rou n d the E arth i n a

,

c i rcle
.

Mo vem ent i n E lli p ses —U n der what con di tions will

.

the planets describ e ellipses rou n d the S u n i n acc ord

ance with the laws discovered by Kepler ? N ewton
was able to answer th is question fully .Fro m t he
secon d law that equal areas are swept ou t i n equal
,

ti mes he p roved that the planets were subj ected to

,

attractive forces drawi n g the m towards the S u n .

Fro m the fact that the path of a planet is an ell ipse

with the S u n i n a focus he showed that this f Or c e
,
 TH E LA W OF G R A VI TA TI O N 47

varies i nverse ly as the S q uare of the p la n e s s t a n ce t

’di
'

’
from the S u n Fro m K epler s thi r d law he S how e d
’
.

that the S u n s attraction is the same for all the planet s

“

the amou nt d epen di ng only on the i nvers e square of

‘ ’
e a c h p la n e t s distance fro m the S u n .

Law o f Gr avi t at i o n In th i s way N ewton was led

“
-

to p ropo u n d the law of u n iversal gravitation that

e v er y p a r t i c le o f m a t t e r a t t r a c t s e v e r y o t her with a
fo r c e i s pr o p o r ti o n a l t o t he m
w hi c h as s o f ea c h an d

i n v e r s e ly pr o p o r t i o n a l t o t he s q u a r e of t he d i s t a n c e
b e tw e en t he m _ Thus , if at A there. is a particle of
matter whose m ass is M a E ,

A
an d at B another whose
mass i s m an d if the dis
D i g XX V a . .

tan c e A B be called r then each particle exerts on ,

the other an attract ive force which is p roportion al to

M x m
2
. I t d oes no t matter what the particles are
7

ma d e of or whether they are both o n the E art h or

,

both i n the S u n o r one on the E a r th an d the other

,

on S un M oon or planets
, ,
.

Co ns q
e u en e
c s o f Law o f a i
Gr av t t o n
i — N ewton now
p ut fo r w ar d the law of gravitation as an hypothesis
whose consequences are to b e ded u ce d an d co m pare d
with the observed phenomen a of the solar system .

I ts i m mense range is seen fro m the variety of these

co n sequences N ot on ly the m ovements of the M oon
.

an d planets b u t the shape of the E arth an d the

,

planets the ebb an d flow of the ti des an d the p reces

,
48 A S TR ONO M Y
sion of the equi noxes were shown by h i m to be dedu
,

cible m athe m atically fro m the law of gravitation The .

veri fi cation of th is la w became one great b ranch of

astrono m y I rregularities i n the l u n ar an d planetary
.

m o ti o n s have c onstan tly p resen ted new p rob le m s ,

wh ich have been resolved as due to so m e conse q u ence ,

till then u n recogn ized o f u n iversal gravitation ; whi le

, ,

on the othe r han d the law has been con fi den tly used
,

to de t er m i ne the co n dition of the solar syste m i n past

an d f uture ti m es .

At t r act i o n o f Spher es — The total attraction of one

body on an other is m ade up o f the attraction s of each
particle of o ne body o n e ach particle of another .

These are i n varyi n g di rections an d of various

a m ou n ts N ewto n was able to p rove m athe m atically
.

that spheres of u n if o r m m aterial or m ade up of con

cen tric shells o f u n ifor m m aterial attract one another
j u s t as i f thei r m asses were concen trated at thei r
centres . Th is p roposition woul d n atu rally be ex
p ec t e d to hold f or two spheres whose distance apa r t
was m uch greater tha n thei r radi i N ewton S howed .

that i t hol ds for all distances an d was thus able to

,

calculate the co m b i ned e ffect o f the attraction s o f all

the particles wh ich co m pose the E arth o n a body at
its su rface an d th us verify that the law of u n iversal
,

gravitation gives a correct relationsh ip between the

attractive force ob served i n falli n g bodies at the
’
E arth s surface an d that requ i red to keep the M oon
,

i n i ts orb it .
 TH E LAW O F G R A VI TA TI O N 49

Shap e of t he E ar t h — In an expedition to Cayen ne i n ,

S outh America near the equator a French a s t r o n o

, ,

mer R icher foun d that a pen dulu m swu ng m o re

, ,

slowly there than i n Paris thus showi ng that the ,

less at the equator than in the

.

force of
latitude of Par ls N ewton p roved that this result
.

nece ssarily follows fro m the law of gravitation an d ,

that the E arth b ulges o u t so m ewhat from the spherical

'

form at the eq u ator I f this were n ot the case the

’
,
.

water of the ocean would owi n g to the E arth s sp i n , ,

ten d to flow towar d s an d heap itself up near t he

equato r .

Ti d es — N ewton also gave a general exp lanation o f “

the ti des The soli d E arth by vi rtue of its r lg Id i t y

.
, ,

r espon ds t o the attraction of the M oon en m a s s e B ut .

the actual attractive force varies so m e what fro m place

t o plac e acco rdi ng t o the distance f ro m the M oo n
’
.
.

The result 15 that when the mean e ff ect of the M oon S

attraction is abstracted there re m ai ns a force which
,

ten ds to raise tides on the si de of the E arth f a c 1 n g the

Moon an d also on the opposite S ide The m o b i le w a t e .

yiel ds to thi s ti de p r o duci ng force W hereas the E arth s

-

rigi dity p revents i t fro m givi ng an d the wate r m oves ,

relatively to the Earth p rod u ci ng t ides The occu r

, .

rence of two ti des a day is thus explai ne d for t he ,

water ten ds to rise at the poi nts nearest to an d farthe s t

fro m the Mo o n an d as t he Moon takes 50 m i n utes
,

more than the 2 4 hours to co m plete its a pparent t e

vol u tion rou n d the E arth the ti me of hi gh water is ,

E
50 AS TR ONO M Y

50 mi n utes la t e r
‘

day The attraction o f the S u n

ea c h .

al s o produces ti des b ut o nly half as large as those

,

p roduced b y the M oon At N ew an d F ull M oon . .

the forces exerted by the S u n a n d M oo n co mb i ne ,

a n d sp ri ng ti des occu r wh ile when the M oon is i n a

,

di r ection a t r i g h t angles to the S u n thei r ti de p ro ,

-

duc i n g forces are opposed an d n eap ti des res ult , .

Pr ecessi o n o f t e E q ui no xes
h — The p recessio n o f the
.
'

equi noxes i nterp reted i n t he li g ht of the Copern ican

,

syste m m ean s that the axis rou n d wh ich the E arth

,

spi ns is not fi xed i n di rection b ut S lowly chan ges ,

.

'
In years i t describes a cone whose axis is per
p e n d i c u la r to the ec liptic ; the angle between the axis
of the E a r t h a n d the axis of t he cone is always 2 3 5 — o
.

I n Chap ter I this was exp ressed sl ightly di fferently

when i t w a s sai d that the pole described a s m all ci rcle
"
of radi us 2 3 g am o n g the stars i n years
?
’
.

N ewton showed that th is m otio n of the E arth s

ax 1 s 1 S a con sequence of its oblate fi gure I n order .

to se e the e ffect of the a ttractio n of the S u n an d M oon

o n t he E arth c o ns rd e r separately the sp here wh ich
,

can be j ust e n closed i n t he E arth an d the oblate part ,

which b ulges ou t at the equator The attraction of .

~

the S u n fo r exa m p le o n the spherical part p roduces

, ,

a p ull i n the di rection O S ( D iagram XXVI ) but does ,

not te n d to tu rn t he E arth The attractio n on the .

nearer half of the part b ulgi ng out at the equator

p roduces a p ull i n a direction E S while the attra ction ,

on the m ore distan t half p roduces a pull i n the d i r e c

 THE LAW OF G R A VI TA TI ON 5 1

’ ’
’
tion E S B ut as E is nearer to S than E the p ll
. ,
u

along E S is greater than that along E S an d the re

-

res u lt forces whi c h ten d to right the E arth, or b ri ng

O P nearer to O K B ut .

when the dyna m ica l con

seq u ences o f th is rightin g
force are i nvesti g ate d it ,

is fo u n d that owi n g to the

’
E arth s sp i n the axis ,

OP ,
i nstea d of being
D i g XXV I
moved nearer to O K ,
a . .

keeps at the sa m e distance b u t S lowly describes a ,

cone aroun d i t Th is res u l t may at first sight appear

.

paradoxical b ut a si m ilar result

,

fro m si milar causes is fa m il iar i n

the peg top : while the top spi ns
-

rou n d its axis the axi s d e scribes a

,

cone abo u t a vertical l i ne an d the

top does not fall down as it woul d
D i g XXV II a
if i t were not sp i n n i ng .
. .

Co m et s — The ellipse is not the only c u rve which

.

a bo d y c an describe about another to which i t is

attracte d by a force varyi ng i nver s ely as the square
of the d istance I f a cone be c ut perpen dicularly to
.

its axis we get a circle ; if the plane is n o t quite

,

perpen dic u lar we g e t a n ellipse ; as the plane of

,

section beco m es m ore i ncli ned to the axis of the cone

the c u rve beco m es m ore an d m ore elliptic ti ll When ,

the plane is parallel to an edge of the cone the curve

E 2
5 2 A S TR ONO M Y
is n o longer cl o sed b ut b ec o m e s a n open cu rve called
,

a parabola an d at sti ll greater d i vergence of the c u t

,

ti n g plan e fro m pe rp e n dicularity a c u rve called a

hyperbola The forms of these cu rves are S hown i n
. .

D iagram XXVI I I All these c o n i c section s are

.

possible paths for a body

to describe about the S u n
u n der the i nfl uence of
gravitation The planets .

describe nearly ci rcular ‘

orb its N ewton showed .

that comets m ove i n e lli p ;

tic orb its of great e c ce n

tr ic ity or i n parab ol ic
orb its Th us co m ets are .

b rought i nto the sche m e of

the solar syste m an d are ,

seen to m o ve like the

D i g xxv m
a . .

E arth an d planets u n der

’
the dom i nati n g i nfl uence of the S u n s attraction .

Masses o f Heavenly Bo d i es — A very i n teresti n g c o n

sequence o f the law of g r a v i t a t lo n 1 s lt s application
t o determ i n e the m asses of heaven ly bodies I f the .

m ean distance between two bodies whose m asses a r e

M a n d m is a an d they revolve about one anoth er i n
,

3
a
the t 1 m e T then the q u a n t 1t
y IS p ro p o r t lo n a l to
T
, 2

Ml i the su m of the two m asses B y taki n g a to be

'"
m
’
, .

the M oo n s mean d istance an d T the ti me i n wh i c h ,

 TH E LAW O F G R A VI TA TI ON 53

the Moon revolves the form ula may be applie d to the

’
,

E arth an d Moon B y taki ng a to be t he S u n s mean

.

distance an d T the year it m a y be appl ie d to the S u n

’
,

an d E a rth The S u n s distance is let us say 3 90 ti mes

.
, ,

that of the M o on an d the year is roughly 1 3 ti mes

, , ,

as lon g as a si d e r eal revolution of the M oon The .

comb i ned mass of the S u n an d E arth is therefore , ,

greater than that of the E arth an d Moon i n proportion

o f 39 0
3

T hus the Su
’
n s m ass is ti mes that
I3 2

of the comb i ned mass of the E arth an d M oon B y

’
.

taki ng a to be the distance of one of J upiter s

satell ites an d T the ti m e i n whi c h it revolves roun d
J u piter the f orm ula is applicable to deter m i ne the
,

mass of J up iter This is the astronom ical method of

.

determ i n i ng the masses of the heaven ly bo d ies .

They a re m easured by the attractions they exert on

one another an d these att ra c tions are p roportioned
,

3
{2
' The method has been appl ied to all the
T 2

planets which have satell ites an d to do u ble stars ,

when the d istance be tween the two stars can be

determi ned .

Di st u r b ance p r o d u ced b y a t hi r d b o d y — The move

m en t of two bo d ies u n der thei r m utual attraction
was c o mpletely solve d by N ewton When there are .

m o r e than two bo d ies the p rob le m bec o m es one of

great d i fficult y I n the solar system the mass of the S u n
.

is so prepon d erati ng that the m o v e m e n t o f each planet ’

54 A S TR O N O M Y
is very largely deter m i ned by the S u n However .
,

“
other planets i nfl uence the m ovement to so m e exten t
”
an d pertu rb t he motion i n an ellipse rou n d the
,

S u n as focus . N ewton poi n ted ou t so m e of the e ffects ,

bu t i n the m ai n left this q uestion to h is successors
’
.

The M oon s motion i s particularly di ffi cul t because ,

although the S u n is very distan t co m pared with the

E arth its g reat mass m akes its e ffect consi derable
, .

N ewton S howed how the rotation of the apse an d the

node discovered by H ipparch us were traceab le to the
’
“
S u n s action
’
.

The Pr i nci p i a —
. N ewton s discoveries though m any ,

of the m were made earl ier were p ub lished i n the,

Pr m c zpi a i n 1 6 8 7 The doctri ne of u n iversal gravita

.

tio n di d n ot co m m en d itself to the m ost e m i nen t of

’
N ewt o n s scientific contem po r aries I n 1 73 8 Voltai re
.

p resente d a \p o p u lar accou nt of i t wh ich procured its

-

acceptance amon g F rench scien tists Fro m th a t ti me .

till the early years of the n 1 n e t e e n t h cen tu ry the i dea

of u n iversal gravitatio n was developed by great
Fren c h mathematicians w ho appl ied i t i n detai l to
,

all the m ove m en ts of the solar system .

The task was on e of extre m e di fficulty The law .

of gravitation whi c h gives the forces that di fferent

,

bodies exert on on e anot her enables the rate at wh ich

,

the velo c ity of any body is chan gi ng to be calculated .

When th is is done if the veloci ties are known at one

,

particular i n stant they may be fou n d a m i n ute later

, .

I n thi s m i n ute the position s of t he b odies have al l

 TH E LAW OF G R A VI TA TI ON 55

change d the forces between them conseq u ently

,

altered an d the velocities are changi ng at sl ightly

,

di fferent rates The di ffi culty c onsists i n devisi n g

.

m athe m atical methods for d u ly i ntegrati ng the e ffects

of these varyi ng forces The greatest m athematicians
.

have applied the ms elves to va rious b ranches of the

subj ect an d gravitati onal astronomy has been a great
,

sti m u l u s to m athem atics .

S t ab i li t y o f S o lar Sy st em —The work is of t o o te c h

n i c a l a c haracter for m uch of i t to b e referre d to here .

O ne i m po rtan t result m ay be mentioned Laplace .

,

the greatest exponent of gravi tational astrono m y

si nce N ewton demonstrated the stab il ity of the
,

solar system I f the E arth were the only planet it

.
,

wo u l d perpetually repeat its path i n the same ell i pse .

O ne e ffect of the attraction of th e planets o n each

other is to slowly chan ge each other s orb its ’ Fo r
.

example t he ell ipse i n wh ich the E arth moves is at

,
‘

p resent grad u ally becom i ng more ci rc u lar fro m this

cause an d the plane of its motion the e c liptic
,
—

is slowly c hangi n g Laplace showed that the mean

.

distan c e of ea c h planet from the S u n remai ns u n

c hange d an d that the eccentricities an d i ncl i nations
,

of thei r orb its only s u ffer perio d ic changes an d these ,

between comparati vely narrow l i m its Th u s the

’
.

action of the planets c an never make the E arth s

ellipse so ec c entric that the E arth will at one part of
its orb it app roach very near to the S u n an d at the .

o pposite part go to a correspon d i ngly gre a t dis t a nc e

56 A S TR ONO M Y
fro m i t Laplace showed that th is resu lt depen ds on
.

the fact that t he E arth an d p lanets are all m ovin g

rou n d the S u n i n the sa m e di rection
Di sco ver y o f Nep t une — In the year 1 8 46 1 6 0 years
,

a f ter the p ubl icatio n of the Pr i n ci pi a the law of

,

gravitation led to t he discovery of a new plan et .

U ran us a planet beyon d S atur n discovered by He r

,

schel i n 1 78 1 , di d n ot con fo r m exactly to its ell iptic

orb it The pe rturbation s caused by J up iter an d S atu rn
.

di d ho t accoun t fo r the ano m al 1es 1 11 its m ove m ent .

The p o ssib ility of an exte rio r p lanet bei n g the cause

w a s i nvestigate d si m u lta n eously by A dam s at Ca m

b ri dge an d L everrier at Paris Fro m the resea r ches of

.

these t wo astrono m ers the posi tio n i n t he S k y whe re the

,

d i s t u r b 1 n g body was to b e fou n d was poi n ted out .

S earch was m ade by D r Galle at B erli n an d the new

.
,

planet (t o wh ich the n am e of N eptu ne was given ) was

dul y fou n d close t o t he pr edicted place
’
.

Halley s Co m et — A nother i n teresti n g ep isode con

n ec te d with the l aw of gravitation is fu rn ished by the
’
h istory Of H all ey s comet Halley m ade observation s
.

of a comet which appe ared i n 1 6 8 2 an d deter ,

m i ned the position of its o rb it H e fou n d that the

.

c o m et had moved i n m uch the sa m e path as the

co m ets which appeared i n 1 53 1 an d 1 6 0 7 He con .

cl uded that these we re the same comet ; that this

co m et moves rou n d the S u n i n a very ell iptic orb it
’
,

g o m g to a distan c e o f 33 ti m es the E arth s distance

fro m the S u n ; an d that the com et takes ab 0ut 75
 TH E LA W OF OR AVI TA TI O N 57

years to c omplete its revol u tion the ti me varyi ng ,

somewhat i n consequence of pertu rbation s cause d by

planets near whi c h it passes The comet is only .

visible at its successive returns to the S u n when i t i s

Di g
a . x xrx .

co m paratively near the E arth Halley p re d icted its

.

retu rn for the year 1 759 B efore the reappearance of

.

the comet Clai raut calculatin g the perturb in g e ffects

, ,

of the planets it had enco u ntere d i n its path p re ,

d i c ted that the comet wo u ld be at the poin t of its

orb it nearest to the S u n or at perihelion on Ap ril 1 3 ,

1 7 59 The comet was d iscovere d at the en d of 1 758

’
.
,

an d C la 1 r a u t s p rediction fou n d to be on ly one month

i n error I t agai n returne d to perihelion on N ov 1 5
. . ,

1 83 5
,
an d its co mi n g ret u rn i n April 1 9 1 0 was p re
dicted by M essrs Cowell an d Crom meli n of the
.
58 A S TR ONO M Y
G reen wich O bservato ry w ith an error of only three
days The early history of th is comet is i nte r esti n g
.
,

as it has been i den ti fi ed with c o m ets of wh ich historic

records are preserved D iagram XXX taken from the
.
,

B ayeux tapest ry rep rese nts a comet wh i ch appeared

,

i n 1 0 6 6 an d was accou nted an evi l o m en for Ki ng

’
,

H arold Calculatio n shows that Halley s co m et i n that

.

year m ade one of its periodical visits to the S u n an d ,

was u n q uestionably the o ne which was supposed to

’
have p redicted Harold s de
feat an d de ath The comet s ’ .

cou rse has been traced b ack

by M essrs Cowell an d .

C ro m m el i n a n d is al most
,

m g XXX
a -

certai nly the on e wh ich

Chi ne s e record s state to have been seen i n 8 7 B C . .
,

an d po ssibly a stil l earl ier one i n 2 40 B C . .

—
Mo vem ent o f t he Mo o n The determ i nation of the
’
M oon s move m ents fro m the law of gravitation has

su fficient accu racy i t m ay be used to determ i ne longi

,

tu de at sea I n 1 7 1 3 a p rize of J 6 2 0 0 00 was offered

.
,

by the B ritish G overn men t for a m ethod of fi n di ng

longitu de accu rate to wi th i n half a degree Th is p rize .

sti m ulated the man u factu re of c hrono m eters on the

one han d an d the formation of accu rate l u nar tables
,

on the other I n 1 76 5 £3 0 00 w as pai d to the widow

.
 TH E LAW OF G R A VI TA TI ON 59

of Tob ias M ayer for his tables of the tables M oon —

which gave the position of the M oo n with an a cc u racy

of abo u t one m i n u te of arc ( 3 6 t h) of the M oon s 1 ’
angular diameter .

Theories of the M oon were d eveloped with great

mathe m atical skill by Clai raut E u ler an d Laplace , , ,

an d various di ff i c u lties w ere removed b u t a theory

’
,

whi c h will give the position of the M oon s place as

accurately as it can be observed is requ i re d before
the law of gravitation can be said to be completely
verified . Elaborate theories of the M oon s motion ’
have been worked out by m any em i nen t m athe
m at i c ia n s
’
At presen t Han sen s i s used by the
’
.

N auti c al Almanac for the p redictio n of the M oon s

place an d gives the position of the M oon for the
,

— ” ”
period 7 50 1 8 50 with errors not larger than 1 or 2
1

”
is abo t — h part of the M oon ’s d iameter A
( )
l
1 u Tg U t fi
S .

S howi ng ho w c ompli cate d th is q u estion is i t m ay be ,

enough to say that the fi nal algeb rai c exp ressions

which give the posi tion of the M oon i n D e la u n a y s ’
Theory oc c u py a large quarto vol u me N ot only .

does the S u n a ff ect the motion of the M oon rou n d the

E arth b ut the planets too have thei r i nfl u ence both
, , , ,

d i re c tly by thei r attraction on the M oon an d i n ,

di rectly by thei r attraction o n the E arth The i n terest .

of the problem does not consist entirely i n s u rmou n t

i ng the mathe m ati c al d i ffi c ulties bu t i n determi n i ng
w hether when all i ts c onsequen c es are tra c ed the
, ,

si mple law of gravitation is a complete key to these

60 A S TR ONO M Y
very co m pl icated m ove m en ts Co m pared with what
.

has been already ex p la ln e d what yet rema 1 ns 1 n doubt

,

is tri vial S till there are several cu rious differences

.
,

between observati on a n d gravitational theo ry i n the

m otion of the M oon an d also of M ercu ry an d Ven us
, ,

of w hich t he explan atio n seems at p resen t to be a

lon g way o ff .

—
Mas s o f E art h W e have seen how the m asses of
.

the heave nly bodies can be compared wi th one

an other the S u n with the E arth or J up ite r with the
,

E arth by compari n g the m ove m ents thei r attraction s

,

p roduce upon bodies subj ect to thei r i nfl ue nce B u t .

what is the m ass o f the E arth ? Th is can b e measu red

i n several ways by co m pari ng its attraction with that
of a s m aller body whose m ass is know n .

Att r act i o n o f S chehalli en — In 1 7 76 M askelyn e co m

pared the attraction of the E arth with that of the
m ou ntai n S c he ha lli e n ln Perthsh ire As show n i n .

D iagram XXX I the e ffect of the attraction of this

,

peak is to deflect the pl u mb li ne t o wards it The

”
-
.

a m ou n t of th is d e fl ec t 1o n 1 5 m easured astron o m ic
ally by observi n g the an gle wh ich the dire ction Of
a star makes w ith the pl u mb li ne at two station s on
-

opposite S i des of the m ou ntai n I f t here were no .

m ou n tai n the angle between the plu mb l i n e s a t

,
-

the two pl aces woul d be the an gle A O B got by ,

j oi n i n g the p laces to the cen tre of the E arth By .

m easu ri n g the distance A B th is angle can be c a lc u

lated . B u t owi n g to the attractio n of the m ou ntai n
 TH E LA W O F GR A VI TA TI ON 61

which p ulls the p l umb li ne i n differen t d i rections at

-

A an d B the actual
,

measured angle is fou n d

to be greater than the
angle A O B The amou n t
.

of the excess 1 5 d u e to the

pull of the mou ntai n ,

which is thus compare d

with the p ull of the E arth .

I n this way M askelyne

foun d the attraction of the
E arth to be ti m es as
large as it woul d be if the
E arth were of the density D i g XXXI a

’
o f water throughout ; or the E arth s mean density is

47 ti mes that of water .

Cavendi sh E xp er i m ent — A better an d m ore accurate

determ i n ation is obtai ned by measu r i ng i n a labora
tory the attraction of a m e ta llic ball on a small b a ll
placed near it This experi m en t was fi rst made by
.

Caven dish an d was carried o u t later with great skil l

,

by Francis B aily by means of a torsion balance A .

l ight ar m at the en ds of which are two gold balls

, ,

is suspen ded by a thread S uppose the balls rest i n

.

a position due north an d south I f two large balls .

are b rought n ear them on the east si d e of one an d

,

west of the o ther the two gol d balls will be attracted

,

S lightly
, an d the force of the attraction is measu re d
b y the twist given to the threa d This experimen t
.
62 A S TR ONO M Y
was c a r r 1e d out by P rof B oys i n 1 8 93 i n the cellar
.

of the Claren don P hysical Laboratory at O xford with

the greatest p recision . O bservation s were m ade on
S u n day nights between m i dn ight an d 6 a m because
. .
,

at othe r ti mes tra ffi c over stony streets an d sh u n ti n g

D i g xxx 11
a . .

of trai ns set up trem ors wh ich i nterfered with the

del icacy of the experi men t A fi ne quartz fib re held
.

the balls wh ich were of gol d an d i n di fferen t ex p e r i

, ,

m en ts were % t h an d g i th of a n i nch diameter The .

la r ge balls were of lead a n d i n di fferent experi ments

,

varied fro m 2 1 to i nches i n dia m eter Th e s e ex

’
7 .

p e r 1 m e n t s showed that the E arth s m ean den sity is

5 5 7 ti m es that of water
2 0 .
 -

C H APT E R I V
A S T R O N O MI CA L I N S T RU M EN T S
TH E stars appear to as b right poi nts fixe d on a
us

d istan t globe wh i c h turns u n iform ly The first task .

of p racti c al astron omy is to m ap thei r positions on

this globe as ac c urately as possible I nstru men ts .

have gra d u ally been evolved by which this mappi n g

is carried out with ever i n c reasi ng precision
-
.

Ri ght Ascen si o n and Decli n at i o n — It is first necessary

to see clearly how positions on the celestial sphere are
d efi ne d S u ppose P to
.

be the pole ; an d tha t “

there is a star at S The .

distance of the star from

the pole is m easu red by
the angle PO S or by ,
" m

what is the same thi n g ,

the ar c PS of the sphere .

’
The plane O PS will pass
th ro u gh P the other pole
, ,

an d will c u t the sphere

m a C1 r c le Th e c 1 r o le
.

D i g XXXIII a . .

P
’
O

9 O away from ( it is
also 90 away from P ) i s called the equ i noctial or
0

63
64 AS TR ONO M Y

som eti m e s the equ ator PS is called the n o r t h po la r

.

d i s ta n c e of the star an d S M the d ec li n a ti o n

, I f PS .

is known S M is obtai ned by subtracti n g PS fro m

,

I f S is n orth of the equato r the decl i nation is positive ,

an d if s outh negative To kn o w the position of S on

.

the sphere besi des knowi n g S M we need to know the

,
’
,

posi tio n of M A poi n t o n the equator called the F i rst

.

Po i n t o f A ries ( T) wh ich m oves with the stars is use d

, ,

as the poi nt fro m which to m easu re an d the arc TM ,

( or the an gle between the planes PO T an d P O M )

i s called the r i g ht a s c en s i o n The di rection TM i s
.

m easured i n the di rectio n con trary to that m wh ich

the E arth rotates , an d may have any value fro m 0 °

”
to The poi n t Y is not chosen arb itrari ly b ut is
‘

the po i n t i n the sky where t he ecliptic or path of the

S u n c u fs the equato r I t will be seen that th is m ode
.

of de fi n i ng the position of a star i n the sky is si m ilar

to the m ethod of defi n i n g a spot on the earth by i ts
lat i tu de an d longitu de .

N ow as the whole sky appears to tu r n about i ts

axis i n one si dereal day ( app roxi m ately 4 m shorter .

than the m ean solar day wh ich is used i n o rdi nary

life ) the star m oves i n a ci rcle comp leti n g its rou n d
,

i n one si dereal day At the m o m en t when it is at s

.

i n the diagram i t is on a ci rcle which passes through

,

’
the poles an d the zen ith or poi n t vertically over the
,

observer s head This ci rcle is the i n tersection of the

.

celestial sphere with the meri dian or vertical plane ,

wh i c h passes through the place of observation i n a

 A S TR ONO M ICA L IN S TR U M E N TS 65

’ ’
di rection exactly north an d south When S reaches s .
,

its right ascension circle PS M P is Ps ni P or the

‘

After a ti m e a nother star

’ ’ ’
poi nt M has reached m
’
p

S reaches the m er i dian at s an d M reaches m ,

an d , ,

if the i nterval of ti m e between the m e r i d i a n p a s s a g e of

’
r

S an d S be m easured we shall obtai n the an gle of

’ °
M M at the rate of 1 5 to one sidereal hou r
,

Clo ck s
. S uppose now we have a clock which reads
-

, ,

0 h. o m o s when T i s on the m eri d ian an d is rated

. .
,

so that it co m pletes 2 4 h when T returns to the .

m eri dian the next day The ti m e i n d icated by this

.

clock when any star crosses the m eridian gives the

’
star s right asc ension at the rate of 3 6 0 to 2 4 hours
,
°
,

°
or 1 5 to 1 hou r I t is frequently not necessary to
.

c hange fro m ti m e to angle an d the right ascension is

,

taken as the a ctual t i m e given by the clo c k ( supposed

to be correct ) Thus it is v ery necessary for an o h
.

s e r va t o r
y to possess such a clock to divi de up the ,
ti m e
i n which the E arth makes one rotation i nto 2 4 hours ,

2 4 x 6 0 m i n utes an d 2
4 x 6 0 >< 6 0 secon ds The ti m e .

i n d icated by such a clock gives the right ascensions of

all stars whi c h are at that moment on the meri dian .

Ci r cles — When a star is on the meri d ian its distance

fro m the pole is the su m of its d istance fro m the
zen ith an d the distance of the zen ith fro m the pole .

I n D iagram XXX I I I s P= s Z + Z P N ow Z P is the .

sa m e for al l stars an d is obtai ned by subtracti n g the

,

latitu d e of the place of observation fro m The

d i re c tion of Z is the di re c tion of a pl u mb li ne so that ,
66 A S TR ONO M Y
to fi n d s Z it is necessary to observe the angle between
the di rectio n of the star an d the di rection of a plu m b
li ne The method adopt ed by Tycho B rahe though
.
,

not i nvented yet b rought to a m u c h h igher deg ree of

,

D i g XXXI V
a . . D i g X XX V
a . .

accu racy by hi m consisted i n havi ng a large quadran t

,

of a ci rc le m ou nted o n a wall wh ich poi nted accu rate ly

north an d south ( D iagra m XXX I V ) The arc of the .

quadrant was divi ded i nto degrees an d further s u b

divi ded i nto m i n utes ( as i n D iagram XXXV ) The .

di rection of the star was taken alon g sights one of ,

wh ich was at the centre of the quadra n t an d the other

m oved to the r e q u 1 r e d position along the arc for the
star to be seen I n this way Tycho B rah e observed
.

’
the position s of stars an d planets with errors of not
m ore than 1 or
The accurate graduation of the ar c of a ci rcle is an
art which has bee n developed with the progress of
astron o m y Q uadrants fi xed to a wall are no longer
.

used b u t complete ci rcles attached to a telescope

, .
 A S TR ONO M I CA L IN S TR U M E N TS 67

An accurately d ivi ded ci rcle is as essential f o r t he p

“
'

d e t e r m m a t i o n of decli nations as a good cl o ck is for

that of right ascensions The i ntrod u ction of tele
.

scopes has not altered the m ethod of deter m i n i ng the

positi o ns of stars The right ascension of a star is
.

still determ i ned by observi ng the ti me at which it

crosses the meridian an d the north polar distance
,

from its altitu de at this moment .

The Tele sco p e — The telescope has i ncreased the

accu racy and i mp roved the power of the astrono m ical
observer i n a won d erf u l man ner I t has three i m port
.

ant properties
1 ) I t i ncreases the amou n t of l ight which en ters
(
the eye fro m a star an d thus enables fai n ter stars to
,

be seen .

2 ) I t ma n ifies t he apparent angle betwee n two

(
”

g
stars an d thus greater ac c uracy can be obtai ned i n
,

angular meas u rements .

(3 ) I t o bviates the ne c es s ity for the use of sights .

The l ight fro m a star comes to u s i n parallel rays .

I f these fall on a lens ( D iagram XXXVI ) their d i r e c

Di ga . xxx vr
.

tions are refra c ted so t hat they pass through a poin t F

68 A S TR ONO M Y
the focus of the len s At F a b right poi nt is for m ed
.
,

’
called the i m age of the star I f the rays which pass
.

th rough F be i n tercepted by a seco n d l e n s L they can ,

be agai n co nverted i nto a parallel bea m of light I f .

the diameter of the secon d bea m is no wider than the

’
pup i l of the eye all the star s light which fell on the
,

lens L passes 1 nto the eye The telescope i n e ffect

.
, ,

supplies the astrono m er with an eye as b ig as its

obj ect glass an d thus enables h i m to see very m uch
fai nter stars .

N ow let there be two stars whose i m ages are for m ed

at F an d G ( D iagram XXXV I I ) The cone of li ght .

Di ga . xxxvn .

through F w il l be converted i nto a bea m of parallel

rays wh ic h falli ng o n the eye will enable the star to
, ,

be seen S i milarly the con e of rays through G will

.

be converted i nto a parallel bea m The fi rst bea m is .

i n a di re c tion parallel to D F an d the secon d one ,

parallel to D G Th us the eye which receives these

beams wil l see the two stars i n di rections parallel to
D E an d D G whereas the actual di rectio ns are C F
,

an d C G Thus the an gular distan c e between the stars

.

is magn ified fro m FC G to FD G which 15 In the p ro ,

portio n C E : D E o r that of the focal length of the

,
 A S TR ONO M I CAL IN S TR U M E N TS 69

obj e c t lens to the fo c al length of the eye lens Thus .

the longer the focal length of the obj ect glass Of a

telescope an d the shorter the focal length of the eye
pie c e the greater the m agn ification
,

S uppose the two l enses are firmly fi xed i n a t u be

'

an d i n the focal plane F E G two p ie c es of fi ne wire or

’
two sp ider s webs are stretched crossi n g at E When ,
.

the telescope is poi nted near a star an i m age is for m ed

i n the plane F E G S hifti ng the telescope a l ittle the
.

i mage can be made to fall at E the i ntersection of the

’
,

two fine sp ider s webs I n this case the telescope is

.

poi nti ng accurately to the star for the l i ne E C then,

p asses through the star As E is fi xed an

. d C is
fixed the l i ne E C serves the same pu rpose as sights
,

at E an d C ; an d it is m uch easier to secure accurate

poi nti ng i n thi s W 8 3 Th is i mportan t i m prove
7 ?

ment of the telescope was i ntroduced by Gascoigne in

1 6 40 .

Ref r act i ng Telesco p e — Telescopes have been gradually

.

i m p roved fro m the smal l an d i m perfect one of Gal i

’
le 0 s to the large refractors an d reflectors of the presen t
day A si m ple lens does not b ri ng l ight of all colours
.

to the sa m e focus an d the i mage for m ed is con

,

sequently colou red an d i n disti nct N ewton who fi rst .

,

resolved white light i nto a coloured ban d by m eans of

a prism supposed that this d e fect was irre m edi able
, .

B u t i n 1 7 58 D ollon d an E nglis h optician fou n d tha t

, ,

by c o m bi n in g a convex lens of crown glass ( a dense

glass with large refracti n g power ) with a concave lens
o f fl i nt
g lass ( a li g hter g lass of less re f ra c tive power ) ,
7 0 AS TR ON O M Y

the defect can be largely remedied The l igh t from a .

star fall i n g on the crow n le ns is refracted i nto a con

vergi ng beam an d is also disperse d i n to the di fferent
,

colou rs of the spectru m : the

co ncave lens of fl i n t glass neutral
i zes the dispersion an d m akes the
D i g xxxv1 1 1
n . .
rays of di f feren t colou rs con verge
to the same poi nt This co m b i na.

tio n of len ses is called an a c hro m atic obj ect glass

( D iagram XXXV I I I ) I t is
. not possible to com
p le t e ly ban ish all trace of colou r i n this way,
an d
there are other i m perfection s arisi n g from the fa c t
that the c u rvature of the surfaces does no t b ri n g all
parallel rays of the sa m e colou r absol utely to a poi nt
“
These aberrat ions ”
, ch ro m atic an d spherical are ,
.

reduced t o s m all di m ensions by careful choice of the

ki n ds of glass an d by calculati n g the most approp riate
curvatures fo r the su rfaces of the two lenses . The
si n gle lens at the eye en d of a telescope has also been
-

replaced by two separated fro m one an other by a

distance i n suitable relation to the cu rvatu res of t he
two lenses I n th i s way an i ncrease i n clearness is
.

obtai ned i n the parts of the i m age wh ich are near the
edge of the eye p iece -
.

B efore the i nventio n of the ach romati c obj ect glass

very long telescopes were used because they gav ,

greater m agn ification without m uch i n disti nctness

fro m the co nfusion of colou rs With an achro m atic
.

ob ject g lass m uch m o re m a g n i fi cati o n o f the i m a g e

 A S TR ONO M I CA L IN S TR U M E N TS 7 1

by the eye piece is possible and telescopes are not so

-

c u mbersome .

F or a long ti me it was not possible to proc u re glass

discs of su fficient u n iformi ty an d c learness to make
obj e c t glasses of m ore than 3 i nches i n diameter The .

largest obj ect glass c onstructe d by Dollon d had a

dia m eter of 3 2 i nches E arly i n the n i neteen th cen
7 .

tury a S wiss arti s t Gu i nan d succeeded i n maki n g

, ,

lar g er discs He was employed by Frau nhofer who

.
,

c onstructed obj e c t glasses of great perfection of 6 to 9

i nches aperture I n 1 8 40 a 1 5 i nch obj ect glass was
.
-

constructed by M erz fo r the I m perial O bservatory at

Pu lk o w a ; i n 1 8 70 a refractor of 2 5 i nches apertu re -

was m ade by M essrs Cooke for M r R S N ewall

. . . .
,

an d there are at t he presen t ti m e a considerable n u m ber

of telescopes whose ob j e c t glasses are as large or larger
’ ’
—

than this The largest refracti n g telescopes are those

.

of the Lick O bservatory of 3 6 i nches apertu re an d of -

the Y erkes O bservatory of 4o i nches aperture both -

m ade by the A m erican opti c ians Alvan Clark S ons , .

R efl e ct i n g Telesco p e In 1 6 6 8 N ewton m ade a s m all

.
-

reflecti ng telescope which magn ified thirty ti m es I n .

this i nstr u ment the light from a star falls on a concave

—
m i rror of specul u m m etal a n alloy of copper an d
ti n approxi mately i n the p roportions of fou r ato m s of
copper to one of ti n The li ght is reflected by the
.

m i rror so that parallel rays from a star are b rought

to a focus for m in g an i m age of the star B y the .

i n s ert i on o f a small flat m irror placed d ia gonally i n ,

7 2 A S TR ONO M Y
the tube th is i mage is sh ifted to the side of the tele
,

scope w here i t can be viewed by an eye piece ( D ia

,
-

gram XXX I X ) In .

1 72 3 H adley the i n ,

v e n t o r of the sext a nt ,

m ade a reflector with a

D i g xxx 1x
a .
m i rror
.
of 5% i nches an d
a focal length of 6 2
i nches w i th wh ich a magn ifi c ation of 2 00 ti m es coul d
be obtai ned The great develop men t o f reflecti n g
.

—
telescopes was m ade fro m 1 7 76 1 78 7 by S i r W
H erschel who constructed specula of 6 8 1 2 1 8 2 4
, , , , ,

a n d 48 i nches with focal len gths of 7 1 0 1 4 2 0 2 5

, , , , ,

an d 40 feet These great telescopes were exceeded

.

by Lor d R osse who i n 1 8 48 constructed a reflecti n g

, ,

telescop e of 6 feet dia m eter an d 53 feet focal length .

I n 1 8 5 1 L i eb i g disc o vered a p rocess of d epositin g

silver on glass so as to give a h ighly reflecti n g su rface .

S i nce that ti me reflecti ng telescopes have usually been

m ade of gla s s with a fi ne fil m of sil v er deposited on
the m ch e m ically The advantages are a m ore highly
.

reflective surface less weight an d the facil ity with

, ,

w h ich a tarn ished silve r fi l m m ay be dissolved an d a

fresh one deposited w ithou t i n any way i n terferi ng

with the careful ly fi g u red su rface of the glass .

Astron o m y i s g reatly i n debted to D r Com m on an .

,

E n glish a m ateu r astrono m er for i ntroduci ng the use

,

of large silver o n glass reflector s Wi th a 3 6 i nch

- -
.
-

m i rror he obtai ned i n 1 8 8 3 a beautiful photo g raph of

 A S TR ONO M I CA L IN S TR U M EN TS 73

the O r ion nebula He complete d i n 1 8 90 a m i rror Of

.

5 feet diameter ,
an d showed how to gri n d polish a nd ,

test a m i rror so as to obtai n the best results The .

great est l ivi n g e xp onen t of the art of maki ng ve r y

large mi r rors IS M r .R itchey who has c onstructe d
,

extremely perfect ones for the Y erkes an d M t Wilson .

O bse rvatories i n A m erica He has recently constructe d

.

o n e of 6 0 i nches diameter an d is now en ga g

, ed on one
of 1 00 i nches .

There has been throughou t the lon g period of thei r

development a friendly rivalry between the refracti ng
an d refle c ti ng telescopes The uses of the two i n s t r u
.

ments are now p retty well defined Where accu rate .

measuremen ts are requi red the refractor is generally

to be preferred . Where the obj ect observed is ex
t r em e ly fai n t the reflector has the advantage for i n ,

p roportion to S ize reflecti n g telescopes are of m u c h

shorter focal length thus produci n g a smalle r but
,

brighter pict u re .

—
Mo unt i n g o f Telesco p es A small telescope which i s ,

used simply to look at the stars c an be hel d i n the,

hand s b ut it will be fo u n d m u c h easier to rest i t on

,

somethi n g an d for one of mo d erate d i mensions

,

some form of mou nti n g whi c h holds the teles c ope

firmly an d yet adm its of its be 1 ng easily poi nted to any
part of the sky is i n dispensab le Whe n accu rate .

m eas u rements of any ki n d are to be m ade the m ou nt ,

i ng is a matter of great i mportan c e There are two .

classe s o f obs e rvations for which the telescope is used ,

74 A S TR ONO M Y
wh ich requ i re i t to be m ou nted i n en ti rely d i fferent
ways The actual positio n of the heaven ly bodies i n
.

the S k y m ay be requ i red as for i nstance i n fi n di ng

,

day by day the positions of the S u n M oon or planets , ,

or deter m i n i n g the positions of the stars O n t he .

other han d the position of the obj ect i n the sky m ay

,

be of n o i nte rest as i n obse rvat ion s of the revolution

’
,

of J upiter s satell ites abou t the planet or the rotation

of J upite r i tself .

When the actual position of a star i n the sky is to

be deter m i ned the telescope is fi xed d u r i n g t he ti m e
,

of observatio n an d the star is watched as it m oves i n

,

front of the telescope The i m age of the star is seen

.

as a b righ t poi nt m o vi n g i n the focal plan e of the

’
obj ective ; 1 n thi s focal plane sp i der s webs are
stretch e d an d the observation con sists i n a deter m in a
,

tio n of the exact posi tion of the telescope an d the ,

exact ti m e at which certai n th reads are crossed by the

’
star s i m age .

Tr ansi t Ci r cle
- —The m ost i m portant i n stru ment of
.

th i s ki n d is the t ransit c i rcle ( D iagra m X L )

-
It .

appl ies the advantages the telescope gives i n visib ility ,

m agn i fi cation an d accu racy of S ighti ng to the m etho d

used by Tycho B rah e of observi n g the ti me when a
star crosses the m eri dian an d its altitu de at that
m o m e nt The teles c ope is fi xed perpen dicularly to
.

a horizontal ax i s wh i c h en ds i n two accu rately tu rned

pivots These pi vots rest i n beari ngs due east an d
.

west so that the telescope can be tu rned to any poi nt

,
A S TR ONO M I CA L IN S TR U M EN TS
7 6 A S TR ON O M Y
i n the m eri dian ( or vertical plane poi nting n orth an d
south ) b ut is always con fi n ed to th is plane I n the
,
.

focal plane of the obj ective are two fai rly close
horizon tal parallel w 1 r e s an d several equally distan t
perpen dicular on es ( s o called w i res b ut i n real ity
’
-

“
sp i der s webs ) ( D iagra m XL I ) The m i ddle wi re is
.

so placed th at it is the sight of the m eri dian i e ,

. .

when a star crosses the meri dian its i m age will be

see n i n the telescope crossi n g the m i ddle wi re A .

l ittle before the t i m e when a star should cross the

m eri dian the observer t u rns the telescope about its
axis to the right altitude I n due tim e he sees the
.

star e nter the fiel d of h is telescope an d moves the tele

,

scope so that the star m ay come accurately i n the

m i ddle of the two horizon tal w ires The star is .

watche d as i t mo ves an d the exact ti m e is noted when

the several vertical wi res are crossed For m erly the .

t 1 m 1 n g was done by the observer listen i ng to the beats

of a clock carryi n g the ,

seco nds i n h is head an d

esti mati ng the ten ths of
seco n ds A n easier m ethod
.

now i n ge neral use is t o

register the ti me electrically
on a chron ograph the o b ,

server pressi ng a b u t ton

when the star crosses the
w i res The mean of t he
aD i g XLI.
.
. . -

ti mes across these wi res

ives s u bj ect to so m e s m all c o r rection s wh ich a r e
g ,
 AS TR O N OIVII CAL IN S TR U M EN TS 77

easily cal c ulate d the exact moment at which the star

,

c rosses the m eri d ian i e the right as c ension

’
, . . .

To obtai n the star s decli natio n it i s necessary to

d eter m in e the altitude at wh i ch the telescope is
poi nted Fo r thi s p ur pose a large gra d u ated ci rcle is
’
-

r
.

fixed centrally on the axis of rotation of the telescope ;

the position of the telescope is deter m i ned by the par
t i c u la r division on the circle which co m es to so m e

fixed poi n t To secure greater accuracy m icroscopes

.

are fi rm ly fi xed i n positions for viewi n g the graduated

li m b of the ci rcle .

I n the focal plane of ea c h m i c roscope are placed

wires an d the i ntersectio n of these wi res will be seen
,

bet w een two divisions of the graduated ci rcle The .

exact distance of this poi nt fro m a division is obtai ned

by mou nti n g the wi r e s o h a frame carried by a screw-
-

an d readi n g the tu rns and fract ions of a turn of this

screw necessary to bri ng the cross to the nearest
division of the ci rcle The d ivisions of ci r c les are
’
.

generally 5 apart ( so that there a r e 1 2 x 3 6 0 on the

’
whole circle ) the fractions of 5 bei ng read by means
,

of the m i c rometer screw For greater accuracy fou r .

o r six m icroscopes arranged rou n d a ci r c le are use d .

I n actual p ractice there are a n umber of m o d i fi c a

tions an d compl ications With a good i nstru m ent a .
,

good c loc k an d good observer the righ t ascension ,

an d decl i nation of a star can be d eterm i ned with an

error which i s sel d om more than To form an i dea
”
of 2 com parison may be made with the an g u lar d ia
’
m eter o f the S u n whi c h is 3 0 o r
,
B y taki ng
7 8 A S TR ONO M Y
the mean of several observations on di fferent n ights
’
,

stars position s are fou n d with greater accu racy .

E q u at o r i a
. l _ I n order that a telescope m ay be kept
poi nti ng to a star as i t crosses the sky t he telescope
m ust be g i ven a suitable m o vement The m ove m ent
.

D i g XL II
a . .

re q u ired is easi ly de m onstrated by a pai r of co m passes

.

“
I f one le g be poi nted towards the pole the other leg
,
 A S TR ONO M ICA L IN S TR U M E N TS 79

can be opened o u t to an angle equal to the polar

d istance of the star ; then by t u rn i ng abo u t the le g
poi nti ng to the pole the other leg may be b rought to a
position i n whi c h it poi nts to the star I f now the .

compass e s are tu rne d u niform ly arou n d the leg poi n t

i ng the p ole so as to go co m pletely ro u n d i n one
si dereal day the other leg wil l poi nt to the star all the
,

ti me Thi s is exactly the pri nciple of the equatorial

.

mounti ng of a telescope The telescope is p e r p e n

.

d i c u la r to an d can tu rn abo u t the decl i nation axis

, ,
.

The decli nation axis is perpendi c ular to an d tu rns ,

about the polar axis ( D iagram ( XL I I ) The tele

,
.

scope is first placed i n the req u ire d position an d then

turned by clockwork .

I n the m ou nti ng of a large telescope there are n e ce s

s a r i ly many i m p o r t a n t d e t a i ls to be arranged i n or d er

to m ake i t easy of m an ipulation an d reg u lar i n its

m ovement I t is also necessary to be able to correct
.

for any want o f precision i n the drivi n g clo c k espe ,

c i a lly when the telescope m ust be kept poi nti ng to

the same part of the sky for a lon g ti me These .

details are satisfa c torily s u rmo u nted by the engi neer

i ng skill of the i nstrument makers comb i ned with care
an d patien c e of the astronomer who uses the equatorial .

Thus a p icture of the part of the sky to which the

telescope is poi nted is formed i n the focal plane of the
obj ect glass B y means of the equatorial movemen t
.

this p ictu re is kept at rest an d the observer looking

,

through the eye piece of the telescope can exa m i ne it

-
.
80 AS TR ONO M Y

Po si t i o n Mi cr o m et er
-
.
—
This exa m i nation usually i h
volves m easu re m en t of so m e ki n d an d other i n s t r u ,

m ents are requ i red for this p u rpose For exa m ple .
,

to m easu re the distance between two very near stars

o r the dia m eter of one of the planets a m icro m ete r of ,

som e ki n d is nee ded A very S i m ple for m is the posi

.

tion m icro m e ter wh ich gives m eans of m ovi n g fi ne

-

W 1 r e s ( webs of spi ders stretched on fra m es ) i n the focal

D i g X LIII
a . .

plane of the telescope I n D iagram X L I I I which

.

represen ts th is i nstru men t there are three l i nes A B

, , ,

CC an d D D of wh i c h CC an d D D can be m oved
,

nearer or farther apart by m ean s of screws P an d Q ,

the distan c e betwee n them bei ng kn ow n fro m the

r e a d m g s of the screw heads I n a d dition the m icro
-
.

mete r which is mou nted i n the telescope tube can be

, ,

turned to any req u i red position Th u s if two stars .

 A S TR ONO M I CA L IN S TR U M E N TS 8 1

are i n the field of view by t u r n 1 n g the m icrometer an d

,

movi ng the screws the i ntersection of A B an d CC

,

c an be place d on one star an d the i ntersection of AB

an d D D on the other .

The dista n ce between the i mages of the two stars is

m easure d i n li near m easure let us say i n fractions of , ,

an inch ; the angle between the m is fou n d by d ivi di ng

thi s distance by the focal length of the telescope .

R eferri ng to D iagram XXXVI I the distance FG ,

is m easu red a n d to fi n d the angle FC G it is su ffi cient

,

to divi de by the length CE as We are o n ly d eal i n g ,

with very small angles .

Heli o m et er A position m icrometer is suitable for

.
- -

meas u ri ng the distan c e between two stars which are so

near that both can be seen at the same ti m e With a .

large telescope this m e a n s angles less than one m i n ute —

—
of arc o r less than g t h of the diameter of the S u n or
’
-

Moon For an gles comparable i n size with the S u n s

.

d ia m ete r t he most accurate vis u al observations are

m ade with a helio m eter This is a telescope equatori .

ally mou nted b ut havi ng its obj ect glass divi d ed i nto
,

two halves The two halves can be moved as shown

.
,

i n D iagram XL I V by means which adm it of the ,

distance fro m the central positio n bei n g acc u rately

d eter m i ned E ach half gives a pict u re of the part
.

of the sky wh ich is bei ng observed ; the two i mages

are exactly al ike b ut they are at a d istance apart
,

equal to the separation of the two halves of the

obj ect glass I f for exa m ple two stars are looked at
.
, , ,

c
82 AS TRO NO M Y

an d the glass is tu rned so that the di rectio n i n wh ic h

the halves are separated is parallel to the l i ne j oi n i ng
the stars there will be see n as i n D iagra m XL I V fou r
, , ,

i m ages i n a straig ht li ne ,

viz A an d B the i m ages of

.
,

the two stars formed b y

’
one half of the glass an d
'
,

A B t he i m ages formed by ,

the other half The halves .

’ ’
,
of the glass are separated by
A
a d ist a nce AA or B B
3
If .

’
D i g XLIV
a .
now
.
they are stil l farther
separated till A coinci des
exactly wi t h B the distance between the stars is
,

exactly equal to the amou nt by wh ich the two halves

h

’
of the g la s s are separated I n p ractice a good
.

deal of re fi nement i s necessary i n carryi n g out these

observations an d it is besi des a very del icate matter
, , ,

to cut an obj ect glass i n two To i nstru m en ts o f this .

class we are largely i n debted for the accurate m easures

by wh ich the distances of the S u n an d of the st ars
have been determ i ned .

Pho t o gr ap hi c Telesco p e — The telescope is see n i n its

si m plest for m when i t i s used for photography A .

photograph ic plate i s placed i n the focal plane of the

obj ect glass or reflector an d gives a permanen t record
,

of the i m age for m ed there .

A reflector m ay be used fo r visual or photograph ic

observations because the light of all colours is brought
to the same fo c us b ut an obj ect glass to be u sed for
,
 A S TR ONO M I CA L IN S TR U M E N TS 83

p hotography m u st be constructed so that bl u e l igh t

w hi c h a f fects the plates m ost powerf u lly 1 s brought t o

a sharp focus an d not t he red green and yellow to

, ,

w hich the ey e is m ost sensitive A photograph i c

.

telescope is m erely a large photographic lens of cor r e

s p o n d i n g ly l ong fo c us Typi c al telescopes are those
.

u sed i n the I nternational Chart of the Heavens ,

i n itiated at Paris i n 1 8 8 7 of abo u t 1 3 i nches diameter

,

and 1 1 feet 3 i nches fo c al length The scale of these .

telescopes is such that the photographs of the S u n or

Moon are abo u t I i i n c hes i n diameter The fi el d .

over wh ich good pictu r es are taken has a diameter

of about 5 i nches U si ng fast plates stars visible to
.
,

the naked eye requi re exposu res of less than o ne

secon d an d the n u mber of stars show n i ncreases
,

largely with the len gth of the expos u re Long

"

e xpos u res are ne c essary to photograph very fai nt

stars an d therefore the c lock movement sho u l d be
,

very acc u rate I f the teles c ope moves to foll o w the

.

motion of the stars exactly thei r i mages will be roun d

dots b u t if i t is m o v 1 n g too slowly or too fast they wi ll
,

be short l i nes To secure the corre c t movement of the

.

telescope arrangements are made for the observer to

g u ide an d c o n t r o l i t '
.

Whe n a photograph of the stars has b een taken ,

it will c ontai n a small n u mber of bright stars whose

positions are alrea d y kn own an d a large n umber of
fai nter ones which are u nknown I t therefore se rves .

to fill i n the fai nter stars i nto a map on which the

brighter stars are al re ady del ineated Like the helio .

c 2
84 AS TR O N O M Y

m ete r , a photograph can be used for fi n di ng the

distances an d relative di rection s of stars whose
'
distance apart i s less than one o r t w o degrees .

We h a ve so far con si dered astrono m ical i n s t r u

m ents si m ply as m eans for the accu rate m easure of
a ngles— the transit ci rcle bei n g typ ical of the m ethods
by which the relative positions of stars distan t f ro m
one an other o n the celestial sphere are obtai ned an d ,

the equator ial m ou n ti ng w ith its various adj u ncts

givi ng the relative positio n s of near bodies B ut a .

tel escop e m ou n ted equatorially can be used for m any

other p urp oses For exa m pl e a photo m ete r m ay be
.
,
-

used an d the quantity of l ight received fro m d i ff eren t

,

st a rs m ay be m easu red an d co m pared I n one or .

two cas s an i nstru m ent has bee n attached to the

e’
t e le s c o p e b y wh ich the a m ou n t of heat received fro m

the stars has bee n m easured B ut by far the m ost

.

i m portant i n stru men t of physical research used by

the astron o m er i n conj u nction with the telescope is
the spectroscope When applied to the stars it is
.

m ou nte d o n an equatorial telescope with the sl i t i n the

focal plan e of t he obj ect glass The telescope is so
.

poi nted that the i m age of a star m ay fall on the slit

an d part of i t enter the Spectroscope The fu nction . .

of the obj ect glass is to collect the l i ght an d that of ,

the equatorial to keep the telesco p e accurately poi n ted .

The way i n wh ich a spectroscope analyzes the l ight

wh ich passes th rough i t will be described i n the chapter
on t he S u n .
 C HA PTE R V
T HE ’
S U N S D I S T AN CE

TH E
’
determ i nation of the S u n s distance is one of
the m ost i mportant problems of astronomy A S we
’
.

have seen i t i s possible by m eans of Kepler s third

, ,

law to determ i ne the distances of the othe r planets

’
,

from the S u n i n terms of the E arth s mean distance .

For example the m ean distance of J up iter from t he

’
,

S u n is 5 2 0 2 8 ti m e s t he E arth s distance A mo d el .

of the solar syste m can be constructed b ut till the

’
,

E arth s d istance fro m the S u n is fou n d we can not

give the scale M ore than this the distances of the
.
,

stars are determ i ned i n terms of the distance of the

S u n so that this is the stan dard length w ith which
, .

all astronom ical distances a r e compared N at u rally .

s u c h an i mportant problem has receive d a great deal

of attention .

A Greek astronomer Aristarchus of La m os r e a li z

, ,

i ng that the M oon shone by refl ected l ight from the

S u n argued that the M oon would be exactly half full
,

when the directions of S u n a n d E arth as seen from the ,

Moon were at right angles T hus i n D iagra m XLV

, .

85
 86 A S TR ONO M Y
the angle E M S is exactly a right an gle I f the exact .

m o m en t when the M oo n is half ful l coul d be deter

m i ned by observation i t woul d then be possib le by
, ,

m easu ri n g the an gle between the S u n a n d M o o n as ,

seen fro m the E arth

“
( the angle M of the
7
S E
d i a g r a m ) t o deter m i ne ,

Di g X L V a .
the
.
exact S hape of the

t riangle S ME an d ,

th us fi n d S M i n term s of E M H e fou n d i n th i s way

’
.

that the S u n s distance was n i neteen ti m es that of the

M oo n The method is extremely rough because i t is
.
,

i m possibl e to s ay exactly when the M oon is half full .

Till the ti m e of Kepler th i s was the generally

‘

accepted distance of the S u n b ut Kepler showed that ,

i t m ust b e at least th ree ti mes as far away

’ ’
.

Cassi ni s Measu r e o f S un s Di st an ec — The fi rst deter

m i natio n which app roaches to what we now know to
be the distance was m ade by the F rench astrono m er
Cassi n i between 1 6 70 an d 1 6 8 0 He di d not m easu re
,
.

the distance of the S u n di re c tly b ut chose the planet ,

M ars when i n opposition i e i n a directio n opposite ,

. .

to the S u n N ow the E arth des c ribes a ci rcle of

.
,

radi u s 1 about the S u n wh ile M ars describes one of ,

radi u s 1 an d therefore M ars when i n opposition as

’
, ,

at M ( D iagram X L V I ) i s on ly at one half the S u n s,

-

distance The shorter distance 1 5 m easured twice as

.

easily B u t m ore than this M ars is seen at n i ght with

.
,

a b ac kg ro u nd o f s ta rs an d its p o s i t i o n c a n be d eter
,
 TH E
’
S UN S D IS T A N CE 87

m ined very accurately i n_ relation to these stars .

Cassi n i sen t out an expe d itio n to Cayen ne an d the ,

positions of M ars were observed si m ultaneously from

Paris an d Caye n ne I n D iagra m XL VI I E is the
.
,

centre of the Earth E Pp a radius through Paris an d

, ,

E C O one through Cayen ne w h ile M is the position of

,

M a rs I f at Paris the an gle M P1) is me asured an d

.
,

D i g X LV I
a . . D i g XLVII
a . .

si m ultaneously at Cayen ne the angle M C c then si nce ,

the radi i of the E arth E C an d E P are known an d

, , ,

also the angle PE C from the positions of Paris

’
an d Cayen ne on the E arth s s u rface there is enoug h ,

determ i ned to draw the d iagram acc u rately to s c ale ,

an d thus fi n d the d istance E M I n actual pra c ti c e the

.

diagram wo u l d not be draw n to scale b ut trigono ,

m etrical c al c u lations ma d e i nstead b u t this is merely

,

a substit u te whi c h avoids the d i ffic u lties an d u n c e r

t a i n t i es of d rawi n g the angles correctly
’
.

Cassi n i s result was 8 4 m illio n m iles a n d as we now ,

know t he dist a n c e t o be 93 m illion m i les , i t wi ll be

88 A S TR ON O M Y
seen that he was with i n about 1 0 per cent of the true .

val ue .

Tr ansi t of Venu s — Another an d very famo u s

’
.

m ethod of determ i n i n g the S u n s distance 1 5 by the

transit of Ven us As the orb i t of Ven us l ies with i n
.

that of the E arth it happens o n very rare occasion s

,

that Ven us passes betwee n the E arth an d the S u n

’
,

an d is actually see n crossi n g t he S u n s disc as a b lack

spot As at these ti mes Ven us is abo u t 2 5 m ill ion
.

m iles fro m the E arth wh ile the S u n is m uch farther

,

away it follows that seen fro m two poi nts as distan t

, ,

D i g XLVIII
a . .

fro m one another as possible o n the ’

E arth s surface
’
,

Ven us traces a sl i ghtly di fferent path across the S u n s

disc This is S hown i n D iag ram X LV I I I b ut i m
.
,

m e n s e ly exaggerated B y observations of the exac t

’
.

ti mes at which Ven us enters an d leaves the S u n s d is c

at the two stati ons it is possible to determ i ne the d i s
,

tance apart i n an gle of the two chords o u an d bb ’ ’

an d thence to fi n d the distance of Ven us the distanc e -

AB b etween the two stations servi n g as t he base l i ne -

.

O bservation s m ade at the t ransits of 1 76 1 an d 1 76 9

ave the dis t anc e of t he S u n 9 5 m illio n m iles An
g .
 TH E
’
S UN S D I S TA N CE 89

attempt was made at the transits of 1 8 74 an d 1 8 8 2 t o

obtai n the distance with greate r ac c u racy Extensi v e .

preparations were made an d many expeditions were

,

d ispat c hed by the govern ments of E u rope an d t he

U n it ed S tat es Although every care was taken the
.
,

expeditions were a comparative fail ure owi ng to the ,

i mposs i b ili ty of sa yi n g with certai nty what was the

exact m omen t at wh ich Ven us was seen tou c hi ng the
’
S u n s disc .

Mar s n ear Opp o si t i o n — In the year 1 8 7 7 S i r Davi d

G il l made observations of Mars near opposition from
the islan d of As c ension As the E arth t u rns roun d
.
,

b ri ngi ng the observer

fro m A i n the early
even in g to B i n the
early morni ng ( Di a S fa r

gra m XL I X ) the d i
,
D i g X LIX
a . .

rection m which M ars

is seen c hanges slightly I nstead of observi ng Mars
’
.

si m ultaneously from two d i fferent places on the Earth s

su rface it was observed even i n g and morn i ng from the
,

—
same poi nt the poi nt of observation swin gi ng i n c on
’
sequence of the E arth s rotation from one si de to the

Mars Are there any means of meas u rin g the angle

.

AM B ? I f so the d ista n ce can be foun d N ow

, .

Mars is seen proj ected on the sky i n the m i d st of the

fixed stars These are so distan t that they are seen
’
.

'

i n the sam e di rection fro m all poi nts o f t he E art h s

90 A S TR ONO M Y
su r face S uppose there were a star exactl y i n the
.

l i ne o f E M As see n fro m A M ars woul d appear

’ ,
.

to the righ t of th i s star b ut when the E arth s rotation

,

will have carried A to B then i t w ill appear to the ,

left M easu ri ng the angular distan ces between M ars

.

an d the star the an gles M AS an d M B S are fou n d

,
,

an d by a d ditio n the angle AM B T hen as the length .

,

A B can be easily d e t e r m m e d the distance E M is ,

calculated at o nce .

The geo m etrical p ri nciples un derlyi n g th is are easy

e n ough b u t observation s necessary to ob tai n a good
,

deter m i natio n of the distanc e m ust be of extre m e

accuracy The angles to be m easu red are so extre m ely
.

s m all that the slightest errors m ake a consi derable

di ffere nce i n the result The m easu res of angles were
.

m ade w i th a hel io m eter an d errors arisi n g fro m the

,

i nstrume nt an d the observer were guarded agai nst an d ,

where possib le t hei r e ffects el i m i nated by fu rther o b

s e rva t i o n s A n additional di fficulty i s fou n d i n the
.

m ove m en t of the planet M ars does not stay stil l

’
.

between even i n g an d m o rn i n g to su i t the observer s

conven ience so its m otio n has to be carefully c a lc u
,

lat ed an d allowed fo r As M ars IS near o pposition for a

.

consi derable ti m e lon g series of observations are car

,

ried o n n ight after n ight an d m orn i n g after morn i n g ,

an d the fi nal result derived fro m the mean of the whole

series Although a very accu rate result was obtai ned
.
,

the f act that M ars has a disc of con si derable size gave
ri s e to a l i ttle u nc e r tai nty I t is m uch easi er to
.
 TH E
’
S UN S D IS T A N CE 9 1

measure t he distance of a b righ t poi n t from another

than to m easu re the distance of a b right po i n t from .

the edge of a disc where one is liab le t o meas ure

,

from a li ttle i nside or a l ittle ou tside of the edge .

N ow there a r e among the small planets w hose orb its

,

are rather further from the S u n than that of M ars ,

so m e which owi n g to the eccentri c i ty of thei r orb its

, ,

c ome s u fficiently near to the E arth for the m to be

’
available to determ i ne the S u n s distance From these .

S i r Davi d G ill p i c ked o u t Vi c toria I ris an d S appho,

as bein g the m ost suitable an d made an extensive

,

series of observations at the Cape of Good Hope i n

the years 1 8 8 8 an d 1 8 8 9 an d also secu red the assist
,

an c e of observers at n o rthern observatories i n the

observations of the planets an d i n the extensive sub
,

s i d i a r y observations n e ces s ary to determ i ne the posi

tions of the stars fro m which the angular distances of

the planets were measured The detai ls of the o b
’
.

s e r v a t i o n s an d the deter m i nation of the S u n s distance

from them oc c upy two large quarto volu mes The

’
.

final result is that the S u n s distance is

m i les an d from the agreemen t between the di fferent
,

ob servations it is con c l uded that the error is p rob ably

not more than miles This erro r correspon ds
.

to an error of one yard i n measuri n g a m ile .

Er o s — O n August 1 3 1 8 9 8 D r D e Witt of B erli n

, ,
.

discovered a smal l planet to which the na m e E ros was

,

s u bsequently given which at ti m es comes to withi n

,

1 4 m ill io n m i les o f t he E a rt h Thi s s m all body o n lv

.
,
9 2 AS TR ONO M Y

28 m iles i n dia m eter is ou r nearest n eighb ou r a m on g

,

the plan ets an d is adm i rably su ited to determ i ne the

’
,

S u n s distan ce .At the en d of 1 90 0 when E ros came

,

to with i n 3 0 m il lion m iles of the E arth a very exten ,

sive series of o bservatio ns was u n dertaken i n co

operatio n by m any observatories The m ethod e m.

ployed was essentially the sa m e as the o ne j ust

described with regard to Victoria I ris an d S appho ;
,

the m a m di fference bei n g that photographs of the

planet an d surrou n di n g stars were taken an d a f te r
’
,

ward s measu red i n stead o f the planet s distances

,

fro m neighb o u ri n g stars bei n g measu red w i th the

hel io m eter . The photograph ic t e lescopes e m ployed
—
were of lon g f ocus fro m I i i f t to 2 2 % f t an d con
-

. .
-

seque ntly the photographs were o n a large scale an d ,

ad m itt ed of the accu rate det e r m i nation of the position

of E ros a m on g the su rrou n di ng stars The resul t .

derived by M r H i nks of the Ca m b ri dge observatory

.

fro m the co m b i ned observatio ns of E ros ls a p p r o x i m

ately m iles agreei n g very closely with the
,

distance fou n d by S i r D avi d Gill .

I t shoul d be n oticed that the m ethods of d e te r m i n

.

’
i n g the S u n s distan ce j ust described though very ,

co m plicated i n the details wh ich m ust b e consi dered

when a result of h igh accu racy i s ai m ed at a r e ve r y
.
, r

si m ple i n p ri nciple The distance of the S u n is

.

m easu red j ust as a su rveyor m i ght m easu re the dis

tance of a tree on the o p posi te bank of a river The .

di ffi culty ar i s es f ro m t he fact that t he astrono m er

 TH E
’
S UN S A N CE
D IS T 93

c an not obtai n a bas e l i ne larger than the dia m eter of

-

the Earth This i n comparison with the distance o f

.
,

E ros is very small an d gives a triangle with very

, ,

long sides an d a very short base A s m all error i n .

the d e t e r m 1 na t 1 o n of the vertical angle m akes a large

error i n deter m i n i n g the lengths of the long sides of
the triangle .

The dist a nce of the S u n m ay be deter m i n e d i n an

enti rely di fferent w ay by observi ng the ti me wh ich
ligh t takes to travel across this distance an d agai n by ,

co m pari ng the ve locity of the E arth i n i ts orb i t with

the velocity of light .

Velo ci t y o f Li ght I n the year 1 6 75 the D an ish

.

astrono m er R o emer discovered that light is not trans

m i t t e d i nstantaneously b ut m oves with a measurable
, ,

th o ugh very great v eloci ty H e was led to this dis

’
.
,

c o v e r y by observations of J upiter s satell ites The

’
.

S u n s light causes J up iter to cast a shadow an d the ,

satellites m ay be seen enteri ng or emergi ng fro m this

shadow Fro m n u mero u s observations i t became pos
.

sible to construct tables p re d icti ng the ti mes o f these

occ u rrences R oemer fo u n d however that when the
.
, ,

E arth was near to J u p iter the eclipses occurred before

the predicted ti m es b ut after them when the Earth was
,

more than its mean distance fro m J up iter He ex .

plai ned these di fferences between the observed an d pre

d icted ti mes by the di ff erence of time taken by the light
to travel a longer or shorter d istance Thus i n D ia .

gra m L i f E E E E be fou r positions of the

,
94 A S TR ONO M Y
E arth S an d J
,
the positions of the S u n an d J up iter ,

the distances to be traversed i n these fou r cases are

E J an d i t is clear that the di f ference
E J E J
I ,
E 2 ] , 3 , 4

between the t i m es taken

’

to traverse E ] a n d E J r
3 l

gives twice the ti m e i t

if takes for light to travel
I

fro m the S u n to the

Di g L E
a
art h
.
The
.
actual ti me .

take n by l ight to travel

the m ean distance between the E arth an d S u n is
8 m 18 5 s
‘

. .

Aber r at i o n — Fifty years later B radley while a t , ,

te m pti ng to m easu re the distance of one of the fi xed

stars 7 D racon is discovered the aberration of light “
’
,
.
,

H e fou nd that th is star s decl i nation changed i n the

cou rse of the year F ro m D ecember 1 7 2 5 to M arch .

1 7 2 6 the star m oved 2 0

”
towards the south ; it was
stationary for a short ti me an d the n m oved n orth ,

wards reach i ng by the m i ddle of J une the position it

,

had at the begi n n i n g of D ecembe r I t con ti n ued to .

m ove n orthwards t ill at the begi n n i n g of S epte m ber

,

”
it was 2 0 to the north of its positi on i n Dece m ber
an d J u ne Agai n i t was stationary for a short ti me
.
,

an d then m oved southwards till at the begi n n i ng ,

of D ece m ber it was i n the same position as i n the

p revious year .

Although the move m en ts of the star w ere exactly

’
opposite to B radley s an ticipation thei r regulari ty ,
 TH E
’
S UN S A N CE
D IS T 95

showed that they were not acciden tal At fi rst B radley .

looked for the explanation i n a m ove m en t of t he

’
Earth s axis B u t by maki ng observations of stars
.

i n di fferen t parts of the sky he fou n d that th is could

n o t be the c au se an d after some other atte m pts he
,

d iscovered that the velocity of the E arth i n its orbit ,

co m b i ned with the velocity of propagation of l ight ,

a fforde d a complete explanation of the phenomena .

A very fam iliar exa m ple will help to make this c lear .

I f rai n is fall i ng vertically a person who is stan d in g

still holds his umbrella directly over his head but if ,

he i s walki ng fast the rai n appears to m eet h i m an d ,

he holds his u mb rella slightly i n fron t I n a si milar .

m an ner if the l ight moves over a d istan c e eq u al to B A

,

( D iagra m L I )
,
while the observer moves
i n ,
—
over a d s t a c e A C t he light will appear
t o co m e i n a d i rection DA i nstead of
,

the di rection B A Let u S further s u p

.

pose that the gen tle m an with t he

u m brella w a lks ro u n d a ci rcular track .

When he i s walki n g northwards his

umbrella will be po i nte d a l ittle to the
north w hen eastward a l ittle east
, ,

when southward a little south the d i —

rection i n which he hol d s the u mbrella

D i g LI a . .

bei ng constantly chan ge d N ow as the E arth is m ovin g

.

rou nd the S u n its di rection is constan tly cha n gi ng

throu g hout the year The di rection fro m which the
.

l igh t appears to come fro m a star i e the direction ,

. .
9 6 A S TR ONO M Y
i n wh ich the star is seen is con stantly changi ng
’
,

bei ng always i ncl i ned sl ightly from the star s m ean

di rectio n towards the d i r ec t lo n 1 11 which the E arth at
the m o m en t i s travelli n g an d i n co nsequence the
,

stars a r e s e e n to describe smal l el lipses i n the sky

'

about thei r m ean position s The se m i m aj or a x e s o f

'

-
.

”
these el l ipses are al l the sa m e na m ely 2 0 ( ap p r o x i
, ,

m ately ) th is bei n g the angle of a righ t an gled tri

,
-

angle o f wh ich the lon gest si de is p roportional to

the velocity of l ight an d the shortest proportional
,

to the veloci ty of the E arth i n its m otion rou n d the

S un
’
.

S n s Di t ance d et e m i ned f o m Velo ci t y o f Li ght

u s r r
’
.

R o emer s observations showed that l igh t was p ro

ag at ed wi th a fi n i te veloci ty an d ’
B radley s discover
p , y
of abe rra tio n was the fi rst absol ute p roof that the
earth revolved rou n d the S u n B u t i n the m i ddle of
.

last cen tu ry m ethods of m easuri ng the veloc ity of

l ight o n the E arth were devised by F i z e a u an d Fou
c a u lt ; the method of Foucault by which the velocity
of propagation of l ight is measu red i n a laboratory
has bee n so perfected t hat M ichelso n a n d N ewco m b
have deter m i ned it as m iles a secon d with an ,

error probably not exceedi ng 2 5 m iles Knowi ng the .

velocity of l ight i f the ti me which l ight takes to travel

’
,

across the E arth s orb i t be accu rately determ i ned f rom

’
the ti m es of the eclipses of J up iter s satelli tes i t is ,

b ut a m atter of si m ple divi sion to fi n d the radius of

this orbit or the distance of the S u n The accu racy
.
 TH E
’
S UN S D IS T A N CE 97

attainable by this method is consi derable b u t not ,

nearly equal to that given by the trig o no m etrical

m ethods described ab ove .

The constant of aberr ation has been determ i ned wi th

very great accuracy by observation This constant i s
’
.

the ratio of the E arth s velocity to that of light .

Knowi ng the vel o city of light the v e locity of the

,

E arth is deduced an d fro m it the distance thro u gh

,

which the E arth moves i n a year an d the n the mean ,

distan c e of the E arth from the S u n The val u e thus

’
.

foun d f o r the S u n s d istance is sl ightly greater than

the result given on p 9 2 . .

Q uite recently another method has been emplo y ed

’
for d eterm i n i ng the ratio between the Earth s velocity
an d that of light As will be explai ned i n the next
.

ch apter when the ligh t fro m a star is analyzed b y a

,

spectrosc ope the l i nes i n the spectru m are slightly

,

shifted towards the red or the bl ue if the sou rce e m it

ti ng the light an d the s p ectroscope receivi n g it are
m ovi ng away fro m or towar d s each other This .

p ri nciple was applied by S i r Willia m H uggin s to

d eter m i ne the velocities with which stars are appar
ently app roa c hi ng or recedin g from the E arth N ow
’
, , .
,

if the E arth s orb ital m otion is at one ti m e of the

-

year directed towards a star i t will six m on ths later

,

be di re c ted away from it At the fi rst of these ti m es

.

spectroscop ic Observations give the velocity of the star

away fro m the S olar S yste m d im i nished by the velo
c ity o f the E arth i n its orbit S i x m onths later they
'

H
9 8 A S TR ONO M Y
give the vel o city of the star added to the velocity of
the E arth The di ffe rence of the two results is twice
.

the velocity of the E arth i n its orb it Thus we fi n d

.

how fast the E arth is travelli n g an d as we know that

,

it co m pletes its j ou rney i n on e year the length of that

’
,

j ou rney can be fou n d an d the S u n s distance d e r 1v e d

,
.

Gr avi t at i o nal Met ho d s — There are at least th ree other

’
ways of deter m i n i n g the S u n s distance O n e de.

pen ds o n the fact that the E arth every m onth describes

a s m all circle about the centre of gravi ty of the E arth
an d M oon an d thi s slightly a ffects the di rectio n i n
,

wh ich w e see the S u n A secon d arises fro m the fact

.

that when the M oo n is between t he E arth an d S u n ,

the attractio n of the S u n upon it is greater than when

the M o o n is o n the si de of the E arth away fro m the
S un The e ffect of th is can be traced i n the M oon s ’
’
.

m otion an d leads to a deter m i nation of the S u n s

,

di stance A th ird m ethod depen ds o n a disturbance

.

wh ich the E arth m akes i n the el liptic m otion of

Ve n us about the S u n : this leads to a deter m i n ation
’
of the E arth s m ass an d th rough it of the E arth s ’
,

distance
’
.

The S u n s distance m ay therefore be foun d i n a

variety of ways . The m et hods m ay be classified as
’ m
()i su rveyor s or trigon o etrical methods appl ied to
the nearest of the planets ; ( ii ) methods wh ich take
the velocity of light as kn own an d co m pare the
’
,

E arth s velo c ity with i t or else fi n d di rectly the ti me

’
,

l ight takes to travel the S u n s distance ; an d ( i i i ) b y

 THE
’
S UN S
'
D IS T A N CE 99

e ffe c ts due to gravi tation seen i n the motion of the S u n

’
,

M oon an d especially of Ven us i n which the E arth s

, ,

distance from the S u n enters as a factor The su r

’
.

v e y o r s or trigono m etrical metho d appl i ed to m i nor

planets when nearest to us is the si mplest an d at ,

presen t gives the best results B ut it is i mportan t to

.

use as many methods as possible based on d i fferen t

’
p ri n c iples i n d eterm i n i n g what is the astrono m er s
stan dard of length i n terms of wh ich he meas u res all
,

other c elestial d istances.

 C H AP TE R V I
TH E S UN

W E th i n k o f the S u n as the cen tre an d seat of

govern m en t of the p lanetary syste m an d p a r t i c u la r lv
,

as the sou rce f ro m which the E arth derives the heat

a nd l ight requ i red for the existen ce of m an upon i ts

su r f ace B ut we may also regard the S u n as a star

.

m uch n earer to u S than any of the others For the .

stars are su n s at such great distances that i n the

largest telescopes they appear to be o n ly b right
\“
poi nts If the S u n were a m ill ion ti m es as f ar away
.
,

’
w e S houl d see it as a star of the thi rd or fou rth m agn i

tude i n no respect specially remarkable O wi n g to .

i ts p roxi m i ty a m o re detailed kn o wledge can be

,

obtai ned of the S u n than of other stars an d it there

,

fore serves as the sa m ple by wh ich we j udge of the m .

B oth on accou nt of its relationship to ou r planet an d

ou rselves an d o f its bei n g the rep resen tative of the
,

m ill ion s of stars i n the sky the S u n is a sup re m ely

,

i n teresti ng subj ect for stu dy an d research .

—
S i ze When the distance of the S u n has been deter
m 1 n e d there is no di ffi culty i n fi n di n g its size an d m a ss
.

I f we draw l i nes to two poi n ts at the opposite extre m

ities of a diameter of the S u n the angle between these
,

1 00
 TH E S UN 10 1

li nes will be rather more than half a degree It

’
.

follows fr o m this that as the S u n s dis t ance is 9 3 1

m ill ion m iles i ts diameter is,

m iles o r about ,

1 1 0 ti m es that of the E arth I ts volu m e wil l there .

,

fore be 1 1 0 cubed or
, ,
times that of the
E arth
’
.

—
i

Mass .The S u n s mass is determ i ned from the e ff ect

of its gravitation The E arth describes a ci rcle of 93
.

m illion m iles ra d i us i n one year I t follows that i n one .

.

secon d it is pulled i nwards from the tangent by th -

of a foot I n D iagram L I I S bei ng the S u n

.
, ,

E the E art h an d E G the distance travelle d

,

i n one secon d then FG T5 ft N ow the

’
3
.
,

E arth s gravi tation caus e s a stone to fall

1 6 ft i n the fi rst secon d after it is dropped
’
. .

At the S u n s dista n c e t he stone woul d fall “

16 x ft — o n e m ill ionth D i g LII

1
.
3 3
a . .

of one foot
’
.

Thus the Earth s attraction woul d on ly produce

fi fi fi t h of the e f fect p roduced by that of the S u n ,

an d consequently the S u n is ti mes as m assive

’
.

Densi t y — As the ratio o f t he S u n s volu me to that

of the E arth is m uch greater than the ratio of thei r
”

m ass es i t follows that the S u n is m uch less dense

,

than the Earth The fi gures are 1 — — or about "

3 3 0L
9L 0

’
s
-

.
3 3 1 0 00

N ow the E arth s mean density is 5% times that o f

water ; there fore the m ean densi ty of the S u n is on ly
1
3 ti mes that of water or about half the m ean density
’
,

o f rocks at the E arth s surface The p ressure i n si d e .

1 02 A S TR ON O M Y
t he S un caused by the m utual gravita t ion o f so hu ge
a m ass is enor m ous The low den si ty shows that t he
.

enor m ous p ressu res a re acco m pa nie d by extre m e ly

high te m peratu res an d that th e matter i n the body
,

of the S u n is i n a g as eous con di tio n

—
.

S o lar Rad i at i o n The S u n is constantly radiati n g

i ts heat i nto space A ver y s m all p ortion of th is is
.

i ntercepted by the E arth an d planets What beco m es .

of the rest we do not know The rate at which th is

.

radiation 1 5 p roceedi ng can be m eas u re d by fi n d i ng

how m uch heat falls each m i n ute o n a given area
exposed perpen di cularly to the S u n s rays ’ An .

i nstru m en t for m easu ri n g t he a m ou n t of heat recei ved

fro m the S u n is called a py rhel iometer S uch an
.

i n stru men t is construct e d so that i t S hal l retai n all

the he at which falls o n it from the S u n an d i t is ,

shielded fro m receivi n g heat i n other ways As a

’
.

great deal of heat is absorbed by the E arth s at m o

spher e allowance is m ade for this an d w hen p o ssible
, ,

observati o n s ar e m ade a t a h igh al titu de suc h as

’
,

P ike s Peak or the G o r ne r G rat where less at m o

”
sphe re has been traversed The solar constan t is
.

th e name given to the q u antity of heat wh ich wou ld

be received per m i n ute on a square cen ti m etre
(f r i nc h x fi i nch ) exposed perpen dicularly to the
’
,

S u n s ray s if there were no atmosphere Expe r i m ents

.

S how that th is is calor ies or su ffi cient to raise the

,

temperatu re of one cub i c centi metr e o f water by

Centigrade .
 TH E S UN 1 03

I f we i magi ne a sphere with the S u n as cen tre an d

a rad i u s of 93 m ill ion m iles every square centi m etr e ,

of the s u rface of th is sphere receives each m i nute

c alories All t hi s heat is ra d iated fro m the S u n s
.
’

part Of the surface of a sphere whose radi us is 9 3

milli o n m iles Conseq u en tly the S u n mu st radiate
.

heat at the rate of 2 2 5 x calories per m i n u te

per square c enti metre or more than ,
c alories .

E very sq u are c en ti m etre of the S u n is turn i n g out

work at the r ate of an 1 1 horse p o wer engi ne P ro - -
.

f e s so r Y o u ng illustrates the i m mense o u tp u t as

follows — i f t he S u n w e r e fr o z e n o v er c o m p le t e ly t o
a d ep t h f fif
O ty fe e t ,
t he hea t em i t te d i s su ffi ci en t to
e lt f
t he w ho le t hi s i n m i n u te ti m
m O
f The
One O e .

m echan ism by w hi c h this radiation is mai n tai ned is

a constant flow of heated matter from the i n terior to
the surface of the S u n an d a corresp o n ding fl ow ,

i nwards of the cooled matter from the surfa c e P rof . .

S c huster gives an i d ea of the magn i tu d e of the p ro

c ess as follows — In e v er y s e c o n d a fr e s h la y e r Of ho t

g a s e o us m a t t er w i ll ha v e t o b e br o u g ht t o t he f
s u r a c e,

a la y er a
q f
u a r t er O a m i le t hi c k i f t he g a s i s a t a tm o

s p he r i c pr e s s u r e An d the m atter b rought u p i n the

.

p rece d i ng secon d m u st be got out o f the way when it

has parte d w ith al l its heat .

Mai nt enan ce o f Heat —How is the S u n able to con

t i n u e this p rodigal expen di tu re of heat ? I t can not
be by c ombustion for if the S u n were ma d e of coal
, ,
1 04 A S TR ONO M Y
the heat o btai nab le woul d not be su ffi cien t to m ai n
tai n th is expen ditu re for m ore than 6 0 0 0 years an d ,

g eology teach es us that the E arth has been receivi n g

heat fro m the S u n for m ill io ns of years B ut every
.

ti m e a m ete o rite falls i n to the S un i t contrib utes heat ,

fo r the veloci ty of a body p ulled i n to the S u n fro m

'

a great distance wi ll app roach 400 m iles a s econ d ,

an d t he e ne rgy of such a body w ill by the coll ision

be tu rned i nto heat Though so m e heat is doubtless
.

acqui red by the S u n i n th is way calculation of the

,

a m ou n t shows that i t is p robab ly on ly a s m all per

cen tage of the total H el m hol tz S howed that the slow
.

co n traction of the S u n u n der the i nfl uence of its ow n

gravitatio n woul d supply a m uch larger amou nt .

This pro cess is essentially si m ilar to that by which

a m eteorite fall i n g i n to the S u n con tributes to its
'

heat . I n the case of a m eteori te the motio n of a

,

s m all body is checked s u dden ly I n that of the con

i

tractio n of the S u n a very large mass is con ti n uously

,

forci n g i t s way i nwards I n both cases energy a c

.

qui red by gravitation is converted i nto heat H el m

’
.

holtz showed that i f the S u n s radi us co ntracted one

m ile i n 40 years s u ffi c re n t energy woul d be obtai ned
,

to s u pply the outp u t by radiation I t wou l d be

.

thousan ds Of years before such a s mal l sh ri nkage

coul d be detected S till this p rocess can not go o n
.
,

for ever an d if the S u n has no othe r way of

,

replen ishi n g its stores the E arth will not conti n u e

,

to rece i ve t he a m o u n t o f h ea t necessary fo r t he
 TH E S UN 10 5

suppo rt of life on its s u rface m any m illion yea r s

longer .

We m ay also ask how lon g the S u n has been

radiati ng heat tremen dous rate S u pposin g .

the S u n to have been formed by m atter fall in g to

gether fro m very great distances the supply of heat
,

thus generated would be su fficient to m ai ntai n the

present rate of radiation for 1 8 million years We .

can not say that this is the only way i n which the
S u n has obtai ned heat I t is known as we shall see
.
,

later that heli u m e xists i n the S u n N ow heliu m is

,
.
,

formed fro m the disi ntegration of radiu m a process ,

wh ich is acco m pan ied with a great liberation of heat

’
.

The S u n s heat m ay have been partly acqu i red i n

this way or i n othe r s of which we know nothi ng I t
, __
_
.

is generally bel ieved by scientists that the E arth has

been receivi ng heat fro m the S u n for a m uch longer
period than 1 8 m illion years .

Tem p er at ur e — Very di fferent esti mates have been

for m e d of the te m perature of the S u n I t is seen to .

be very high because with a very powerfu l b u rn i n g

glass all m etals can be l i quefied an d vapor ized The .

di ffi culty i n deter m in i n g the temperature has been

pri ncipal ly due to wan t of knowledge of the law con
n ec t i n
g the amou nt of heat radiated with the te m pera
ture of the radiati n g body I n 1 8 79 S tefan en u nciate d
.

the law that the radiation varies as the fourth power of

the te m perature reckoned fro m absol ute zero or 2 73 — ,
°

Cen t igra d e , Messrs Wilso n and Gray heat e d a

,
 1 06 A S TR ONO M Y
de fi n ite s urface of plat i n u m electrically to a k n o wn
te m peratu re an d co m pared the heat radiated by th is
,

with the heat radiated by the S u n M aki ng necessary

’
.

allowances for the a m ou n t of the S u n s heat absorbed

’
i n the E arth s at m osphere they were i n th is way
’
,

able to deter m i n e the S u n s te m peratu re The resu lts .

fo rmed b y di fferen t ob servers agree i n givi ng the

-

0
te mperature of the S u n at from 6 000 to
Centigrade .

The S p ect r o sco p e D uri ng the last 50 years ou r

.
-

knowledge o f t he S u n an d stars has been exten ded i n

u nexpected di rections by spectru m analysis J ust as .

the ear can detect an d separate several n otes of a

p i a no l
p y
‘
a e d si m ultaneou s ly so the spectroscope ,

analyz es the vib rations wh ich are t rans m i tted i n a

bea m o f li g ht A bea m of l igh t m ay be an d often is
'

.
, ,

extre m ely co m ple x b u t by th is analysis the di ff eren t

,

notes so to speak are separated an d a great v ariety

, , ,

of i nfor m ation is i n certai n ci rcu m stances ob tai ned of

the sou rce fro m which the l ight p roceeds I f a be a m .

of su n ligh t be allowed to fall o n a p rism i t is spl it ,

up i n to a colo u re d ban d i n wh i ch the colou rs are

arranged i n the order violet i n digo b lue green , , , ,

yellow oran ge red E ac h gradation o f colou r c o r

, , .
“

respon ds to a particular length of wave a n d ti m e of

—
vib ration of the l i ght the whole consistin g of a n
i n fi n ite n u m ber of di fferen t waves A m uch m ore .

'

perfect analysis of a b e a m o f l ight is obtai ned as

f ollows : the lig ht o f the S u n ( for ex a m ple ) is m ad e
 TH E S UN 10
7

to pass through a very narrow slit A i n the focal

plane of an obj e c t glass B ( D iagram L I I I ) . The light
falls on B an d
emerges as a "

parallel pencil of
rays This falls
.

on the prism C ,

whose edge is Di g a .

parallel to the
slit A Al l the rays of any one wave length emerge
.
-

i n parallel di rections from the p rism an d fall i ng on , ,

the obj ect glass D are b rought to focus The rays

,
.

of each colour are brought to a d i fferent focus an d ,

a colou red ban d r e called a spe c trum is formed

, ,
.

When this experi ment is carefully performed the ,

bright ban d is fou nd to be crossed by a large n u m ber

'

of dark li nes .

I f i nstead of sun light the li g ht fro m a B u nsen

, ,

bu r ner i n wh ich some sodi u m chloride ( com m o n salt) is

spri nkled is ad m itted i n to the spe c troscope two b right ,

yel low l i n es are seen an d these two l i nes are c o i n c i

,

d ent i n position w ith two of the dark li nes i n the solar

spe c tru m . The l ight fro m other substances when
vaporize d gives b right l i nes characteristi c of the
substances emitting the m The relation between the
.

spectra of su n light an d of light from terrestrial

so u rces was explai ned an d developed by Ki rchoff .

He foun d that when sun light streamed th rough a

flame i n w hich sal t had been spri nkled i nto the
 1 08 A S TR ONO M Y
spect r oscope the yel low l i nes disappeared bei ng co m
, ,

p le t e l y swallowed u p by the solar dark l i nes wh ich

coi nci ded wi th the m i n p osition an d wh ich were ,

m uch stron ger t han when the su nl ight had n ot passed

th rough the fla m e con tai n i n g sodi u m vapou r . He
was th us led to explai n the exi ste n ce of the two dark
l i nes i n the solar s pectru m wh ich coi ncide i n position
wi th the yellow l i nes given ou t by the vapou r of
sodi u m by sayi n g t hat l i ght fro m the hot i nterior of
,

the S u n passed through a layer of lower te m peratu re

’
at the S u n s su rface i n wh ich there was the v apou r of
sodi u m ; that the sodi u m vapou r i n th is layer absorbed
the vib rations of the sa m e period as those it coul d
itself e m i t j ust as a tun i ng fork respon ds w hen its
,
-

ow n note is played on a p iano He veri fi ed th is p ro

.

"
p o s i t i o n e x p e r i m e n t a lly i n h is laboratory ,
by allow
i n g l ight co n tai n i n g sodiu m vapou r fro m a fl a m e at
a h igh te m peratu re to pass th rough a fla m e at lowe r
tem peratu re also con tai n i n g sodi u m vapou r before
en trance i n to the spectroscope . The yellow li nes
fro m the fl a m e at lower temperatu re were darkened .

S pectra are of th ree ki n ds

1 ) C o n ti n u o u s c o lo u r e d b a n d s with no dark l i nes
( .

These are given b y the l ight e m itted by glowi n g

sol i ds or l iqu ids or g a ses subj ected to great p ressu re .

( )
2 A n u m be r O f d efi n i t e b r i g ht li n e s. These
spectra are obtai ned fro m glo w i n g m atter i n a gaseous
con dition . They m ay be p roduced by volatil izi n g
m etals i n fl a m e s o r t he el ectric arc ; f ro m an electric
'
 TH E S UN 1 0
9

spark i n whi c h cases m atter fro m the ter m i nals is

,

carried across the gap between the m ; or by an elec tric

d ischarge i n vacuu m tubes c o n t a ln ln g a small quan tity
-

Of s u ch gase s as hydrogen n itrogen etc

,
-

, ,
.

(3 ) Abs o r ti o n s e c t r a
p p These consist.o f b righ t
ban ds traversed by dark l i nes They are formed when .

light fro m a sou rce at h igher temperatu re pas ses

through a m edi u m con tai n i ng gl o wi ng vapou rs which
would themselves yiel d a bright l i ne spectru m The .

spectru m is the reversal d ark l i nes for b right of that

, ,

which would be given by the m edi u m through w hich

the l ight passes
’
.

S o lar Chem i st r y Ki rcho ff s d iscovery was the

.
-

begi n n i ng of solar an d stellar chem istry The spec .

tr u m of the S u n was carefu lly mapped by hi m an d ,

the position s of certai n dark l i nes show n to be

i denti c al with those i n the spectra of sodi u m calcium , ,

m agnesi um bari u m i ron an d n i c kel S u n light has

, ,
.

therefore traverse d a layer surro u n di ng the S u n i n

which vapou rs of these elemen ts exist To make sure .

o f the exact coi nci dence i n position of the solar l i nes

and those of terrestrial elemen ts it is necessary to
spread out the spectra as far as possible This is d one .

“
by havi ng a n umber of prisms i nstead of one or still
”
, ,

“
better by u si ng a gratin g i nstead of p risms to
d isperse the light A grati n g consists of a polished
.

surface on wh ich a large n u mber of eq u ally space d

parallel l i nes are rule d by a d iamon d The art of .

rul i ng grati ngs was brough t to great perfection by

1 10 AS TR ONO M Y

R owl a n d of B al ti m ore A typ ical grati n g of R o w

’
.

lan d s is of specul u m m etal 6 i n ches lon g by 4 i nch e s

h igh an d on it are ruled
,
l i n es to the i nch so ,

that altogethe r the grati ng con tai ns m i n ute

fu rrows W hen l i gh t falls on such a surfa c e part
.
,

of it is disper sed i n to a series of spectra .

Wi th grati n gs of hi s ow n constructio n R owlan d

m ade a m agn i fi cen t catalogue an d m ap of the li nes i n
t he solar spectru m I t exten ded fro m the red en d of
.

the spectru m th r ou gh the yellow green an d blue far , ,

beyon d the violet The h u man eye is not sensitive to

.

the rays of ul tra violet l ight b ut the sp e ctra can be

-

photo g raphed as photograph ic plates are very sen

,
'

s i t i ve to th is ligh t Altogether he m e a s u r e d t he ln
.

ten si ties a n d position s of l i nes an d m apped

the m D iagram L I V S hows a sm all part of R owlan d s
.
’

Di ga . L IV .

m ap i n the green part o f the spectru m m any very fain t ,

l i nes bei n g o m itted The n u m beri n g gives the len gth

.

o f the w aves of light b elon gi n g to th a t e xact colou r .

 TH E S UN 1 1 1

Th u s 5 1 6 0 stan ds for 5 of one m etre or a pp r o x i , ,

“ of one i nch The chem ical origi n o f

mately 0 00 0 2
,
.

the separate l i nes is given with them C carb on ; Fe , ,

i ron ; C r chrom i u m etc

,
B y comparison wi th the
,
.

spectra of terrestrial elements a very large n u m ber ,

i n fact nearly all the more i n tense l i nes i n the solar

,

spectrum have been iden tified an d thei r origi n traced

, ,

to the existence i n the S u n of so m e chem ical ele m en t

with which we are fa m i liar on the E arth M ore than .

2 000 l ines i n the solar spectru m ari se fro m the pre

sence of i ron The S u n con t a i ns hydrogen oxygen ;

.
,

carbon sil icon ; so d i um potassi um m agnesi u m cal

, , , ,

c lu m stron ti u m bariu m ; al u m i n iu m chro m iu m

, , , ,

i ron n ickel cobalt manganese ; lead zi n c ti n

, , , , , ,

copper silver pal ladi u m ; titan iu m vanadiu m ; scan

, , ,

d ium , y t rium zirco ni u m lanthan

,
u m ceri um , , ,

erb i u m y t e r b i u m eu rop i u m neodym i u m galli u m

, , , ,

an d some other rare metals The p ri ncipal ele m ents .

which have not been fo u n d i n the S u n are n itrogen ,

phosphorus sulphu r fl u ori ne b ro m i ne chlori ne an d

, , , ,

iodi ne b ut as Professor R owlan d says we can no t

, , ,

i nfe r the non existence of these s u bstances i n the

-

S un . I n some i nstan c es thei r S pe c tra do not con

tai n any very stron g l i nes an d thei r discovery is ,

ren dered di ffi cult I t se ems remarkable that rare

.

m etals such as scan di u m which i t is di fficul t to p ro

, ,

cure on the E arth should make thei r p resence i n the

,

S u n so p lai nly visible .

I t must be a dd ed t hat not al l the d ark li nes i n the

 1 1 2 A S TR ON O M Y .

solar spectru m are cau sed by absorb i ng g ases i n the

’
S u n s s u rface .
’
The E arth s atmosphere i n certai n
parts of the spectru m absorbs certai n special rays a n d
causes additional dark l i nes These are m ai n ly
.

caused by oxygen an d water vapou r an d are spe cially ,

r o m l n e n t whe n the S u n at the ti m e of observation

p
-

is low so that its l igh t has traversed a lon g path i n

’
,

the E arth s at m o s phere

’
.

The S un s S ur f ace — To obse rve the S u n at the tele

scope precaution s m ust be taken by su itab le eye pieces -

to cut dow n a great part of the heat an d l i ght The risk .

of acci den t to the eye m ay be avoi ded an d an equally

good observatio n obtai ned by draw in g out the eye p iece -

of the t e le S CO p e a s ho r t distance an d p r 0 j e c t 1 n g an i mage

D i g LV
a . .

of the S u n o n a screen This was the metho d adopted

.

by Carri n gton who m ade an extensive series of o b

,

s e r v a t i o n s upon su n s p ots du ri n g the years 1 8 53 6 1 It -

is m ore usual n ow to p hotograph the S u n enlargi ng ,

the i m age for m ed by the obj ect glass by m ean s of a

secon d lens . B esi des g 1 v 1 n g a larger p ictu re this ,

has the advan tage of di m i n ishi ng the b rightn ess of

the i mage E ven then it is necessary to give very
.

short exposures an d to use very slow plates P hoto .

graphs o f the S u n are taken daily at Greenwich the ,

 TH E S UN 1 1
3

gaps cause d by clou d y weather bei ng filled i n by

photographs taken i n I n dia A copy of one of
.

G reenwi c h photo g raphs is rep ro d u ce d here .

D g L VI
ia . .
—Pho t o g r aph o f S un .

This photograph shows th a t the light of the S u n

is m ore i ntense near the centre of the disc than at the
e d ge poi ntin g to an a b sorb i n g smoky atmosphere
,

surr o un d ing the photosphe r e or l um i nous body of

,

the S u n The light from near the l imb passes throug h

.

—
a greater depth of this layer j ust as near sunset on

E arth s atmosphere
“
the E arth the sunlight traverses a greater exten t of the
’ ”
This dusky layer absorbs
.

violet an d bl ue light to a greater exten t than yellow

1 1
4 AS TR ONO M Y

an d red an d if it di d not exist the S u n i nstead of

, , ,

bei n g yellow would have a bl uish ti n ge

,
.

A part from t he s p ots so m eti m es seen o n it the

’
,

S u n s surface p rese nts a mottled app e arance N as m yt h .

co m pared the appearances to wil low leaves Lan gley

”
an d J anssen to rice grai n s T hese rice grai ns are of
.
“ ,

pe rhaps 40 0 m iles diameter They rap i dly change.

,

thei r form I t is far fro m certai n what t he v are

. .

D i g LVII
a . .
—G ran u l e s on S un .

Langley regarded them an d h is view appears to be

,

shared by P rof Hale as the tops of lon g colu m ns i n

’
.
,

wh ich the heated matter fro m the S u n s i nterior rises

to the su rface .

O bservation s of these cu rious gran ules have been

m ade recently by M Ha n Sk y an d still later by M
.
, .

Cheval ier They fou n d that on photographs taken

.
 THE S UN 1 1 5

i n q u i c k s u c c e s s m n i n d ivi d u al gran u les co u l d be

r ecogn ize d They appeared to be movi ng about at
ran d om with velocities of fro m 5 to 2 0 m iles a secon d .

As M Che valie r poi nts out it is d i fli c u lt to bel ieve

.
,

t hat what w e see arises fro m real horizon tal m o ve

ments He compares the white gran ules to the su m
.

mits of waves on a choppy sea The w hite tops .

m ove b ut the parti c les of water wh ich form them are

,

c hanging all the ti me .

S un sp o t s —S u n spo ts w ere one of the first d iscoveries

’
- -
.

of Galileo s teles c ope O ccasionally a spot is large

.

enou gh to be seen thro u gh da rk glass with the naked

eye The best way of seei ng the m is t o p roj ect the
’
.

S u n s i mag e as explai ne d on p 1 1 2
,
The i n ner part . .

of a s p ot o r u m br a is apparently black an d is
, , ,

surrou n ded by a greyer pen u m bra b u t i t m ust b e , ,

borne i n m i n d that a spot is only dark i n co m pari son

with the S u n If the S pot co u l d be seen away fro m
.

t he S u n i t woul d be fou n d to be b righter than an

,

electri c arc lamp D iagram LVI S hows also near the

-
.

l i m b b right patches known as facul ae These fac ul a , .

are always ab u ndan t near S u n spots an d seem to be -

raise d so m ewhat above the level of the photosphere .

The n ature of S u n spots is a vexe d question They

’
-
.

were for long supposed to be dep ression s i n the S u n s

su rface but this i s not now regarded as at all certai n
, .

When the S pectra of S u n spots are observe d it is -

fou n d that as co m pared with the solar spect ru m

, ,

some li nes are strengthened an d others weakened .

I 2
1 1 6 AS TR O N O M Y

Thes e changes a re doub tless due to the physical

di ff eren ces of p ressu re an d te m peratu r e b etween sp o ts
an d the ge neral ity of the photosp here b u t thei r exact
,

i n terp retation is no t easy S o m e recen t observations

.

see m to S how that S pots are of lower te m perature .

Titan i u m oxi de was fou n d i n thei r spectra by M r .

A da m s at M ou n t Wilson an d m agnesi u m hydri de by

,

M r Fowle r at S outh Ken si n gton The con ditions

. .

of te m peratu re an d p ressure i n spots are therefore

such as to ad m it of the f or m ation of these co m pou n ds
which do not e xist i n the photosphere T his certai n ly
.

i m pl ies either a l o wer te m perature or a h igher p res

su re than ln the photosp here an d has been generally
,

i n terp reted as a S ign of lower temperature

.
S om e
.

re m a rk able observation s m ade by P rof Hale i n 1 908 .

S ho w th at an i ntense m agnetic fi el d exists i n S u n

spots .

Pr o m i nences and Chr o m o spher e

.
—
R eference has been
m ade i n previous chapters to eclipses of the S u n .

At ti mes the M oon i s i n such a position that

it co m pletely sh uts out the view of the S u n for a
f e w m i n u t e s fro m ce rtai n parts of the earth
e

These .

occurrences give opportu n ities of seei n g the i mm e

diate su r rou n di n g s of the S u n which are gener
,

ally i nvisible to us ow i n g to the g lare p roduced by

e
’
the di ffusion o f su nlight i n t he E a r t h s atmos phe re .

A total solar eclipse dis c loses two re m arkable featu res

of the S un the p ro m i nences a nd the corona The
, .

p ro m i nences are great tongues of flame which stan d

 TH E S UN I I7

o u
’
t f rom the S u n s l imb someti mes reach i ng to such
,

great heights as miles D iagra m LVI I I shows .

one wh i c h was seen i n the eclipse of 1 9 00 The most .

Di g LV III
a . .
—S o l ar Pr o m i ne n ces .

i m portan t feat u re of the prom i nences is that they give

a spe c tru m m ade u p of a n u mber of b right l i nes an d ,

n o t a bright ban d crossed by dark l i nes l ike the S u n , .

This was discovere d i n the eclipse of 1 8 6 8 an d estab ,

li s he d the fact that p ro m i n ences consist of lu mi nous

-

gases an d the i dentification of the l i nes sho wed that

,

hydrogen was one of thei r mai n constituents The .

French astronomer J anssen who observed th i s ecl ipse

,

i n I n dia was so i mp r essed by the b rightness o f these

,

li nes that on the day after the e c lipse he ag a i n

exam i ned with his spectroscope the part of the S u n
where he had seen a great p ro m i nence an d saw the ,

b right l i nes i n ful l dayligh t He verified that a l i ne

.

i n the re d was c oi ncident with one c a u sed by hydro

gen an d foun d a b right y ellow l in e n ear to but not
, ,

quite coi n c i d en t wi th the positi on of the l ines clue

,

to sodiu m S i r N orman Lockyer who was n ot at t he

.
,

eclipse S i m ultaneously d iscovered how these b right

,

line s co uld b e o bs er ved at all ti m es , w i t ho ut w ai t ln g

”

1 1 8 A S TR ON OM Y
for the rare opport u n i ties a ff orded by ecl ipses The .

l ight wh ich h i n ders these p ro m i nences fro m bei ng

seen With t he naked eye bei n g di f fused s un ligh t
.

reflected by parti c les i n ou r at mosphere its spec ,

tru m consists of a b ri ght ban d crossed by dark

”

l i nes S i r N or man Lockyer argued that if he used

.
‘

a sp ectroscope of h i gh dispersio n the di ffused ,

su nl ight wo uld be sp read out i nto a long ban d of

weak in ten sity wh ich woul d not obscu re the spectru m
,

of the p ro m i nences which is concentrated i n a few

’
b right l i n e s B y b ri ngi n g di ff eren t parts of the S u n s
.

i mage tangen tial w ith the sl it of the spectroscope the ,

existe nce of a layer all rou n d the S u n of the sa m e

constitution as the p ro m i nen ces was disc o vered To .

th is the na m e of ch ro m osphere was given by Lockyer

"

When t he stu dy of p ro m i nences thus i nau g urated was

carried on r egu larly it w a s fou n d that p rom i nences
,

were of two ki n ds qu i escen t an d eruptive Q u iescen t

’
, .

p ro m i nences are gen erally to b e fou n d on the S u n s

l i m b ; they change thei r for m slowly an d are taken
’
,

out of sight generally by the S u n s rotation The .

eruptive p ro m i nences on the other han d shoot up , ,

with a m azi ng rap i dity someti m es m ovi n g h u n dreds

,

o f m iles per secon d .

Although the ch romosp here can be stu d ied at all

ti m es the m o m en ts of the begi n n i ng an d en di n g of
,

total ecl ipses are the m ost favourable The chr o m o .

sp he re contai ns m ost of t he ele m ents fou n d i n the

S un b ut ther e ar e d lff e ren c es betw een its spectru m
,
 TH E S UN 1 1
9

an d that of the S u n which arise from the di fferen t

physical con dition s of the ch ro m osphere an d the p art
of the S u n belo w it where the absorption wh i c h pro
d uces the dark li nes i n the s p ectru m takes p la c e .

O ne i nteresting di fference is the p resence of b right

l i nes due to heli u m i n the spectru m of the ch ro m o
sphere whereas there are no dark l i nes due to heli u m
,

i n the solar spectru m R eference ha s been m ade to a

.

b right yellow l i ne seen by Janssen near b ut not c o

i n c i dent with the l i nes of sodiu m This l ine was
.

'
fou n d to be characteristic of the s o la r p r o m i n e n ces
an d ch romosphere an d the n a m e heli u m was given to
,

the u nknown ele m en t which p roduced these l i nes I n .

1 8 9 5 S i r Will ia m R amsay fou n d this e lemen t i n so m e

terrestrial m i nerals twen ty seven years after its p re

,
-

sence i n the chromo sphere had been revealed to

Janssen an d Lockyer .

The Co r o na —The corona is of an altogether di ff er

en t character from the prom i nences While the latter
’
.

rarely exten d to more than one tenth of the S u n s

-

dia m eter from the li mb of the S u n the corona some

,

ti mes shows rays reachi n g to several diameters from

the S u n The i nstant an e c lipse becomes total the
.

corona is seen as an a u r ao le surrou n di ng the eclipsed

S un It is of a pearly white colour an d b rightest

’
.
,

close to the Moon s da rk li mb I t is of a very com

.

p lex form which

, is only well shown by a series of
photographs taken duri n g the few m i nutes of total
ecli p se. A s ho rt ex p osur e S ho w s d et ai l near the S u n
120 A S TR ONO M Y
while longer ones show the structu re an d extension at
greater distances D iagra m L IX shows roughly the
.

for m of the coron a i n the ecl ipses of 1 8 98 an d 1 90 1 .

Whe n the n atu re of the coron a is i nvestigated by

S un
’C
s o r o na 1 8 98 . Di g
a . L IX
. S un
’C
s o r o n a 1 90 1 .

m eans of the spectroscope a fai n t conti n uous spec ,

tru m is fou n d such as woul d be given by i ncan descen t

sol i ds o r li q u i d s an d also so m e b right li nes caused
‘

by glowi n g gases I f the l i gh t of the coron a were

.

to an y extent reflected su n light then its spectru m ,

woul d be l ike that o f the S u n a conti n uous spec ,

tru m with dark ab sorption l i nes B ut the exist .

ence of absorptio n l i nes l ike those i n the solar spec

tru m has n ot been establ ished an d w e therefore ,

can not say that any considerable part of the l ight of

the corona is reflected su n l ight The b right l i nes o f .
,

wh ich m ore than a dozen a re known with certai nty ,

do not belon g to any ele m ent with wh ich we are

acquai n ted The n a m e coron i u m has been given to
.

t he el e m en t w hi c h produc es a ver y p ro m i nen t l i ne i n

t he green p art o f the s pectrum , b i ke heli um , this

 TH E S UN 12 1

may be discovered on the E arth b ut at present at any, ,

rate it is u nknown
,
.

The Sp ect r o heli o gr ap h — The photography of prom i

.

n e n c e s i n full dayl ight has been developed by P rof .

Hale and M D eslan dres The i nstr u ment b v which

. .

this is acco m plished is called the spectrohel iograph .

A p rom i nence is photographed by excl u di n g all light

except that of some d efi n ite w ave lengt h wh ich is -

specially characteristi c of the p ro mi nence itse lf Thus .

a p hotograph m a y be taken i n the light of C the re d —

l i ne of hy d rogen an d such a photograph will show

—

the p ro m i nences as far as they consist of hydrogen .

S i m ilarly a photograph can be taken which shows

,

the forms of the prom i nences as far as they consist

o f glowi ng calci u m .

The spect rohel iogr aph has been developed further

"

so as to photograph not only the l i mb of the S u n b ut ,

the whole face of the S u n i n the l ight of one particular

wave length S pecial i nterest atta c hes to the photo
-
.

—
graphs taken i n the l ight of K a l in e i n the violet
d ue to calciu m vapou r I n the photograph of the S u n
’
.

on p 1 1 3 the fac u l ae are seen near the S u n s e d ge

. .

The spectroscope shows that these fac u l ae are asso

c i a t e d with glowi n g calciu m vapour When a photo
.

graph ( of the S u n ) is taken i n K l ight a p icture is ,

obtai ne d of the calciu m clou ds over t he photosphere .

S uch photographs were fou n d to show more than the

facul ae a n d t he n am e fl o c c u li ( fl eeces ) w as giv en t o
,

them by Pro f Hale . . The i llust rat iQ n ( Di agr am .

122 AS TR ONO M Y

take n fro m o ne of Prof .

’
Hale s photographs shows
,

ho w w i d e ly these fl o c c u li
s are di s tribut e d o ve r the
whol e S u n

D i g LX
a . .
~ —Cal ci u m Fl o ccu l i .

The structure of the S u n is th us seen to be

t r e m e ly co m p licated . The lowest part e m its a con
t i n u o u s spectru m ; th is passes through an absorb i ng

laye r wh ich gives the dark F rau n hofer l i nes N ext .

there is a dusky layer w hich cuts o ff a great deal of

the l ight the existence of thi s layer bei n g shown by
,

the di m i n ish i ng b rightness of the S u n as we go fro m

the centre to the l imb Above these are the fl o c c u li
.
,

o r clou ds o f calci u m . Th en we co m e to the ch ro m o

sp he re w i t h i ts b r i ght li ne s p ec t r um and outside th is
,
 TH E S UN 1 2 3

we have the corona I n addition there are the m ore

.
,

loca l pheno m ena of spots an d facul ae an d of the p roi

m i n e n ce s risi n g out of the ch ro m osphere .

There a r e still t w o poi n ts with regard to the S u n

whi c h s houl d not be o m itted even i n such a short
sketch as the p resen t nam e ly ( 1 ) its peculiar law of
, ,

r o tation an d ( 2 ) the periodic fl uctuations i n the

,

n u m ber of spots an d associated pheno m ena .

Ro t at i o n o f S un — Gal ileo foun d from the m ove m en t

’
of spots across the S u n s dis c that the S u n rotates .

P rolonged exa m i nation of the spots shows its axis

to be fi xed i n di rection b ut not p erpen dicular to the
,

ecl iptic We therefore see the S u n u nder a slightly

.

di ffe ren t aspect at di fferen t ti mes of the year The .

°
axis is i ncl i ned at an angle of 7 to the perpen dicular
to the eclip t ic Fr om J u ne 3 to Dec 5 the plane of
’
. .

the ecl iptic is north o f the S u n s equator an d thus

’
,

for th is half of the year the S u n s north pole is on the

visible si de of the S u n an d i n the other half of the
,

year its south pole is visib le . B etween 1 8 53 an d

1 86 1 Carri ngton made an exhaustive study of the
m ovements of S u n spots He fou n d that the S u n does
-

not rotate as a soli d body woul d b ut that the period

’
,

of rotatio n is greatest on the S u n s equato r an d

d i m i n ishes as the poles are app roached At the .

equator a co m plete revolution occ up ies 2 4% days b ut ,

at 3 0 fro m the equator 2 6 % days A s S u n spots do

°
. .
-

not occu r at great distances fro m the equator the ,

s l o wi n
g o f t he t i m e o f r o tat ion co u l d not be observed
 A S TR ONO M Y
°
in th is way to greater distances than 45 north an d
’
south of the S u n s equator .

I n 1 8 9 1 P rof D u mer deter m i ned spectroscop ically

’
.

the law of the S u n s rotation i n di fferent latitu des

’
between the S u n s eq u ato r an d 1 5 fro m t he pol es
.
°
.

The s p ec t r o s c o p e e n ab le s the m otion of b o d i e s t o o r

‘ ‘

fro m the ob s erver to be deter m i ned The position of .

a l i ne i n a spectru m is determ i n ed by the n u mber of

vib rations per seco n d wh ich l ight of that exact col o u r
executes I f the sou rce of the l ight is m ovi n g towards
.

t he o b s e r v e r o r the observer towards the sou rce of

light m ore t han the n or m al n u mber of vib rations

,

reach the observer each secon d The positio n of the .

li ne i n the spectru m is sh i fted slightly towards the

bl ue The a m ou nt of sh ift is a m easu re of the ratio
.

of the relative m ove m en t of obse rver an d obj ect to the

“

v e lo c i t
y o f l ight A si m ilar p heno
. m enon t akes place
with regard to sou n d I f a horn were bei n g blow n o n
.

a railway trai n which was rap i dly app roach in g a

station then to a person i n the station the note of the
,

horn woul d be slightly raised Th is p ri nciple ( called

’
.

Dop p le r s p ri ncip le ) was fi rst appl ied astrono m ical ly

-

by S i r W H uggi ns to deter m i n e the velocit i es W i th

.

which stars w ere app roach i ng or m ovi n g away fro m

the E arth D u n é r appl ied i t to deter m i ne the r o tation
.

of the S u n b y co m pari n g t he position s of the l i nes

,

i n the spectru m given by o ne en d of a dia m eter of the

S u n w i th the opposite en d H e chose a part o f the
.

spectru m i n w hi ch ther e a re two d a rk l i n es cause d b y

i ren i n t he S u n a nd als o two dar k l i nes caused by the
‘
 THE S UN 1 2;

absorbi ng i nfl u ence of oxygen i n the ’

E arth s at m o
sphere D iagram LX I shows the two spectra The
. .

li nes 1 an d 3 are at m ospher ic an d the li nes 2 an d 4

,

solar The form er are i n the same

.
I ) . 3 0
°

position whatever part of the S u n the

light c omes from The latter are .

shifted a l ittle towards the violet i f

they come from a part W t h by D i g LXI
’
the S u n s rotation is at the mo m en t
a . .

app roachi ng us a n d towards the red en d if the l ight

,

co m es fro m a part of the S u n w h ich is at the m o m en t

bei n g carried away f ro m us The caref u l measure
.

me nt of t he distances betw een the l i nes enables the

relative velocities of opposite en ds of any dia m eter to
be measu red i n m iles per secon d O bservations of .

si m ilar char acter were made by D r Hal m at E d i n .

b urgh an d M r Adams at the M ou nt Wilson O bserva

.

tory i n Californ ia The followi ng table shows the rate

.

at which the S u n is rotat i n g i n differen t solar latitu d es

La t . Tim e o f R o ta t i o n .

0 d ay s
°

55
°

20 2
°

40
°

60
°

80 3 0 6

The cause of this slowi ng down as we procee d fro m

’
the S un s equator to i ts poles is di fficul t to u n derstan d .

The re can b e no doub t of its reality for the results ,

given by spots an d by the spectroscope are con fi r m ed

by the photographs of facu l ae an d the spectrographs
of fl o c c u li S p e c t r o s c0 p i c determi nations by m eans of
.
1 26 A S TR ONO M Y
the hydrogen l i nes do not h o wever show these di ffer
, ,

e me es i n di fferent latitudes The l igh t i n this case

.

p robab ly co m es fro m a h i g her level a n d thus gives ,

the rotation of a differen t layer of the S u n .

Peri o d i ci t y of Su n sp o t s In so m e respects the

-

.
-

appearance of spots on the S u n i s a very irregular

pheno m enon A spot m ay last fo r a few days or fo r
.

several rotation s of the S u n I n the latter case i t w i ll.

be visible fo r 1 4 days the n disappear owi ng to the

’
,

S u n s rotation then reappear an d cross the visible

,

disc of the S u n i n 1 4 days the n disappear agai n a nd

, ,

so on The n u m ber of spots o n the S u n on any p ar

.
e

t i c u la r d a y is not subj ect to any easily de fi nable law .

B ut if the average is t aken for a fai r ly long period ,

say a year i t is see n that the n u m be r of spots fl u c

,

t u a te s i n a fai rly regular man ne r The same res ul t

’
.

hol ds if the fraction of the S u n s area covered with

spots is tab ulated .The fol lowi n g table fro m the
m e as u re s m ade at G re enwich shows the m ean area o f
’
s p ots i n m ill io nths of the S u n visib le he m isphere for
a n u m ber of year s
Ar e a c o ve r e d

by S p o ts
 THE S UN 1 27

The i ncrease i n the area of the S u n covered wi th

spots fro m 1 8 8 9 to 1 8 93 an d the di m i n ution to 1 90 1 is
a fai r sa m ple of a fai rly regular fl uct u ation wh ich has
been traced i h r eco rds of S u n spots fro m the year 1 6 1 0
— -

to the p resen t time R oughly speaki ng S u n spots go

.
,
-

through a cy c le i n a period of abo u t 1 1 years .

As we have seen spots are sel dom foun d at m ore

’
,

than 45 fro m the S u n s equator O n the other han d

°
.
,

they are rarely close to the equator Thei r distances .

fro m it generally are between 3 0 an d °

When the
n u mber of spots is at a m i n i m um the few there are
’
,

occu r either near the S u n s equator or at a consi d er

able d istance from it As the n u mber of spots i h
.

c reases the distrib ution changes the n umber near the ,

equator becomi ng less an d less an d those at a distan c e

,

fro m the equator com in g rather nearer t o it .

Attempts have been made without m uch success , ,

to con nect these changes i n S u n spots with t he m ove -

ments of so m e of the planets A very re m arkable

.

con nection has however been clearly de monstrate d

, ,

between S u n spots an d m agneti c stor m s on the E arth

-

an d with the exten t of the oscillation s which m agnetic

nee d les go through d ay by day When the S u n has .

m any spots ma netic storm s are frequen t ; when the

g
S u n has few spots they are rare This is as m uch .

as can be sai d with certai nty I t does not follow that

.

because there is a large spot on the S u n there will be

a m agnetic storm I t has been poi n ted out by M r
'

. .

E W Mau n der that magnetic sto rms frequently recur

. .

after i ntervals of from 2 5 to 2 7 days T his is t he .

1 2 8 A S TR O N O MY
’
ti m e i n wh ich by the S u n s rotatio n a sp ot is b rought
’
to the sa m e position on the S u n s visible disc a ai n g .

He is th us led to sup p ose that st ream s of electri fi ed

p articles shot out fro m the nei g hbou rhood o f S un

spots m ay reach ou r at m osp here an d star t m agnetic

storm s .

A n other p hen o m eno n related t o S u n spots is the

’
-

for m of the S u n s coron a The coron a has been

.

observed at n u m erous ecl ipses an d i t i s fou n d that ,

the for m s of the coro na go through a cy cle i n the sa m e

period as the S u n spots -
Two o f these for m s are
.

i ll ustrated o n p 1 2 0 that of 1 8 98 bei ng characteristic

.
,

of a ti m e when spots are decreasi n g an d 1 90 1 w hen ,

they are at a m i n lm u m .

S u m m i n g up t h is chapter we see that the size

, ,

m ass den sity an d che m ical constitution of the S u n

,

are known It s te m peratu re is also kn own a p p ro x i

.

m ately an d a reason ab le explanation can b e given

,

of ho w its heat is m ai ntai ned I ts physical c o n s t i t u

.

tion p resen ts di fficul t p rob lem s wh ich have no t yet

bee n sol ved The nature of an d relationshi p between
.

the di ffere nt layers wh ich d i ff eren t classes of observa

tion show to exist i n the S u n are on ly very partially
.
,
’
known For the p rese nt the law of the S u n s rotation
an d the periodici ty of S u n spots are ob served facts
-

fo r which no satisfactory explan ati on has been given .

 C H A PTE R VI I
T HE S O LAR S Y S TE M

TH E solar system com prises all the bo d ies great ,

and small whi c h are c l u stere d arou n d the S u n The y

,
.

form a small c o m m u n ity of thei r own too far d istan t ,

from the fixe d stars to be app reciab ly a ffe c te d by

them b u t all d om i nated by the attra c tion of the
,

S u n which keeps them revol vi ng i n orb its arou n d

hi mself . The system i ncl u des the Earth with its ,

satellite the M oon the five planets known to the

,

an c ients an d the o u t e r p la n e t s U ran u s an d N ept u ne

, ,

with t hei r satellites Then t here is a large n u mber of

.

s m all planets whose orb its lie between those of Mars

an d J u piter I n addition there are periodic c omets
.

an d meteor streams an d a c ertai n amoun t of fi n er

-

matter whose existen c e is m a d e apparent by the Z o d i

acal light .

The largest an d most i mportant members of the

solar system are the eight plan e ts : M er c u ry Ven u s , ,

the E arth M ars J u pi ter S at u rn U ran us N eptu ne

, , , , , .

The posit i ons of these pl a nets i n the sky can be c al

c u la t e d for many c ent u ries ba c k w ar d s or forwards as ,

thei r pat hs an d velocities are known with great a cc u r

a cy. Three re markable c hara c teristi c s of them
shoul d be noti c e d
K
1
3 0 A S TR ONO M Y
( ) These
1 e i ght planets m ove i n nearl y the sa m e
plane .

2 ) The ellipses described by the planets are nearly

(
ci rcular i n shape .

(3 ) The planets all revolve i n the sa m e di rection .

The m ean distances of the pl anets fro m the S u n

’
"

are readil y reme m bered i n term s of the E arth s m ean

distance They are as follows
.

M e r c u ry °

4 J u
p i t e r
5
Ven u s 7 S a tu rn 10

The E a r t h 1
°

o U ranu s 20

Mars 1
‘

5 Ne p t u n e 3 0

’
To obtai n thei r periods use Kepler s th ird law that ,

t he s q uares of the periodic ti mes are p roportional to

the cu bes of t he mean distan c es I n the c ase of N ep .

tu ne t he mean d istan c e = 3 0 The cube of 3 0 i s

, .

an d the square root of th is is 1 6 4 The period .

is therefore 1 6 4 years .

Mi n o r Plan et s — B etwee n the orb its of M ars an d

u iter l ie the orb its of the m i no r planets There are a
j p .

large n u mber of these bo d ies an d every year fresh ones ,

are discovered The fi rst of these sm all bodies Ceres

.
, ,

was fou n d by Piazzi o n the first day of the n i ne

t e e n t h centu ry The discove ries of Pallas J u no an d
.
,

Vesta soon followed These planets a r e j ust large .

eno u gh to be seen as dis c s i n the most powerfu l tele

scopes The diameter o f Ceres the largest of them
.
, ,

is not far short of 50 0 m i les an d that of Pallas ,

t he sm allest about 1 0 0 m iles N o more m i nor

, .
 THE S O LA R S Y S TE M 1
3 1

planets were fo u n d till 1 8 45 b u t si nce that d ate ,

the n u mbers d iscovere d an n u ally have stea d ily i h

creased especially si n c e photography has been u se d
,

i n t he s e a r c h The total n u mber at the en d of 1 900

.

was 452 S i nce that date 2 0 0 have been ad d ed to the

.

l ist M ost of them are extremely m i n u te Probably

. .

the larger ones have been nearly all d is c overe d S ome .

of them parti c u larly E ros have been of great u s e

’
, ,

i n the d eterm i natio n of the S u n s d istan c e ; one has

serve d to d eterm ine the mass of J u piter ; an d several
of them ill u strate i n teresti ng mathem ati c al poi nts i n
gravitational theory .

I t is a strikin g an d i n teresting fa c t that these small

planets sho u l d be c onfine d to this parti c u lar r egion
of the solar system s u ggeste d that they a r e

fragments Of a larger planet b u t this explanation is ,

very d o u btf u l .

Di am et er s o f t he P a t s
l n e — The d eterm i nation of t he
size of a planet is very si mple As the planet s d is ’ .

tan c e from the E arth is known it is only ne c essary ,

to meas u re the ang u lar d iameter

seen i n the teles c ope to d eter
m i ne the real d iameter The
Di g m m
.

a
angle A E B is meas u re d an d
. .

this val u e with the knowle d ge of the length E A

, ,

gives the leng t h AB ( D iagram LX I I ) .

M er c u ry is the smallest of the maj or planets havi n g ,

a d iameter of 3 0 00 m iles or e that of the E arth ; M ars

,

c omes next W lt h a d ia m eter abo u t while Ven u s is

K 2
1 3 2 AS TR ONO M Y

very nearly the same size as the E arth The other

’
.

fou r planets are very m uch larger ; J up iter s dia m eter

’
is 1 1 ti mes S atu rn s 9 ti m es those of U ran us an d ,
,

N eptu n e 4 an d 5 ti m es that of the E arth .

Masses — T he masses o f the plan ets w h i c h have

s atell ites are readily determ i ned fro m the distances an d
ti m es of revolut i on of these satel lites The angular .

d i s tance of a planet fro m its satellite is seen an d

measu red i n th e telescope
g
.
3

fi ; Taki ng the si m plest case

where a satellite describes
D i g LXIII a .

a ci rcle about its p ri m ary

.

we can as i n D iagram LX I I I m easu re PE S the great

, , ,

est angular distance to wh ich the satell ite goes fro m its
“
planet K now i n g the distance E P the d istance PS
, ,

is fou n d Let us call this distance a an d let the ti m e

.
,

the satellite takes to co m plete its revol u tio n be T I f a

’
.

is exp ressed as a deci mal of the E arth s distance fro m

3

the S un, an d T as a de c i mal of a y ear then ,

$ ,
7

giv ethe mass of the planet as a fra c tion of the m ass

of the S u n This m ethod is appl icable to all the
.

planets wh ich have satell i t es The m asses of Ven us .

an d M ercury are more di fficult to deter m i ne a n d are ,

fou n d fro m the small dist u rba n ces they produce on

the m ovemen ts of one another or of the E ar t h or of , ,

comets wh i c h pass near the m The m asses of the .

plan ets are generally expressed as fraction s of the

m ass of the S u n J up iter w hich i s by far the largest
.
, ,
 TH E S OLA R S Y S TE M 1
33

is less than fi fi fi t h o f t he S u n ; S at u rn c omes next

l
,

bei n g between a third an d a q u arter of J up iter wh ile ,

U ran u s an d N ept u ne are ea c h abou t 7 t h The i n ner l

6
.

plane t s are m uc h s m aller ; the E arth wh ich is the ,

largest of them is only ,

t h o f t he S u n1
-

while
3 0 0 0 0 0 ,

Ven us is abo u t three q u arters of the E arth M ars a

-

little more than T t h an d M er c ury about a quarter

l
o ,
.

i
Den si t es — Knowi ng the sizes an d the masses of
the planets thei r densities are at on c e determ i ned
,
.

The i n ner planets do not d i ffer m u c h i n this respect

from the E arth whose density is 5% ti mes that of
,

water The o u ter planets are m u c h less d ense J u piter

.
, ,

U ran us an d N eptu ne bei ng slightly de nser than

,

water an d S at u rn not so d ense The d ifferen c es i n

,
.

density poi n t to gr ea t d ifference i n physical state ,

whi c h arise from the fa c t that the proc ess of c ool in g ,

and its accompany i n g pro c ess of shri nki n g have pro ,

c e e d e d more rapidly i n the smal l planets than i n the

large ones .

i
R o t at o n — The planets all rotate abo u t t hei r axes
The defi n ite marki ngs on M ars make its perio d of
rotation easy to determ i ne I t is rather longer than.

that of the E arth bei n g 2 4 h 3 7 m 2 2 7 s an d is

, . .
‘

.
,

acc u rately known to fi t h of a se c on d The periods of .

rotation of J u p iter an d S at u rn are determ i nable with

fai r a cc u racy and are both not far fro m ten hours
,
.

O wi n g to thei r rapi d rotation the figures of these

planets are very oblate s o m u ch so that the di f feren c e
—

between the equatorial an d polar d i ameters can be seen

1
34 A S TR ONO M Y
i n a s mall telescope The ti m es of rotation of U ran u s
.

an d N eptu n e c an not be given b ut they are proba bly ,

less than twen ty fo u r hou rs O wi n g to the absen c e

-
.

of defi n i te m arki ngs o n M ercu r y an d Venus thei r ,

periods of rotation are not kn own with certai n ty .

The o p 1 n 1 o n was hel d for a long ti m e that they rotated

i n about twen ty fou r hou rs
-
b ut about twenty fi v e
,
-

y ears ago a very caref u l exam i nation was m a d e by

S ch iaparelli who detected some very fai n t marki ngs
,
.

H e c onclu ded that both planets rotate very slowly so ,

slowly i n fa c t that they always p resent the same

’
, ,

fa c e to the S u n S ch iaparell i s results have been con

.

fi rmed b y Lowell B oth thes e observers have o b

.

se rve d the p lanets assi d u o u sly u n der the m ost fa vou r /

able c o n ditio ns a nd i n th e best of cli mates Attem pts .

have bee n m ade to determ i ne the rotation by spec

t r o s c o p i c observations b u t n o d e c i sive resu lts have
,

yet bee n obtai ned i n this way .

S at elli t es — The d is c overy of the satell i tes belon g

i n g to the various planets of the solar system has p ro
c e e d e d from the ti me of G alileo to the pre s en t ti me .

As telescopes have be c ome more powerf u l fai nter ,

satellites have been discovered As far as we know .

,

M e rcu ry an d Ven us have no satellites The E arth has .

i ts one satell ite the M oon whi c h revolves rou n d its

, ,

axis i n one mon th an d i n c onsequence always tu rn s

,

the s ame face to the E arth M ars has two very small
.

satell ites whose diameters are not more than 6 o r 7

,

m iles They we re discovered i n 1 8 7 7 by As a ph Hal l

.
 TH E S O LA R S Y S TE M 13 5

with the large refra c ti ng t eles c ope of the VVa s hi n g t p n

‘

O bservatory These satellites whi ch are na m e d Phobos

.
,

and Dei mos are very near to M ars their distan c es

, ,

—
bei ng onl y 58 0 0 an d m iles respectively wh ile ,

the diameter of the planet itself is 42 00 m iles They .

necessarily revolve very rap i dly thei r perio d s bei ng ,

7 h 4
.0 m an d 3 0 .h 1 8 m I t is i n teresti
. ng to notice.

“
that M r Lemuel Gulliver relates that the astrono m ers
of Lap u ta have dis c overed two lesser stars or satel ,

l ites which revolve about M ars whereof the i n n ermost

, ,

1 s distant fro m the c ent r e of the p ri mary planet exactly

th ree of his d iameters an d the oute rmost five ; the ,

fo rmer revolves i n the space of ten hou rs an d the latter ,

i n twen ty one and a half ; so that the squares of thei r

-

periodi c al times a r e ve r y near i n the sa m e proportion

w ith the cubes of thei r distan c e from the cen tre of
Mars whi c h evi de ntly shows them to be governe d b v
,

the sa m e law of gravitation that i nfl u en c es t he other

heaven ly bo d ies .

The fo u r large satellites of J u piter were d is c overe d

by Galileo i n 1 6 1 0 They can be easily seen with an
.

opera glass an d with a s mall teles c ope thei r transits

,

i n fron t of J u piter an d thei r eclipses i n his shadow

c an be wat c he d The smallest is nearly as large as
.

the M oon an d the largest has a d iameter nearly half

,

that of the Earth The nearest is as far f rom J u piter

.

as the Moon is from the E arth an d the farthest 4 1

,

times th is distan c e Thei r periods rou nd J upi ter are

.

1 2 3 3 7 % an d 1 6
, 5 2 d ays A fi fth an d extremely smal
. l
1
3 6 AS TR ONO M Y

satell i te was dis c overed by M r B arn ard with the great .

telescope of the L ick O bservatory i n 1 8 9 2 This l ittle .

body i s n earer to the planet than the fo u r large

satell ites an d revolves i n 1 2 h o u rs I t can only be se en
,
.

with the lar g est telescopes I n D ece m ber 1 904 a sixth .

satell ite an d i n Ja n uary 1 90 5 a seventh were fou n d

,
?

photograph ically by M r Perri n e at the L ick O bserva .

tory They are very sm all an d are a lon g way fr o m

.
,

J up iter revolvi ng i n 2 5 1 an d 2 6 5 days A n eighth

,
.

sate ll ite still fai n te r an d mo re di stan t was discovered

, ,

photograph ically by M r M elotte at G reenwich i n

’
.

Feb ruary 1 90 7 This satell ite s distance from J up iter

.

varies fro m 1 0 m i ll ion to 2 0 m i ll ion m iles ; i ts period

is two y ears an d its di rectio n of revol ution i s opposite
,

to that o f all the oth er satell ites

,
.

S a t u r n presen ts a new featu re i n its ri ng Th is was .

a great p uzzle to the early ast ronomers with poor

telescopes who saw S atu rn with what seemed like
,

wi ngs which moreover c han ged thei r appearance

, , ,

an d were someti mes i nvisible H uyghens made out

’
.

clearly i n 1 6 55 that S aturn s stran ge app en dage was a

’
l u m i nous ri n g i n the plane of the planet s equator ,

nowhere touchi n g the pl anet an d extremely th i n

’
, .

The plane of thi s ri n g like the plane of the Earth s ,

“
equator re m ai ns always i n the same d i rection an d is
, ,

i nclin ed at an angle of nearly 2 7 to the ecl iptic N ow °

.
,

S atu rn makes its revol ution rou n d th e S u n i n 2 9 §

years L ike the E arth S aturn has equi noxes an d
’
.
,

solstices an d the S u n s position cha nges from 2 7

,
°
 TH E S OLA R S Y S TE M 1 37

north to 2 7 so u th of its eq u ator When the S u n is

°
.

north of the eq u ator the north si d e of the ri ng IS

,

ill u m i nate d ; w hen so u th the south si d e ; while w hen

,

the S u n is on the equator only the e d ge of the ,

ri n g The ri n g is so thi n t hat it is i nvisib le to

.

us when the S u n is i n s u ch a di re c tion that i t on ly

’
shi nes on the ri ng s e d ge G enerally the E arth an d
.

S u n are both n orth or both so u th of the ri ng b ut it ,

may happen near the ti me w hen the S u n passes from

,

north to so u th that they are on o pposite si d es i n

, ,

wh i c h case the ri ng is also i nvisible A d ivision i n .

Di g LXI V
a . .
— S atur n .

the m u g was dis c overe d by Cass i m 1 11 1 6 75 separati n g

“
it i nto two an d i n 1 8 50 i t was seen to be con
,

”
t i n u e d on its i n ner rim by a d u sky ri n g The .
1 3 8 A S TR ONO M Y
n atu re of ’
was m a d e clear by Clerk
S atu rn s ri n g
M axwell i n 1 8 56 He showed that i t could be neither
.

a sol i d nor a l i qu i d b u t m ust con sist of a swar m of

,

l ittle satel lites ci rculati n g rou n d the planet I f the .

ri n g were sol i d the outer parts woul d rotate faster

than the i n ner b u t if m ade of separate particles m ore
, ,

slowly Keeler at the Lick O bservatory i n 1 8 95 pu t

.
, ,

this to the test by deter m i n i n g s p e c t r o s c0 p i c a lly the

rates at wh ich di f feren t parts of the ri n g were m ovi n g ,

an d th u s con fir m ed exper i m en tal ly what M axwell had

p roved m athe m atical ly .

B esi des i ts ri ng S atu rn has no less than ten satel

,

lites The largest of these Titan was discovered by

.
, ,

H uy g hens i n 1 6 55 I ts dia m eter is abou t 3 500 m iles

. .

I t rev olves rou n d S aturn i n about 1 4 days an d is ,

Fou r m ore satel

u

d i s t a n t a b o u t 2 0 radi i of S atu rn .

l ites were discovered b y Cassi n i between 1 6 7 1 an d

1 6 84 .A h u n dred years later S i r W H erschel dis , .

covered two smaller ones distan t 3 an d 4 radi i from the

planet A n eighth smal l satell ite at a distance some
.

what g reater than Titan was fou n d i n depen den tly by

B on d an d Lassel l i n 1 8 48 A n i nth was discovered .

i n 1 8 99 by P rof W H P i c kerin g fro m photogr a phs

. .

taken at Arequipa Th is satell ite is so distan t that .

it takes one an d a half years to co m plete its revol ution .

I t m oves i n a retrograde directio n i n a very elliptic

orb i t S till another very s m all satell ite ha s been
.

fou n d by M r P ickeri ng . .

U ran us the plan et disc ove red by S i r Wi lli a m H er

,
 TH E S OLA R S Y S TE M I
39

schel i n 1 7 8 1 has four satell ites Two of these were

,
.

d iscovere d by Herschel i n 1 78 7 an d the rema i n ,

i ng two by Lassell i n 1 8 5 1 They are re m arkable

.

becaus e they mo ve i n a plane al most perpen dicular to

the plan e of the m o tion o f U ran us rou n d the S u n .

N eptu ne has one satell ite d iscovere d by Lassell

, ,

whi c h moves i n a retrograde direction i n a plane i n

°
c li n e d at 3 5
’
to the plane of N e p tu ne s motion .

I t is i m portan t to noti c e that the satellites generally

move i n planes not far re m oved from the ecliptic ,

an d revolve arou n d thei r p ri maries i n the same d i rec

tion i n wh i c h these revolve rou n d the S u n The ex .

c e p t i o n s are the satell ites of U ran u s the satel lite of

,

N eptune an d the s m all an d d istant n i n th satellite of

,

S aturn an d the eighth s atell ite of J u p iter .

We come now to the consi deration of the physical

conditions of the planets What are thei r tempera
.

tur es ? Are they sol id bo d ies l ike the Earth ? Have

they atmosp heres ?
Tem p er at ur es o f t he Pl an et s — The fo u r i n ner planets
.
,

M ercury Ven us the E arth an d Mars receive

, , ,

most of thei r heat from the S u n I t is possib le .

to for m an i d ea of thei r temperatures fro m the

c onsi derat i on that the heat they receive fro m the
S u n j u st balances the heat which they radiate i n to
space The u n c ertai n factor i n drawi ng defin ite con
.

e l u sions l ies i n ou r i gnorance of the exten t to which

the tem peratu res of planets are regulated by the i r

at m ospheres . How greatly an atmosphere a ffects
1
4
0 A S TR ONO M Y
tem peratu res is see n at on c e f ro m the s m all average
di fference betw e en day an d n igh t temperatu re on
t he E arth Professor Poyn ti ng who ha s con
.
,

s i d e re d the te mperat u res o f the planets fro m this

poi nt of view has show n that it i s very p r ob ab le
,

that whethe r M ars has a n atmosphere l ike the E arth

,

o r is l ike the M oon an d has none the te m pe r ,

at u re is every where below the freezi n g poi nt of

water The o nly escape fro m th is co n c l u sio n i n h is
.

view is that an app reciab le a m o u n t of heat is issui n g

from beneath the s u rface B u t we see by c om parison
.

of t he equato rial with the polar te m perat u res on the

E arth to what an i napp reci able exten t the i n ternal
heat of the E arth mo d ifies i ts s urfa c e tem peratu re .

There is t hfi s n o reason to s u ppose that the i n ternal

he at of M ars has any co nsi derable e ffect on its su rface
te m perat u re The tempe ratu res of Ven u s an d M er
.

cu ry i f they revolve ro u n d thei r axes an d have atm o

,

sp heres are 1 00 a n d 3 00 Fah ren hei t respectively

° °

hotter than the Earth I f they revolve so as to p re

.

sen t the same faces to the S u n always then the hem i ,

spheres which look a t the S u n are m uch hotter than

this a n d the hem ispheres wh ich look awa y from the
,

S u n are at very low tem peratures 1 n d ee d When we .

come to the maj or planets i t woul d seem that thei r

su rface tem peratu res are d eterm i ne d by the i nternal
heat of the planets themselves rather than by the '
,

radian t heat received from t he S u n J upiter is prob .

ably a t so methi ng l ike a red heat bu t i t d oes not e m it

-

,
 TH E S O LA R S Y S TE M 1
4
1

s u ffi c ient light to illu m i nate its satellites whe n t hey

are sha d e d from the S u n S at u rn U ran u s an d N ep
.
,

t u ne are probab ly at higher temperat u res .

At m o spher es o f t he Plan et s — A b right ri m of l ight as ,

shown i n D iagram LXV which has been seen rou n d

,

the dark disc of Ven u s a l ittle before it passe d i n fron t

of the S u n at the transits of 1 8 74 an d 1 8 8 2 shows that
t he planet has an atmosphere I t wo u ld seem l ikely
.

that both Ven u s an d M er c u ry are surro u n de d by very

dense c lo u d s which hi d e the sol i d bo d y of the planet .

The spectra of M erc u ry an d Ven u s are

very like that of the S u n an d d o not
,

suggest that the light after lea v i ng

,

the S u n has passe d th ro u gh a n y

,

absorb i ng atmosphere besi des t he

’
E arth s The explanation may be that
D i g L XV
.

a . .

the l 1 g b t by w h1c h we see these planets

is refle c te d by high clo u ds an d does not traverse the
,

d ensest parts of thei r atmospheres The question of .

the atm osphere of M ars is o n e of great i nterest as well

as one of c onsi d erable di fficul ty The spectr u m of
.

Mars apparently shows no li nes whi c h are not i n the

solar spe c tr u m The q u estion whi c h has to be d e c i de d
“ .

is Are certai n l i nes whi c h we know to be pro d u ce d

’
,

by absorption i n the E arth s atmosphere more i ntense

than c an be accou nted for by this terrestrial absorption
”
alone ? To answer the q u estion the spe c tru m of the
M oon taken as far as possible u n der the same i n s t r u
,

mental an d atmospheri c con d itions is c ompare d wit h ,

 1 42 AS TR ON O M Y

that of M ars S i r W H uggi ns an d D r Vogel co n

. . .

s i d e r e d that the evi dence p oi n ted to the existence of

water vapou r i n t he at mosphere of M ars b ut P rof

-

,
.

Keeler at Al legheny an d P rof Campbell at the L i c k

, .

O bservatory fou n d no app reciable di ffere n c e between

,

the spectra of M ars an d the M oon an d therefore no ,

di rect e vi dence of any at m osphere R ecently M r . .

S l ipher at the L owell O bservatory has fou n d that a

ban d i n the red en d of the spectru m cause d by water ,

vapour is i n tensi fi ed i n the spectru m of M ars S til l

, .

m ore rece ntly P rof Cam pbell observi ng from the top
.
,

of M t Whi tney the h ighest mou ntai n i n the U n ited

.
,

S tates i n order to reduce as far as possible the e ffect

’
,

of the E arth s atmosphere fou n d no d i fference b e

,

twee n the spectra o f M ars an d the M oon These .

observa tions made u n der most favou rable con ditions

, ,

p r ove that the M artian atmosphere m ust be extremely

rare I n the spectru m of J u pite r there appears to be
.

one l i ne not i n that of the S u n poi nti n g to a co n ,

s tit u e nt of its atm osphere with wh i c h w e are

u nacquai n ted on the E arth The spe c tra of U ran u s
.

an d N eptu ne show very c o nsi derable di fferences fro m

that of the S u n fro m wh ich the i nference IS d raw n
,

that they are surrou n d ed by dense atm ospheres totally

di fferen t fro m ou r own .

Mar s — M ar s an d J upi ter are the on ly planets wh ich

show any consi derable detai l when carefully observe d .

M ars shows wh ite caps at the poles whi c h di m i n ish

i n the M artian su m mer I f we take the view that Mars
.

ha s a n atm osphere l ike the E arth b u t m uch less ,

 TH E S OLA R S Y S TE M 1 43

d e nse contai n i ng water vapour these white c aps

,
-

woul d nat u rally be i nterprete d as snow The rapi d it y .

w ith whi c h they d isappear is s u f fi c ien t p roof that they

can not be t hi c k m a s s es of i c e an d snow s u c h as we

‘

° °

’
fin d a t t he Earth s poles b u t a very thi n d e p osit of
,

snow or hoar frost The d ra w i ngs by P rof B ar

. .

n ar d ma d e with the 3 6 i h c h refle c tor o f the L i c k

,
- -

O bservatory show the m elti n g of the s no w ( if snow

,

D i g LXV I
a . .
-

\
1 Ia r s .

i t be ) at the so u th pole of Mars i n the year 1 8 94 The .

feat u res we see i n Mars were for a ti me suppose d to be

lan d an d seas We may be pretty c onfiden t from the
.

absen c e of c lo u d s an d the probable low tem perature

,

of the planet that the dark parts are not seas

,
,

b u t soli d lan d of a di fferen t colo u r A long c on .

 1
44 AS TR ONO M Y

t r 0v e r s y has raged about the s o called canals or th i n

-

l i nes fi rst dis c overed by S i gnor S chiaparel li an d si nce

, ,

d el i neated an d mapp e d by P rof Lowell The atmo . .

spheric con ditions of both these observers have given

them op portu n ities which few others possess an d they ,

have devoted a great deal of ti m e an d attention to the

study of the planet B u t o n the other han d P rof
.
, ,
.

B arnard at the Li c k O bservatory failed to see the

“ canals although he coul d see ( at m omen ts when
,

the atmospheri c c on d ition s were ve ry favo u rable ) a

m uch greater wealth of d etail than he coul d d eli neate
’
.

P rof B arn ard s observations have bee n confi rmed by

.

observers with the largest teles c opes i n A meri c a an d

"

E u rope R ecently very fi ne photographs of M ars

.

have bee n taken at the M t Wilson O bservatory i n .

C a li f o r ii i a an d do n ot show the sharp th i n l i nes

,

wh i c h have been named canals ” “

I t has been sug .

geste d that the canals are really subj ec tive an d arise ,

from the te n dency of the eye to j oi n u p by l i nes mark

i ngs which are on ly seen with di fficulty .

A very smal l teles c op e i s su f fi cien t to show the

belts of J u p iter D iagram LXV I I shows the planet
.

as seen with the 3 6 i n c h telescope of the Lick O bserva

-

tory an d draw n by P rof B arnar d i n 1 8 90

,
. The .

su rface of the planet is c on ti n u ally changi ng B right .

an d dark spots appear last a few mon ths an d d is

, ,

appear . O ne o f the most permanen t featu res is a

large re d spot wh ich appeared i n 1 8 78 an d con ti n u e d ,

without m u c h c hange o f brightness till 1 8 8 8 when i t ,

 TH E S O LA R S Y S TE M i 4s
bec ame m u c h fai nter ,
bu t recovere d its d isti nctnes s in

D i g LXV II
a . .
—
J u p it er .

1 8 90 , an d still more i n 1 8 9 1 I t has si n c e grown .

fai nter agai n b u t was j ust visible i n 1 90 7

,
.

O bservations of spots show that the velo c ity of

rotatio n o f J upiter like that of the S u n varies i n
, ,

di ff eren t latitu des The followi ng table an d d iagra m

.

is given by M r S tanley Williams . .

L a t i tu d e . Pe r i o d o f R e vo l u t io n . No . o f S p o ts o b s e r ve d .

° °

60 to + 2
5 h
9 55 m 3 9 43 5
° °

2
5 to 10 h
9 55 m 399 2 3
° °

10 to 0 h
9 so m
° °

0 to 1 2 h
9 so m
6
°

to —2 8 °

h m
1
(
9 55
°

28 to h
9 55 m o
g s
°

Red S po t h
9 55 m 4 5
0 8 s
°
1 46 A S TR ONO M Y
The large a n d sudden di fference between the ve lo
city of the equatorial curren t an d the cu r r i n the
adj acen t zones i s m o st re m arkable A d i ere co mf 5 m . .

R
S U FA C E C u R R E NTs OF J UP
ITE R IN 1 8 8 7—8 .

S O U TH

Sou h t e C rre t
rn u n .

S . T e er te C rre t
mp a u n

Re d Spot C rre t u n .

E Q U A T O I AL R CU R R ENT

N Tr o p i c a l Cu rre t n

R 9 55 3 9 N o rther n Cu rre t
n

i n the ti me of rotation mean s a di fference of velocity

of t he adj acen t cu rrents of m ore tha n 2 00 m i le s a n ‘

h o u r J up iter is clearly not a sol i d body an d i t would

. ,

be easier to explai n this great di fference of velocity On

the assu m ption that i t is gaseous rather than l i qu i d .

B ut the perm anence of the red spot is favou rable to

the view that J up iter is l i qu id The spot seem s to be .

of the na tu re of an en o r m ous floati ng island the base ,

of which exten ds down i nto the den ser or more sol i d

region s of the planet .

The Mo o n — O u r knowled ge of the M oo n i s f ar more

extensive an d certai n than ou r knowledge of J upiter
an d M ars I t is mo re than 1 0 0 ti mes nearer than Mars
.
,
 TH E S OLA R S Y S TE M 1
47

an d w ith the highest magn ifi c ation of our teles c o p es

c an be seen as i t wo u l d appear to the naked eye at a
d istance of abou t 2 00 m iles At th is distance a circle .

a m ile an d a ha lf i n d i ameter wo u l d appear as large

_ , _

as the whole M oon does at its d istance of

m iles so that towns lakes et c if they existed on the
, , , .
,

M oon c oul d be d isti nguished The most c o n s p i c u

,
.

o u s feat u res on its su rfa c e are the craters S ome of .

these are 50 to 1 0 0 m iles i n diameter an d freq u ently ,

have a small p eak i n the centre They can be wel l seen .

w ith a small telescope The best ti me to look at the .

M oon is when i t is nearly half f u ll ; near full m o o n the

’
- -

S u n s i ll u m i natio n is too direct to p roduce sha d ows ,

a n d there is not s u fli c i e n t contrast for the d etails of the

surface to be seen B esi d es the craters there are mou n
.
,

tai n ranges an d the flat plai ns which Galileo n a me d

seas The s u rfa c e of the M oon has been very caref u lly
.

mappe d an d studied an d i n re c ent years very bea u ti ful

,

photo g raphs capable of a large magn ifi c ation have

, ,

been taken especially at the O bservatory at Paris b y

,

M M Loewy an d P ui s e u x
. D iagram LX I X shows .

”
Copern i c u s , on e of the most c onspic u ous of the
craters an d is taken from a photograph by Prof
, .

R itchey .

There is very c o n c lu s w e evi dence that the Moon

can have b u t a very slight atmosphere not more ,

than one tho u san dth part of that which the E arth
possesses M oonl i ght when exam i ned by the spec
.

t r o s c o p e is fo u n d to be a fai nt copy of s u nligh t

L 2
1 48 A S TR ONO M Y
N o absorption is fou n d such as would occu r if the
l igh t before reach i n g us had passed twice t hrough
an at m osphe re at all co m parable w ith that of the E arth

Di g
a . L XlX —
Co p e r n i c u s
. .

i n depth an d density The absence of any refraction

.

when the M oon passes i n fron t of an d occults a Star

15 fu rthe r evi de n ce that it ha s no atm osphere or ,

at most an extremely small one N o clou ds or hoar .

frost are seen an d we therefore concl ude there is no

,

water Withou t ai r an d wate r one wo u l d naturally

.
 TH E S OLA R S Y S TE M 1 49
’
su ppose few chan ges to o cc u r on the M oon s s u r f ace

“
.

With one very d o u btf u l except i on none have been ,

observe d .

Co m et s — f e have seen that N ewton showed ( a fact

afterwar d s c onfirme d by Halley i n a s t r i k i n g man ner )
‘

that comets m 0ve d ro u n d the S u n u nd er the i nfluence

o f gravitat i o n an d are therefore to be regar d e d for
,
—

the ti m e bei n g at least as members of the solar

“
—
,

”
system The name comet or hai ry star was given
.
, ,

to those neb ulo u s bo d ies u sually possessi ng a tail or ,

tails whi c h o cc asionally ap pear i n the sky for a few

,

weeks or mo nths an d then d isappear so m eti m es for

,

ever an d someti mes to be seen agai n after an i nterval

,

of years They m ove as N e w ton fou n d i n highly

.
-

, ,

ell i pti c orb its i n w h i ch c ase they retur n to the S u n

,
1
-

after an i nterval of years or i n parabolic or hyper ,

b o li c orbi t s i n whi c h c ase thei r velocity is s u ffi c ient

’
,

to carry them beyon d the restrai n t of the S u n s gravi

“

ta t i o n
. S i n ce t he i nvention of the telescope many
c o m ets have been fo u n d an d us u ally fo u r or five are,

discovered eve ry year These tel es c op i c obj e c ts are

. ,

as a r u le fai nt i nsi gn ifi c ant neb u lous pat c hes without

, , ,

tails B ut every few years one appears wh ich 15 V i sible

.

to the naked ey e The total n u mber of s u ch recorded

.

d uri n g the Chri stian era probably ex c eeds 500 A few .

of these have had such b right an d extensive tails that

they have frightene d beholders who regar d ed the m as ,

portents by which
The he aven s t he m s elve s b laze fo r t h t he d e at h o f prince s .
 A S TR ONO M Y
The death of J ul i us Cm s a r an d the battle of Hast
i ngs among other h istorical even ts were believed to

have been heralded by co m ets .

When a co m et is exam i ned carefully it is seen that

i t m ay be divide d i nto th ree parts altho ugh these parts ,

ru n i nto one another so gradually th at i t is i mpossible

to say where the exact li m its between them are sit u
ated There is fi rst a b ri gh t n u c le u s wh ich is m erely
.
,

a b ri g ht poi nt i n the telescope j ust l ike a st a r S u r .

rou n di n g the n ucleus is the c o m a a hazy clou dy area , ,

of l ight I t is b ri ghtest near the n ucleus an d gradu

.
,

ally grows fai nter The n u cleus an d com a together

.

constitute the he a d of the comet S hadi ng away fro m .

the head an d growi n g fai nte r an d fai nter till i t can

,
.

be no to nger seen is the t a i l The tai l streams away

,
.

fro m the head i n a di rection opposite to that of the

S un
’
.

The most st riki n g omet of last cent ury was D onati s

c

of 1 8 58 When discovered on J u ne 2 i t was fai n t an d

.

without a tail an d i t was not til l S epte m ber that its

,

b rill iant tai l develope d B y the m iddle of O ctober

.

this stretched over nearly a quarter of the sky bei n g ,

° °

40 lon g an d abou t 1 0 wi de i n its w i dest part The .

ill ustration ( D iagram LXX ) shows its naked eye a p

p e a r a n c e Th
. is co m et m ay r etu rn i n about 2 0 0 0 years .

B y far the larger n u mber of co m ets m ove i n orb its

not very di ff erent from parabolas b ut a consi d erable ,

fraction have an or b it w hi c h is sen sibly ellipti c S u c h .

co m ets are periodic an d are seen at each retu rn to

,
 TH E S OLA R S YS TE M 1
5 1

'

perihelion or poi nt of the orb it n e ar e s t t o t he S u n

’
,

Halley s co m et is an i nstan c e of th is c lass an d i s ,

visible at i nt e rvals of 75 y ears B ut some have m uch

“ ’
.

short e r p erio d s The shortest of all is E ncke s with

-

D g LXX ia . .
-
’
D o na ti s Co m e t O c t o b er 1 8 58
, .

a perio d of three an d a half years This comet though .

,

a fai n t one is of special i nt e rest as a di m i n ution of

, ,

its period of revol u tion see m s to show that i n its

c o u rse i t is i m pede d by a resistance of so m e ki n d ,

possibly of meteori c or gaseous m atter

’
.

Halley s c o m et and several others have perio d s

of a l i ttle over 70 years an d the furthest d i stan c e
,

from the S u n to wh ich they reach is bey o n d the

Orbit of N ept u ne Thei r orbits are s u ch that the se
.

c omets have at some ti me been near to N eptune .

1
5
2 AS TR ON O M Y
’
S i m ilarly E ncke s c omet an d all those whose perio d s ,
,

are less than eigh t years m ove i n orb its wh ich at so m e ,

p oi n t are co m paratively near to t hat of J upiter The .

orb its of several others are related i n a si m ilar way to

the planets S atu rn an d U ran us I t is clear that these .

planets ha v e b e e n i n some way i nstr u men tal i n deter

t

m i n i n g the orb its which thei r respective fam ilies of

com ets d escribe S e ve ral hypotheses have been pu t
.

forward to assign m ore defi n itely the parts played by

the pl a nets The favou rite one though n o t free
.
,

from di ffic u l ty i s that t he comets wh i c h were so to

, ,

speak m ovi n g past J u piter o r N eptu ne as the case

,
” “
may be were c aptu red by the g r avitation of the
,
,

planet I f a comet at a ny t 1 me i n 1 t s h istory passed

.

very near J up iter its velo c ity m ight be i ncreased or

,

m i g ht he retarded Those whose velocitie s were s u ffi.

c ie n tl
y retarded w o ul d m ove i n m ore restricted orb its (
.

Co m ets a re only seen whe n they are comparatively

near the S u n F rom their h igh velocities it i s i n
.

ferred that they travel to great distances from the

S un . B ut we can not say wit h c ert ai n ty that any have
been observed to be m ovi n g su fficiently fast to get
c le a r a w a y from the solar system The con verse p ro
‘

.
‘

pos i tion a lso hol ds that co m ets have not been swept
i nto the solar system as i t is m ovi n g t hrough space ,

b ut are bodies wh ich accom pany i t on that j o u rney .

Comets are of great volu m e b ut small m ass The .

head i s often m ore than m iles i n diam eter .

N evertheless no distu rbance i n the m ove m e nt of any

,
 OLA R Y S TE M
'

TH E S S 1
53

of the planets or satellites has been d ete c te d in con

se q uen c e o f thei r p roxi m ity to a c omet S everal ha ve .

been near the E arth an d had their movemen t modifie d

app re c iably ; b ut ye t have ma d e no sensib le m o d i fi c a
-

tion i n the m ovement of the Earth Th u s their masses .

are small c ompare d with the E art h p robably less than ,

o n e hu n d red tho u san d ti mes We c an not say ho w .

m u ch less an d meas u re d by other stan dar d s the mass

,

may be very great I f the mass were one m illionth

.

of that of the E arth it wo u l d be t he same as that of

,

a globe as dense as the E arth an d 8 0 m iles i n

d iameter .

The spe c tro sc ope was first applie d s u cc essf u lly to

determ i ne the c onstit u tion of comets by S i r \ Vi lli a m
H uggi ns i n 1 8 6 8 He f o u n d b right ban d s i n the S pe c
—
.

tru m of the head whi c h i n d i c ate the presence of hy d r o

v

c arbons These ban d s have si n c e been fo u n d to be

.

characteristi c I n a d dition there IS a fain t c onti nuo u s

.

spectrum an d o c casionally the dark F rau nhofer l i nes

’
,

are seen s ho w m g that a small part of a comet s l ight

,

is reflected from the S u n When a co m et is very near .

the S u n b right metallic li nes are someti m es seen i n

,

the spe c tr u m of the n u cleus especially t hose of ,

sodi um We may i nfer that the n u cle u s of a comet

.

probably c onsists of a collection of sol i d an d m etallic

bo d ies su rrou n ded by gaseo u s hydrocarbons .

The formation of the tail is very i nteresti ng At a .

c onsiderable d istan c e from the S u n a comet is u sually

a hazy neb u lo u s obj e c t As it app roa c hes the S u n
, .
1
54 A S TRON O M Y
it b righte ns the n ucleus beco m es m ore disti nct
, ,

a n d sen ds out gase ous m atter i n the directio n of the

S un .This is repelled by so m e force from the S u n ,

an d d r 1 v e n backwards so that a tai l or tails ar e p r o

d u c e d on the si de of the n ucleus away fro m the S u n .

Di g a . .
’
LX X I M o r eho u se s Co m e t
— 1 90 8 .
,

These tai ls are not straight but are cu rved becau se

,

the m atter driven from t he n ucleus shares its orb i tal

m ot i on rou n d the S u n The cu rvatu re is show n i n
’
.

the illustration Of D onati s com et o n p 1 5 1 I n recen t . .

years very bea utiful photographs have been taken

wh ich show the details of the tails for a short distan ce
fro m the head D iagram LXX I shows a photograph of
.

Co m et M oreho use taken at H arvard The f e a t u r e

, .
fi

which fi rst strikes the eye i n these photographs is on e

wh ich is i rrelevant to the tai l of the co m et na m ely the , ,

short parallel l i nes which are strew n a ll over the pi ctu re .

 TH E S OLA R S YS TE M 1
55

They are merely the trails of stars wh ich are p ho to

graphe d wi th th e c omet The camera o r photographi c
.

telescope is kept poi nti ng at the comet durin g the

exposu re b ut a s the c omet is movi ng a m ong the stars
°

, ,

the telescope is m ovi n g slightly relatively to the m ,

an d they come o u t o n the photograph as short l i nes .

The d i rection an d length of the l i nes sho w the

di re c tion an d amou n t of the movem en t of the comet
i n the sky while the photograph was bei ng expose d .

S ome c omets are seen to have several tails i s s u 1 n g

from the hea d whi c h c han ge from n i ght to n ight .

I n Comet M orehouse of whi c h an extensive series

,

of photo g raphs was made at the O bservatories of

‘

Greenwich Y erkes H eidelberg an d others i n 1 90 8

, , ,

i t was seen that tails w ere bei ng constantly shed a n d

new ones p rod u ced .Com parison of photographs
take n at short i ntervals of ti me showe d parts of the
tail to be m ovi ng with large an d i n c reasi ng velocities
away from the c omet s hea d’
’
.

The move m ents an d chan ges of a comet s tail are

caused by forces i n the solar system other than gravi
t at i o n
,
an d are on this acc ou nt of great i nterest .

The most detailed theory as yet advanced is due to

B r e d i c hi n a R u ssian astronomer who concl uded that
, ,

the matter which issues from the n ucleus of the comet

is driven away by a rep ulsive force fro m the S u n .

The a m oun t of this rep ul sive force is not propor

t i o n a l to the mass of the parti c le of matter b u t to ,

the area which i s expose d to the S u n I f a sm all .

 A S TR ONO M Y
spherical pa r ti c le be of the ri ght size the r e pulsive ,

forc e w ill j ust balance the attractio n of g ravi

ta f io n For a parti c le of half th is radi us the repulsive
.
,

for c e wi ll be one quarter as large b u t t he attraction,

o nly one eighth ; for when the radius is halved t he ,

area is one q uarter an d the volu m e one eighth as large .

The rep ulsive force is th us most e ffective for the

smallest p articles B r e d i c hi n exam i ned the tails of a
.

large n u mber of co mets an d fou n d the m to be of th ree

,

types : ( i ) Lon g ones s how i n g very sl igh t cu rvatu re

i n a di re c tion away fro m the S u n ; ( i i ) a
p l u m e like t ai l cu rvi n g away more
-

rapi dly ; an d ( i i i ) a short tai l curvi ng

away very rap i dly The c u rvature of
.

the tai l a ffords a means of compari ng

the rep u lsive forces with the attraction
of gravi ty B r e d i c hi n s u pposed the
.

lon g straight tai l to be com posed of

m olecules of hydrogen gas ; the pl u me
D i g LXX II ’
a

Ty p f C m t like ta 1 l wh i c h i s us u ally the brightest

. .
.

es o o e s ,

an d most i mportant to be com posed of ,

hydro c arbons ; an d the short one to consist of m etall ic

vapo u rs ( D iagra m LXX I I ) .

“
We k now of two di fferen t repulsive forces wh ich
the S u n may possibl y exert on the m atter issu i n g
from the n ucleus of a co m et The light radiated fro m
.

“
the S u n exe rt s a p ressu re o n S mall particles of
amo u n t proportional to the surface exposed to i t .

The d i ffi c ulty of accepti n g this as the explanation lies

i n the fact that the m olecules of gases are so very
 TH E S OLA R S Y S TE M 1
57

small that they escape the pressu re of ra d iation The .

tails wo u l d have to c onsist of particles one tho u san d th

as small as p i n hea d s b u t very large c ompare d with
-

the sizes o f m o le cu1e s The i m mense size an d ten u i ty

°
°

’
.

of a c omet s tail favo u rs the hypothesis that it is an

extremely attenuate d gas an d that the l u m i nosi ty is
,

to be r e gar d e d as a glow p ro d u c e d i n this rarefie d

gas u n d er ele ctri c al sti m u l u s This view has been c on
.

firmed by spectra whi c h have re cently been obtai ne d

’ ’
of the tails of Dan iel s ( 1 90 7) an d M oreho u se s ( 1 90 8 )
c omet The spe c tra are ma d e u p of b ri ght li nes an d
.

ban d s whi c h p rove the tail to c onsist of glowi n g gas

,

an d not of small soli d parti c les S pe c tra whi c h appear

’
.

to be i d enti c al with those of c o m e t s tails have been

i

shown by Prof Fowl e r to be given when an ele c tric

.

d is c harge is passe d th ro u gh vac u u m t u bes i n w hi c h

c erta i n gaseous c ompo u n d s of carbon are present ,

when the va c u um is so high that the press u re is on ly

one 50 00 0 t h of that of the atmosphere F u rther one
, .
,

of the l i nes has been i d entified by M D eslan d res w i th .

the p ri ncipal line i n the katho d e spe c tr u m of n itrogen ,

an d the others by Prof Fowler with the kathode

.

spe c tr u m of a c ompo u n d of c arbon .

—
Met eo r s O u r views on the physical nat u re of c omet s
'

have been derive d from the st u d y of m eteors almost

as m u c h as from that of c omets themselves I t b e .

c omes ne c essary to i nterr u pt the acco u n t of c o m ets

till some of the fa c ts with respect to meteors have
been p resented O n any b right n ight a few m i n u tes
.
’
wat c hi ng will be rewar d e d by the sight of a shooting
1
58 A S TR ONO M Y
star S o m eti mes a very b right on e is s e e n b y two
.

observers situated i n differen t t o w ns I t is then p o s .

sible from the di fferen t direction s i n whi c h th e m eteor

,

w a s seen whe n i t b u rst o ut an d when i t disappeared ,

to calculate its height an d path I n th is way meteors .

a r e fou n d to be at some such height as 8 0 to 1 00 m iles

when they become l u m i nous an d to be at a hei ght ,

of about 1 0 m iles when last seen

’
.

Thei r l u m i nosity is caused by friction i n the E arth s

atmosphere which they en ter w ith veloci ties which
,

so m eti m es reach 40 m iles a se c on d A con si d erable .

n u mber wh ich have fal len to the E arth have been

fou n d They consist o f m etal lic stones an d con tai n
.
,

carbon i ron n i c kel an d other elemen ts with wh ich we

, ,

are fa m il iar Those wh ich fall to the Earth usually

.

weigh a few pou n ds wh ile the s m all shooti ng

,

stars wh ich are v i sible al m ost any n i g ht are d is

s i p a t e d i nto dust wh ile passi n g through the E arth s
’
at m osphere .

—
Met eo r i c Sho w er s It so m eti m es happens that o n a
particular n ight a large n u mber of meteors are seen
shoot i ng across the sky i n all d i rections I f the paths .

which they ap pear to describe as p roj ected agai nst

the starry backgrou n d be drawn on a globe or star
m ap i t will be see n that the paths all r a d i a te or
,

diver g e fro m a co m mon poi n t Th is poi n t is calle d .

the r a d i a n t p o i n t The existence of a radian t poi n t

.

shows that all the m eteors are m ovi n g i n parallel

di r ectio ns I f for exa m ple m eteors were falli n g per
.
, ,

p e n d i c u la r to the E arth thei r paths when

,
drawn on a
 TH E S O L AR S YS TEM 1
59

globe woul d all pass through the zen ith The posi ti on .

of the radian t poi n t gives the d i r ec t lo n i n wh i c h t hh

meteors are m ovi ng relatively to the E arth I n D ia .

gra m LXX I I I t he paths of meteors observed at Green

-

D i g L X XIII
a . .

wich on N ovember 1 3 1 8 6 6 are plotted I t w ill be

, ,
.

seen that they all appear to come from nearly the

same poi nt of the sky .

The Leo ni d s .
-

O ne of the most i nteresti ng of these

swar m s of m eteors has its radian t poi n t i n the con
stellatio n Leo M ete o rs d ivergi ng from this ra d ian t
.

may be seen on the i 3 t h or 1 4th of N ove m ber .

The reason they are seen abou t these dates is that

the Earth is then i n a part of its orb i t where these
1 60 AS TRO NO M Y

m eteors are to be met with The meteors a r e a ll

.

m ovi ng i n nearly the S ame o r b i t r o u n d the S u n This

’
.

orb it an d the E arth s i n tersect at the poi n t where the

E arth is Situated on N ovember 1 3 an d 1 4 The key .
~

to the questio n of the cause of the N ovember meteors

was fou n d i n the re c ogni tion of the fact that showers
of u n u sual b rill ian cy occu rred at i ntervals of abou t
33 years or
,
more exa c tly th ree a ,
c en tu ry A very .

b ri llian t shower was seen i n 1 8 3 3 R e c ords i n v es .

t i g a t e d by P rof N ewto n of N ew H aven led h i m to

.

p redict a showe r i n the year 1 8 6 6 He concl uded t hat .

the N ovember m eteors w ere all m ovi ng i n an orb it

rou n d the S u n b u t that i nstead of straggl i n g u n i
,

fo rm ly abou t th is orb it they were spe c ially thi ck i n

o n e p rtic u lar part He fo u n d that there were several
a .

di fferen t orb its w h i c h woul d give rise to a specially

b ri ll ian t shower about every 3 3 years The fact that .

t he d a t e of the shower was gradually gettin g later fo r

t

it was Oc t 1 9 i n A D 90 2 an d O ct 2 4 i n 1 2 0 2 an d
. . .
,
.
,

N ov 1 2 i n 1 8 3 3 enabled P rof A d ams to deci de wh i c h

.
, .

of these o rb its was t he true one I n th is way i t was.

settled that the N ovember meteors move i n an

eccentric ell iptic orb it which stretches beyon d U ran us ,

an d that thei r peri od is 3 3 5 years .

Co m et s an d Me t eo r s — In 1 8 6 7 it w a s shown by the
researches of O ppolzer an d Leverrier that a co m et
discovered by Tempel i n 1 8 6 5 m ove s i n the same
orb it as the N ove m ber meteors S ch iaparell i showed
.

that the orb it of the Persei d meteors wh ich are seen

 TH E S OL AR S Y S TE M 1 6 1

in August is probably i dentical with that of T ttle ’ u s

c o m et of 1 8 6 2 A third relationship between c o m e f s

.

an d m eteors was shown by the strange behaviou r of

’
B iela s co m et T his co m et was discovered i n 1 8 2 6
.
“

an d foun d to have a period a p p r o x i m a t e ly s i x an d a

'

half years I n 1 8 46 this co m et w a s seen to split i nto

‘

two which kept at a distan c e of about

,
m iles
fro m each other I n 1 8 52 the two parts were at a
.

d istance of two m i lli o n m i les I n 1 8 59 an d 1 8 6 5 the .

co m et was not seen b ut i n 1 8 7 2 its plac e was taken

,
‘

by a shower of meteorites r a d i a t 1 n g fro m a poi n t i n

An dro m eda .

We are thus led to regard a comet as m ade up o f a

loose collection of m eteorites gathere d possibly ,

arou n d a larger central n ucleus When the co m et .

approaches the S un, heat an d othe r radiative i n fl u

e n c e s ten d to disi ntegrate the m ass an d t o drive o ff ,

gaseous constituents The gaseou s constituents th u s

.

driven o ff form the tails .

Nebu lar Hyp o thes i s . The S u n with the planets an d

-

co m ets which c 1 r c u la t e rou n d it f o r m s a system s o far ,

f ro m any other celestial bodies that their infl uence

‘

u pon it i s i m r c e t i b le I t urs ues its course an d

p e p p .

u ndergoes its d evelop m en t enti rely apar t fro m the m .

I n a famo u s hypothesis wh ich he p ropo u n ded i n the

S y s t é m e d a M o n d e Laplace atte m p t ed to trace the
,

process of its evol ution He was struck by the facts.

th at the larger p lanets are nearly i n the sa m e plane ,

that they and thei r satellites revolve i n the same d i r ec

1 62 A S TR ONO M Y
tion an d that the S u n an d pla nets are rotati ng i n th is
,

sa m e sense These coi nci de nces are too m a n y to be

.

the res ult o f chance an d poi n t to so m e co mm on cause

, .

—
H e p ut f orward the theo ry that a vast neb ula di ffused
—
ten uous m atter once exten ded to the con fi nes of the
solar syste m , a n d u n der the i nfl uence o f gravita tion
slowly contracted H e fu rther supposed that th i s
.

neb ula was en d o wed ori gi nally wi th a sl ight rotatory

m otion As the co n traction p roceeded the rotation
necessarily i ncreased an d ri ngs or other m asses were
,

th row n o ff wh ich collected an d for m ed planets Th is .

theory received fresh suppor t w hen i t was discovered

th at heat was developed i n the p rocess of con traction .

The existence of neb ul ae i n the sky an d the disco very ,

o f thei r gaseous con dition w h ich we shal l co m e to

,

i n a lat er chap ter was regarded as fresh evidence i n

’
,

i t s f a vou r
. D iscoveries m ade si nce Laplac e s ti m e
have shown that there is not qu ite so m uch u nan i m ity
’
as he sup posed i n the di rection s of planets rot ation s
an d the m ove m ents of thei r satellites B esi des this .

there are dyna m ic al di ffi culties for fro m the presen t

,

s tate of the s olar syste m i t is possible to calculate "

t he speed of rotation the neb u la had whe n it exten ded

-
let us say—as far as J up iter an d th is speed is n ot
,

n early su ffi cie nt for any part of the neb ula to have

b ee n wh i rled o ff The process of evol ution can not be

.

tra ced by follo wi n g the si m p l e pri nci ple which La

plac e en u nciat ed It has been poi nte d o u t recently by
.

”
P ro f .J eans that gravitational i nstab il ity or a tend
.

,
‘
 TH E S O LA R S Y S TE M 1 63

en c y of matter to accum ulate aro n d n uclei of u h

sli g ly
t

greater density an d for these n uclei to i ncrease an d

,

gradually collect m ore an d m ore neb ulous m atter

arou n d the m IS probab ly a more i mportant ca use
than rotation i n the devel op m ent of a planetary syste m
from a nebula A very careful critic 1 s m of Laplace s
.
’
hypothesis has been given by M e ssrs Chambe rli n .

an d M o u lton They consider tha t the solar system

.

has been derive d fro m the aggregation of m e teori c

dust an d fragments which had possibly res u lted fro m
,

the collision of p reviously existi ng bodies .

S i r George D a r w i n ha s attempted to trace i n d etail

‘

the b i r th of the M o on H e supposes that the E arth .

an d M oon were once part of the same fl u i d bod y .

O wi ng to its rotati on about an axis th is body had a

sphe roi dal form I n conseq u ence of the con traction
.

caused by cooli ng the speed of rotation i ncreased an d

,

the bo d y b ulge d out m ore an d more at its equator ti ll

it reache d the l i mit at which a spheroidal for m i s
possible As the contraction conti n ue d the fo r m
.

chan ged to an ellipsoi d with three u nequal axes ,

then to a pear shaped fi gure an d finally spl it i nto two

-

bodies Large ti des were generated i n these bodies

.

by thei r m utual gravitation an d the frictio n of th es e ,

ti des caused the two bodies to separate f u rt her Thi s .

very co m pl icated question has been m athematically

worked out i n detail by P rof D arwi n b u t t he re a re .
,
/

still s o m e d i ffi c u lt i es t o be overcome before w e can be

’
‘

certai n that i t is a true a c co u nt of t he M o o n s h i story

‘
‘

M 2
 C H A PTE R VI I I
I TA N CE S
D S AND M O VE M E N T S OF T HE S TAR S
THE last th i n g astrono m ers have lear ned fro m the
study o f the stars has been the na ture of the stars
’

“
them s elves Thei r vast distances mak e the m appear
”
.

fi xed i n t he fi r m a m e n t a nd they have s erved as

,

reference po i nt s f r o m w hi c h the m ove men ts of other

‘

bodies have b e e n rn f e r r e d a n d m easu red Thus the

‘

’
.

rotation of the E arth the mo ve m e n ts c f the E arth s

, .

axis the velocity of light have a ll b e e n discovered

,

di rectly o r i n direct ly by the help io f observati ons of

, ,
,

the fi xe d stars The fi x i t y of the stars showed the

. ,

’
m ovements of the p la n et s f a n d thus le d t o t he Co p e r
n ican syste m The b ri ght poi n ts called planets or
.

wan deri ng stars o n the do m e of the sky have been

show n to be large bo dies rese m bli n g the E arth which
ci rculate about the S u n Thei r sizes positions an d
.

m ove m en ts have al l been deter m i ned The fi xed

,

.
“
stars prese n t a si m i lar b ut m ore di ffi cult p roble m .

They appear as b ri ght poi nts proj ected o n the sky .

Can th ey be m ade to stan d out i n th ree di m en sions ?

Can the poi nts on the sky be replaced by m aterial
bodies i n space whose positions an d movem ents
relatively t o the S u n are kn ow n ? F u rther can the ,

m asse s a n d sizes of the stars be determ i ned

1 64
 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O V M E E N TS O F ST ARS 1 65

I f the d i stances of stars were as easy to dete rmine

as thei r d i r ections these question s w o uld be si mplifie d
very m uch As we have seen a star s right ascension
.
,
’
a n d d e c li n a t i o n fi x e s its d i rection j Us t as t helo ngitude
,

an d l atitude of a place on the E arth fix the di rection

i n which the place w o ul d b e seen fr om the E arth s ’
cent re I f the distances of the star s fro m t he E arth
.

were known as well as thei r di rections w e shoul d be ,

at once i n a position to construct a model of the

si dere al Un iverse so far as the positions of the stars are
conc er n ed Bu t the d et erm i nation of stella r dista n c es
.

is a di fficult proble m whi c h has l ured an d ba f fle d

astrono m ers for centu ries .

Before we app r oach this question it will be con ,

v e n i e n t to
re e f r“
b r i efl
y t o the no m en c latu re by which
stars a re i d entified an d to i n dicate what is meant by
the m ag n itude of a star .

No m enclat u r e o f St ar s — A small n u mber o f the

b rightest stars l ike S i rius Arctu rus Al debaran have
, ,

been given spe c ial na m es N ext to these come a large

.

nu mber of the stars visible to the naked eye which are

n amed fro m the c onstellation to whi c h they b elong
'

b ei ng d isti ng u ished either by Greek letters or n u m

bers B ayer i n his U r a n o m e tr i a a star atlas p ublished
.
,

i n 1 6 0 1 used Greek letters the stars bei ng arranged

, ,

approxi mately i n order of brightness for each con

stellation Thus we have a B y Leon is etc Fla m
. , , ,
.

stee d the first E nglish Astronomer R oyal m ade an

,
’
acc u rat e c atalogue of t he stars positions i n which he
,
1 66 A S TR ONO M Y
designated the stars by n u m bers as 1 2 3 Leon is etc , , , .

The na m es g i ven by B aye r an d F la m s t ee d hav e been

’

generally adopted Fo r fai nter stars the n u m ber i n

’
.

so m e well kn ow n catalogue serves as a na m e Th us

-
.
,

B r 3 1 47 G r 1 8 3 0 an d Lal 2 1 1 8 5 refer to stars which

’
,
. .
.
,

a re respectively N o 3 1 47 i n B radley s c atalogue

’
.
,

m ade i n 1 755 N o 1 8 3 0 i n G r o o m b r i d ge s catalo g ue

’
.
,

of 1 8 1 0 an d N o 2 1 1 8 5 i n Lalan de s catalogue of
, .

1 8 00

Po si t i o ns of di rection of a
St ar s i n t he Sk y — The
star i f it is a b righ t one can be obtai ned rou g hly f ro m
, ,

a celestial globe I f the accu rate di rection is requ ired

.

re f erence m ust be m ade to a star catalogue The

earl iest star catalogue i n wh ich t he position s that -

is , the ri gh t ascension s an d decl i n ations a r e -

give n with su ffi cie n t accuracy for m odern requ i re

m en ts was m ade by B radley fro m observations at
,

Greenwich ab out 1 755 S i nce th at ti m e the results .

of m any observation s with t ransi t ci rcles have b een

e m bodied i n star catalogues Th roughout the whole .

o f last ce ntu ry for exa m ple catalogues givi n g the

, ,

posi tions of the brighter stars derived fro m the m ost

accu rate observati ons were repeatedly m ade at Green
w ich an d other n ational o bservato ries O ne o f t he .

largest star catalogues givi n g the accu r ate position s ,

“
.

for t he date 1 8 75 of all n orthern stars as bright as the

n i n th magn itu de an d m any fai nter ones was the result ,

of the co m b i ned e ffort of 1 5 obse r vatories u n der the

“
ausp ices o f the Ger m an Astrono m ical S ociety .

St llar Magni t d es
e u — The b rightn ess of a star as seen
.
 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O V M E E N TS O F ST ARS 1 67

from the Earth like its p o sition is a q u antity wh ich

, ,

adm its of i m mediate measure m ent E vi dentl y a

’
.

knowledge of the stars distance is requi red before the

in t r i n s i c b rightness of stars can be co m pared If a
’
.

star s dis t an c e were d oubled the light received fro m

i t woul d be di m i n ished fourfold or m ore generally ,

the l ight rece ive d fro m equally b right stars vari e s

i nversely as the squares of their distances The quan .

t i t a t i v e m easuremen t of the light received from stars

is a comparatively recent astronom ical work which

’
,

has been extensively p u rsued u n der P rof P ickeri ng s .

direction at the observatory at Harvard Colleg e an d ,

by Messrs M i i lle r an d Kempf at Pots d am Vario u s

. .

photometric methods have been devised for t hi s pu r

p ose ,
an d these have r eplac e d an d given p recision to
the e y e esti mations previously made by astronomers
-
.

The brightness of a star is i n dicated by its m agn itude ,

an d the photometric scale is su ch that a di ffere nc e of

o n e ma g n itude between two stars correspon ds to 2 5

ti mes the amou nt of light Thus fro m a star of m ag

. .

1 0 2 5 ti m es as m u ch l ight is received as fro m a sta r

°

o f mag 2 0 ; while from a star of mag

. 2 5 t i m es
.

as m uch l ight is received as fro m a star of mag 5 o .

,

an d s o on Thus t he b rightness or a m o u nt of ligh t

.

received from a star is rel a ted to its m a gn itud e b y a

f o r m ula
Amount o f li g ht C x (5 3
z
’
1
where m is the star s
m
,
’
magn itu de an d C is t he amou n t of li ght r é
,

c e i v e d fr o m a star of m agn itude 0 0 i e a , . .

s t ar sli htl b ri hter t han Ve a

g y g g .
 A S TR ONO M Y
j

1 68

Al debaran is of m agn itu de or sl i ghtly fai nter

'

than t he fi r s t wh ile Altai r is of m agn itude 0 9 or

, ,

s lightly b rig hter The stars bri g hte r than fi rst m ag

.

n i t u d e are

S ir iu s
Ca n o p u s
Ve g a 0 1

a Ce n t a u r i
C a p e ll a
Ar c t u r u s 0 3

Thus Vega gives ne arly 2 5 ti m es the l igh t o f a

fi rst m agn itu de star an d S iri us gives , or 4
ti m es t he l igh t of Ve ga .

Wi th the naked ey e stars sli ghtl y fai nter than 6 0

m a g c an be seen
. A very sm all telescope will show
.

stars down to 9 0 m ag an d with the l argest telescopes .

,

the S i xteenth m a g n it ude can b e reached A conven ien t .

rule w h ich c o n n e c t s t he b rightness of a star with its

m a g n itud e i s that a di ff erence of 5 m agn itu des co rre
s p o n d s to a ratio o f i n the a m ou nt of li ght
received .

Thus fr o m a star of 1 0 m ag 1 00 ti m es as m uch .

lig ht is received as f r o m a star of 6 0 m a g ; fro m one .

o f 6 0 m ag 1 00 ti m es as m uch as fro m one of 1 1 0

.
.

m ag . an d f ro m one o f
,
m ag 1 00 ti m es as much .

as fro m one o f 1 6 0 m ag Th us one m illio n th of the .

l ight of a fi rst m agn itu de star i s received fro m one of

the 1 6 th lm a g n i t u d e .

Nu m b er o f St ar s — A very i nteresti n g que s tion natur

all y arises as to the n u m ber o f st ars of each m a gn itude .
 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O V M E E N TS O F A RS
ST 1 69

Ab o ut 1 8 55 Ar ge lan d er at B o n n m ad ea very com p le te

l ist of a ll the stars as brigh t or b rig hter than 9 5 m ag .

betw een the north pole an d 2 south of the eq uator H eo

°
.

en u merate d a lto gether stars This work was .

conti n ued as far as 2 3 south d ecl i natio n by S c ho nfeld

°
,

who e n u merated i n this part of the sky stars .

Fro m 2 2 sout h decli nation to 52 south decli nation

° °

an en u meration of all stars down to 1 0 0 m ag m ade at .

Cordoba contai ns stars At the Cape O b s e r v.

ato r
y si m il ar w o rk has been acc ompl i she d photo

graph i cal ly exten di ng fro m 1 9 south decl i n ation to °

t he south pole givi n g approxi m ate positions an d

,

m a gn itudes of stars The di ffi culty i n .

researches of this class is i n keepi n g a constant scale

Of m agn i tudes a s t he m agn itu des are necess arily
,

deter m i ned by eye esti mation i n visual ob s erva

-

tions an d by what a m ou nts to a very si m ilar p rocess

,

i n photograph ic observations When corrections are .

m ade so that the esti mates m ay be as far as possible

accordi ng to the photo m etric scale the followi ng'
,

results are fou n d for the total n u m ber of stars of

di ff eren t magn itudes .

Ma g . No . o f S ta r s .

1 1

1 0 —2 0 28

10
5
3 00

4 o 10 1 6
26
3 5

O u r k nowle d ge of the im m e ns e n u mber of very

 A S TR ONO M Y
'

fai n t s t a r s b e g rns with the Herschels who cou nted

the stars i n sa m ple areas i n di ff erent parts of t he sky .

The li m itin g m agn itu de to wh ich S i r J H erschel wen t

.

was app roxi m ately 1 40 m The esti m ated n u m ber of

.

stars dow n to th is l i m i t is nearly 2 4 m i llion s With .

so m e of the m odern reflecti n g telescopes stars three

or fou r m agn itu des fai n te r than 1 4 0 m ag can be .

photographed an d the total n u m ber dow n to 1 8 0 m a g

, .

m ay be esti m ated at ab ou t 1 000 m ill ions .

The i n crease of the n u m ber o f stars per m agn itu de

i s very i nteresti n g . I t is seen to be rou g hly 3 ti m es .

N ow as the a m ou n t of l ight receive d fro m a star is

,

ti m es as m uch as that received fro m a star a m agn itu de

b ri g hter i t follows that as far as 1 1 0 m a g the total
,
.

light contrib uted by all the stars of any on e m agn itu de

i s g reate r than that co ntrib uted by t he c lass a m agn i
tude b righte r This can not go o n i n d e fi n itely or the
.
,

total a m ou nt of l ight received fro m the stars would be

i n fi n ite The ratio of the n u m ber o f stars per m ag n i
.

tude to the n u m ber a m agn itu d e b righter does n ot

appear to f a ll o ff very fast f or several m agn itu des
fai nter than 111 .

Di st anc e o f S t ar s — W e have seen how the distance

of the M oon m ay be deter m i ned by ob servi ng the
di ff erence of i t s direction fro m two poi nts o n the
’
E arth s su rface ; an d how the sa m e m ethod carri e d
out with greater re fi ne m en t e n ab les the distance of
M ars and o f certa i n m i n or planets when nearest the
E arth to be m easured an d the scale o f the planetary
,

syste m to be derived .
 D IS TA N CE S AN D M O VE M E N TS O F ST A RS 1
7 1

B ut t he distance o f the stars is so vast that the .

m ost refined i nstru m ents show no trace of any di ffe r

e n c e s i n thei r di rections as viewed fro m the north of

E u rope or S o u th A frica S uch a base li ne for thei r

.
-

triangulation is absolutely i nadequate When Coper .

n i c u s showed that the E arth revolved rou nd the S u n ,

astronomers realize d at o nce that they coul d use a

very m uch larger base l i ne After an i nterval of six
-
.

months the E arth has m oved from a position 90

-

m illion m iles o n one si de of the S u n to one 90 m il lion

m iles o n the other With such a large base l ine as
.
-

1 8 0 m ill ion m iles so m e di f ferences i n the di rections of

the stars which w ould pe rm i t of the deter m i nation o f

thei r distances was surely to be antic ipated D iagram .

LXX I V which consists of rough sketches of E di n

,
_

b u rgh f ro m two di fferent poi n ts i n the grou n ds of the

R oyal O bservatory shows the chan ge p roduced by
,

a sli ght di ff erence of poi n t of view The ch urch spire .

on the left wh ich is on l y half as distan t as the Castle

, ,

is i n one sketch seen p roj ected agai nst the right edge
of the Castle b ut i n the other near the m i ddle of it
,
.

The chi m ney on the r i ght , which is a l ittle nearer to

the observatory than the crown like spi re o f S t Giles -
’ .

Ch urch appears i n one sketch to the right an d i n the

,

other to the left of th i s sp i re .

B ut the co n temporaries an d s uccessors of Coper

ni e n s could not fi n d the sl ightest trace of any paral
lactic e ffect of this ki n d a m ong the stars S ome .

concluded that Copern icus was wron g other s that the ,

distances of the stars were so great that the distance

1
7 2 A S TR ONO M Y
of t he S u n was i napp reciabl e i n com parison with
the m As m ean s of m easurin g angu lar position s
m
.

were i proved atte m pts w ere r enewed to fi n d so m e

,

D i g LXXI V
a . .

s m all di fferences i n the relative posi tion s of the stars

which would show that though very large the distances
w ere not i mm easu rably great O f these u nsuccessful
’
.

atte m pts the m ost n o table a re B radley s fro m 1 7 2 9

,

to 1 748 wh ich led to the discovery of the aberration

,

of l ight an d of a s m all oscillatory m ovemen t of the

’
E arth s axis called N utation an d S i r Willia m Her
’ ,
,

s c he l s ; whic h led to the discovery of doub l e st a r s

 E
D IS TAN C S AN D M O V M E E N TS O F S TA R S 1
73

revolvi n g about on e another u n d er the i nfl u ence o f ~

t

thei r m utual gravitation

B efore the distance of any star was ac tually measured
i n dications were f o un d that some of the stars though
at great w ere still at appreciab le distances H alley . ,

fou n d that the three bright stars S iri us Arct u rus

’
, ,

an d Aldebaran were place d i n Ptolemy s catalogue

,

i n position s slightly to the north of those they o c c u

pied i n h is own ti me He g u ar d e d agai nst this bei ng
“

’
.

d u e to errors of Ptolemy s catalogue by observi ng that

the positi o ns of other an d fai nter stars agreed with
those assigned to them by m odern observations I n .

,
“
a co mm u n icatio n to the R oyal S ociety i n 1 7 1 8 Ha lle v
re m arks These stars bei ng the m ost consp icuo us
,

i n heaven are i n all p robability nearest to the E arth ;

, _

and if they ha v e any particular motions of thei r own

i t 1 5 m ost likely to be erceived i n them wh ich i n
p ,

so long a period as 1 8 00 years may S how itself by an

alteration of thei r places though it be u tterly i m
,
”
perceptible i n the space of a si ngle century of years
’
.

Halley s concl u sion s w ere confi rmed by othe r astron

omers an d i n 1 756 M ayer a Ger m an astron o m er
, , ,

gave a list o f 57 stars whose positions had changed

perceptibly i n half a cent u ry d u e to the movement of
t he stars themselves relatively to the solar system .

At the m i ddle of the eighteenth century it was f u lly

real ized that the S u n an d stars were si m ilar bodies ,

b u t that the stars were vastly m o re d istan t The .

d iscovery of movements a mo ng the m s ho wed t hat ,

1
74 A S TR ONO M Y
though great their distances were not i n fi n ite an d
, ,

hel d out hopes to astrono m ers that wit h m o re re fi ned

m easu res these distances m igh t be deter m i ned
S uccess i n m easu ri ng the distance of a star was
attai ned al most si m ultaneo usly by t hree astron
o m ers B esse l S truve an d H en derson B essel chose
, ,
.

6 1 Cygn i a star o f on ly the 5t h m agn itu de on

, ,

accou nt of the rap i dity of its m otion across the sky .

N ear to thi s star were two others wh ich di d not share

th is la rge m otion an d w ere presu m ably at a m uch
,

greater distance H e co m menced a ser i es of m easu res

.

with a hel i o m eter i n August 1 8 3 7 an d conti n ued the m

til l O ctober 1 8 3 8 H e fou n d a very s m al l m ove m en t
.

of the star with referen ce t o both the s m al l co m parison

stars analogous t o the change i n positio n show n in
,

the di agra m of p 1 7 2 arisi n g fro m the fact that h is

.
,

poi nt of vie w was chan ged by the m otion of the

E arth arou n d the S u n He conclu ded that the paral
.
“
”
lax o f 6 1 Cygn i was
The parallax i s t he s m al l angle wh ich the radi us
’ ’
of the E arth s orb i t subten ds at the star s distance .

8
I f E ( D iagra m LXXV ) be the
position of the E arth ( 9 of the ,

'
S u n an d the l i ne Q S i s drawn
D i g LXX V
a . .
,

perpen dicular to E 6 an d carried

’
till 6 5 rep resents the star s distance on the sa m e
scale t he n t he s m al l angle E S Q is called the star s
,
’
parallax If S 6) is . ti mes E Q then the angle ,

E S Q wi ll be B e s sel fou n d the angle t o be 0 3 2 ”

 D IS TAN CE S AN D M O V M E E N TS O F S TAR S 1 75

i n the case of Cygni and therefore 6 1 Cygn i is

61 ,
-

i
Wg g x z o o p o o ti m es or,
m ore than ti mes t he
d istance of the S u n .

M eanwhile S t ruve at Pu lk o v a had fro m 1 8 3 5 to

1 8 3 8 been m aki n g a si m ilar series of observations
“
on the b right star Vega Th is star though not .
,

m ovi ng so fast as 6 1 Cygni i n dicat es both by its , ,

m ovemen t an d its b rightness that it is p robably one ,

of t he stars nearest to the S u n S truve fou n d for th is .

star a parallax of i n dicatin g a distan c e of

ti m es that of the S u n Later observations .

hav e shown that the paral lax is not so large as this ,

b ut nearer to so that its distance is two m ill ion

ti m es that of the S u n
’
.

Hen derson s observations were m ade by a di fferen t

m ethod Appoin te d H M Astron o mer at the Cape o f
. . .

Good H 0 pe i n 1 8 3 1 he m ade a series of observations

,

to deter m i ne the decl i nation of the bright do u ble star

a Centau ri This star which is the fourth b ri g htest
.
,

i n the heavens only S i ri us Canopus an d Vega bei ng

, ,

b ri ghter has a very large pro p e r m otion Hen derson

, .

exa m i ned his observations an d foun d that they showe d

the star to have a parallax of H is calculations
were not m ade till he had left the Cape o n his
ap p oi nt m ent as Astrono m er R oyal for S cotlan d an d ,

he di d not an nou nce the result til l it had been con

fi r m ed by observations of the right ascen sion of the
sa m e star . He p ublished his d eter m i nation of the
parallax of a Centauri two m onths after B essel ha d
1
7 6 A S TR ONO M Y ,

’
p u b l ished that of 6 1 Cygn i Later an d m ore a ccura t e
.

observati on s have show n that t he parallax is not qu ite

so large b ut on ly N evertheless t hi s s t a r is as ‘

far as we know ou r nearest n eighbo ur a m on g the

,

stars i ts dist an ce bei ng

,
ti m es that of the
S un .

The work o f deter m i n i n g the parallax of a star is

extre m ely del icate an d very labori ous owi n g to t he
care wh ich needs to be taken to obtai n the necessary
accuracy I n recent ti m es the parallaxes of a n u m ber
.

of southern stars have been care f ully deter m i ned by

S i r D avid Gill a t t he Cape A m on g other stars he
.

fi n ds that S i ri us has a pa rallax of b ut that

Canop us is too far away to show any sensible paral
la x The star with the largest parallax next to a
.

Ce ntaur i IS a fai n t star of m agn it u de situated

i n the Great B ear The parall ax of this star is
.

There are abou t twen ty stars w hose parallaxes are

know n to be greate r than i (3 whose distances
. .

are less than one m illio n ti mes that o f the S u n O n ‘

.

t he other han d even some of the b ri gh t est stars such

, ,

as Canop us an d R igel are at such a g reat distance

,

that they S how n o cer tai n para llax Th e fact that .

so me fai n t stars are comparative ly near while some ,

b right o nes a re too far away fo r thei r distances

to be m easu red with certai nty shows that the re is,

v e ry great diversity i n t he actual l um i n osity of the

stars I f all were at t he sa m e distan ce some would
.

ap pear thousan ds of ti m es b righter than others .

 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O V M E EN TS O F ST A RS 1
77

I t is not easy to for m any conception of the gre at

distances the stars are from us I f the d istance .

between the S u n an d E arth were represented by the

distance between t w o railway l i nes the distance of a ,

Centauri ou r nearest neighbour a m on g the stars

, ,

w ould be 2 45 m iles an d the d istance of S i ri u s would

,

be 500 m iles Thus if t w o railway li nes starti ng from

.

Lo n don i n stead of keep i ng parallel at a distance of

4 feet 8 i n c hes converged so,

gradually that they
met at D urha m the long triangle thus for m ed would
,

be si m ilar to that for m e d by the S u n the E arth an d , ,

a. Centau ri For m ore distan t stars the triangle

.

woul d be p rop ortionately lon ger The m easu re m en t .

of stellar distances rests o n the deter m i nation of the

small angle at t he vertex of the trian gle an d as ,

this an gle i s extre m ely s m all the utmost care is

necessary to avoi d any error due to i n stru m ental
causes For this re aso n the di fferential m ethod of
.

d eter m i n i ng stellar parallaxes has generally been

'
u se d ; that is a small change ,

i n the positio n of a star

relative to neighbou ri ng stars
D i g L XXVI a '
has been looked for I n D ia .
'

gra m LXXV I if E an d E are the positions of the

1 2

E arth when on opposite si d es of the S u n ( m arked Q

i n the diagram ) an d if is a co m paratively near star
,
(r

an d a distan t on e then E 1 1 an d E 2 1 a r e s ensibly

a
, ,
0 0

parallel and the angle E E w hi c h is twice the p a ra l

, 1
0
2 ,

lax of the star is the su m of the two s m all angles

1 7 8 AS TR O N O M Y

I t is easier to deter m i ne the angle

'

a an d o E z r l
E la l -

t .

E l E 2 accu rately i n th is way than i n any other as the

o
~

m any caus es excep t parallax wh ich a ffect the p o sition

i n t he s ky of 0 as seen f ro m E 1 an d six m on ths later
fro m E 2 equally a ffect the position of 0 1 but not the
,
-

relative positions of the two stars .

U nless the stars of refere nce are m uch m ore distan t

than the s tar whose paral lax is sought the di fferential ,

m ethod will fail b u t if they are 1 0 o r 2 0 t i m es a s

,

far o ff t he resul t will be T5 411 or g 6 t h part too s m alll

.

The stars whose distances have bee n satisfactori ly

determ i ned n u mber fro m 1 50 to 2 0 0 Those who se .

distances have been i nvestigated are i n nearly all

cases very b right o r w ith v ery large p r o per m otions .

The b r i ght ness an d the p roper m otion have been

cl ues wh ich have gu i ded astronomers i n the choice
of sta r s whose distances they shoul d atte m pt to
deter m i ne This m an ner of selection m akes it d i ffi
.

cult to deduce fro m the results correct views as

to the average distances of stars P rof K a p t e y n . .
,

realizi ng the i m portance of an i ncrease i n ou r know

'

led g e o f t he parallaxe s of stars has set o n foot a ,

sche m e by which certai n sel ected areas wel l dis

trib uted over t he sky shall be photographed at such
ti m es of the year that any stars of large p aralla x will
be detected by thei r slight m ove m e nts relative to the
general mass of the stars photographed on the sa m e
.
,
—
plate When stars of large parallax let us say g reater
t han are p icked out i n this way a great deal
-

,
 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O V M E E N TS O F S TAR S 1 79

of i nfor mation will be obtai ned on m any i m porta nt

poi nts on which ou r knowledge is at presen t very
’

scanty For example t he p e r c e n t ag e of stars of di ffer

.
,

ent magnitu des havi n g parallaxes of this a m ou nt wi ll

, ,

show to what extent the apparen t b rightness of a

star is due to its i ntr i ns i c brightness an d to what ,

exten t it is due to nearnes s to the E arth S i m ilarly .

we shall be able to j u d ge to what extent a large p roper

m o tion is due to a large velocity an d to what extent
’
,

it arises fro m the star s proxi m ity t o the E arth These .

an d other questio ns bearin g on the geom e try of the

“

stellar syste m depend largel y for thei r answer on the

i n c rease of o u r knowledge of the parallaxes of stars
Pr o p e Mo t i o n s o f St a s
r r — Although only a s m all frac
tion of the stars a r e suffi ciently near for thei r dis
tances to be separately determ i ned there are a large ,

n u mber of stars s u fi i c i e n t ly near for thei r p rope r

‘

m o tions or ang u lar motion on t he face of the sky

to be determ i nable W ith the lapse of ti m e the
.

n u m be r will i ncrease for i f motion can not be detected

,

i n one ye ar i t m ay be i n ten if not i n ten ,

a century m ay be su fficient The existence of a .

proper m otion clearly shows that a star is not at an

i nfi n ite distance otherwise its velocity woul d need to
,

be i n f i n ite for any c hange i n its p osition to be

produced .

The m agn itude of the proper m otion does n o t

’
enable a star s distance to be deter m ined un less t he
actual ve locity of the star is known The stu dy of .

N 2
1 80 AS TR ONOM Y

proper m otion s does howeve r g i ve i nfor m ation

, ,

about the average distances an d m ove m ents of stars

wh ich are too far distan t fo r thei r parallaxe s to be
deter m i ned i n divi dually .

The p ro pe r m otions of m any stars have beco m e

known dur i n g the last quarte r of a century because a
su ffi cien t i nterval of ti m e has elapsed si nce the posi
tions of the sta rs were accu rately catalogued for
changes i n thei r positio n to be apparen t M odern .

deter m i nation s of proper m otion date fro m the

revisio n by D r A uwers of the catalogue executed by
.

B radley at Greenwich i n 1 755 an d its co m parison

with catalo g ues m ade a hu n dred years later B y thi s .

wor k the angular m ove m ents on the face of the sky of

m ore than 3 000 stars were m ade know n The p roper .

motions of thous an ds of stars have si nce been i nvesti

gated by di fferen t ast rono m ers As exa m ples of the .

actual a m ou n t of stellar p roper motion s we m ay take

the very b right stars given on p 1 6 8 The n u mber . .

of s eco n ds they m ove over the face of the sky per

centur y are as follows

S i riu s 1
3 2 Ca p e ll a 44 Ac he n a r 9
Ca n o p u s 2 Ar c t u r u s 2 28 B C e n t a u ri
4
Vega 35 Ri g l e o Alt a i r 65
a Ce n t a u r i 3 6 8 Pr o c y o n 1 2
5

Canop us an d R i gel show p ractically no m o vement ,

a nd are p ro bably at a very great distance As we have .

seen a tte m pts to deter m i ne thei r parallaxes have been

,
 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O VE M E N TS OF ST ARS 1 8 1

unsuccessf u l I t follows that thei r actual l u m i nosity m ust

.

be i mm ense O n the other han d Arct u rus is an i nstance

.
,

of a star movi n g w ith a very great velocity I ts paral .

lax has been determ ined as Wh i le this is the

s m all an gle the distance fro m the E arth to the S u n
subten ds at Arctu rus its m ove m ent i n a year on the ,

face of the sky sub ten ds an angle I n o n e year ,

therefore it m oves 3 ti m es the distance fro m t he

——
1 ,

E arth to the S u n This works out to be 76 x 93 .

m illion m iles a year or more than 2 00 m iles a second .

Large proper m otion s are n o t confined to bright

stars Till a few years ago Gr 1 8 3 0 a star of 6 9 mag
. .
, .

was the m ost rapi d known ; b ut i n 1 8 9 7 a fai nt

southern star of 8 5 m ag was fou n d to be m ovi ng still .

m ore rapi dly : The f o ll owi n g five stars have proper

”
m otions greater than 50 0 a c entu ry .

Ma g . Pr o p . Pa r a ll ax .

M o tio n .

'
Co r d o b a V, 2 43 8 70
"
Gr . 1 8 30 6 9 7 4
0
"
L a w 9 3 52 7 5 6 94
Co r 3 2 41 6 . 8 5 607
6 1 Cy g ni 5 20

The p arallaxes s how that four of these fi ve stars

are comparatively near The fai n tness of the s tars is .

therefore a proo f of thei r small absolute l u m i nosi ty ,

a n d i llu s t r a t e s the great variatio n s among the stars i n

‘

th is respect .

Alt o gether abo u t 1 0 0 stars a re k nown to have proper

mo tions o f m ore t han a centur
y and ab o u t 2 000 ,
 1 82 A S TR ONO M Y
of m or e than 2 0 a ce n t ury b ut the latter list is very ,

i nco m plete The p robable n u m ber of th o se

.

have p roper mo tio ns grea t er than 5 a century is ” ‘

give n by N ewco m b as b u t the data are a s

yet i nsu ffi cie n t f or a p r e c i se esti m ate
'

Mo t i o n o f S u n i n Sp ace — The p roper m oti 0n of a

star may arise fro m its ow n m otion o r fro m a m otion
of the solar syste m i n space I n the for m er case there .

is a pr i o r i n o reason to expect any regularity a m on g

, ,

the proper m otions ; b ut i n the

latter case there woul d be a
general drift of the stars i n an
opposite di rection to the m ove
m en t of the solar syste m I n .

D iagra m LXXV I I let O b e the

centre of a large circle an d let ,

O m ove a small fraction of the

D i g LX X VII
a . . ’
radi us to O i n the di rection
The direction i n wh i c h A i s seen has
’
OG .

chan ged fro m O A to O A ; A has apparently m oved

’ ’
i n the di rectio n of the arrow th rough an angle
C O A CO A o r O A O
— S i m i larly E has apparently
.

m oved through an equal angle G an d C wh ich .

,

are i n the direction of an d the di rection opposite to

the m ove m en t of O have n o t chan ged thei r di rectio ns
,

’ ’
at all A poi n t B ha s apparently m oved through an
.

an gle C O B C O B o r O B O
’
-

This angle is largest.

'

when B i s li k e A o r E p e r p e n d i c u la r to O O an d
’

,
~

b eco m es s m al ler as B a p p ro aches C t he p oi n t f ro m ,

 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O VE M E N TS OF ST A RS 1 83

which 0 IS m oving or the poi n t G to which O i s

h '

m ovi n g I f i nstead of deali n g with a circle we

.
, ,

take a sphere l ike the sky the apparen t angular

,

m ovement of the stars arisi ng fro m the real m ove m e nt

of the S u n ( carryi n g the E arth with it) will be towards
the poi nt fro m wh ich the S u n is m ovi n g The m ove.

m en t will be i m perceptib le i n stars near this poi nt or

1 80
°
away fro m it an d wi ll be largest for those 90
,
°

distant There are two complications when this geo

.
"

m etrical conception is appl ied to the stars F irst

’
.
,

part of a star s p roper m otion arises fro m the star

itself ; an d secon dly the u nknown an d i rregular dis
,

tances of the stars prevent the effect fro m bei n g as

regular as i n the geo m etrical i ll ustration j ust given
’
.

O ne of S i r Will ia m H erschel s greatest discoveries

was his perception of a certai n amou n t of regu
la r i t y i n the proper m otions of stars an d h is
,

attrib ution of th is to a translation of the solar

system i n space tow ards a poi nt i n the sky which
he fi xed i n the constellation Hercules near the star
A Hercul is
’
.

Herschel s fi rst determ i nation of the direction of

the solar m otion was m ade i n 1 78 3 He o btained
.

fro m very l ittle m ateri al a result i n very good agree

m ent with m o dern dete rm in ation s H e made a n e w
’
.

deter m i nation i n 1 8 0 5 an d fou n d for the S u n s apex

,

or poi nt towards Which the S u n is movi ng a positio n

3
°
0 distan t fro m A Herculis This . discor d ance led so m e
as tro no m ers, and a m o n g o the r s B essel t o doub t
,
18 4 AS TR ONO M Y

whether a m ove m en t of the solar syste m had really ~

been estab l ished .

I n 1 8 3 0 Ar g elan der m ade very exact observations

o f a n u m ber of b righ t stars H e co m pared the posi
.

tion s of 3 90 of these w ith those fou n d by B radley

i n 1 755 . The i nterval of 75 years between the o b s e r
v a t i o n s p rovided h i m w ith a very co nsi derabl e chan ge

—
of base the distance th rough wh ich the solar syste m
had m oved i n 75 years . H is research which was
,

carried o ut w ith con si derable m athe m a ti c al re fi ne

’
s

m en t con fi r m ed H erschel s earl ie r result M any

, .

dete r m i nation s of the solar m otion have been m ade i n

co m paratively recen t years The co m parison of
.

m ode rn observation s with the older ones of B radley

an d othe rs have given the p roper m otions of a large
n u m ber of stars so that b right stars an d fai nt stars
, ,

stars o f large an d of s m all p roper m otions have been '

used i n d i fferen t d eter m i nat i ons F u rther the d i ffi

.
,

c u lt i es an d u n certai nties of the proble m have given

r i se to the develop m ent of so m ewhat di fferen t m athe

m a t i c a l m ethods of treat m ent The results were n ot
.

as acc o rdant as m ight have been antici pated an d i n ,

searchi n g f or the cause of the discrepan cies Professo r

K a p t e y n discovered an i nteresti n g feature i n the
proper m otions arisi n g fro m pecu liarities i n the
m otion s of the stars the m selves The di ff erent
.

m ethods by which the p roble m had been treated

assu m ed that apart fro m the apparent m ove m ents
,

ari s i n g f r o m t he real m o vement o f the so lar s ys tem

 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O VE M E N TS OF ST ARS 1 8

i n space the m ove m ents of the stars themselves we re

,

haphazard I t has been cle arly de monstrated that this

’
.

i s not the case b ut that t he stars m ovements exhib it

,

a b ias t owards a direction whose right ascension is

° °
about 90 an d decli nation about 15 and the di rection
dia m etri c ally opposite The poi nt i n the s ky towards
.

which the s o la r s y s t e m is movin g has right as c ension

°
2 75 an d decl i nation an d is not far from the
bright star Vega I t is to be u n derstood that there is
.

an u ncertai nty of several degrees i n the positions

determ i ned for both of these poi nts .

Mo t i o n i n t he Li n e o f S i ght — The i n formation derivable

from the proper m o t i o n s o f stars has i n recen t years
been supplemented by determ i nations of the act u al
velo c ities wi th w hi c h s t a r s are movi n g to or from the
‘ ‘

E arth The appl ication of the spe c tros c ope for this
.

purpose was fi rst made by S i r Wi lliam H uggi ns i n

1 86 8 . The position of a li ne i n the spectru m is deter
m i ned by the n umber o f vibrations which are received
each secon d I f the source of l ight is approach ing the
.

observer m ore vib rations are received per secon d t han

,

is the nor m al case when the source of l ight is at rest .

S uppose the spe c tru m contai ns known li nes for i h ,

stance those due to I ro n These will all be displaced

,
.

slightly to the violet si de of thei r positions i n the

normal spectru m of I ron ; an d the amou n t of the d is
placeme nt a ffords a m ean s of compar i ng the velo c ity
of the sou rce of ligh t towards the observer w ith the
y le o c i t y o f light I.f t he so urc e o f li g ht i s r e ced in g
1 86 A S TR ONO M Y
fro m the observer the l i nes are displaced towards t he
red .

The i n itial di ffi culties o f applyi n g th is p ri n ciple to

deter m i ne the velocitie s o f t he stars to or f ro m the
E arth were very c on si de rable owi ng to the s m all
a m ou n t o f l igh t f ro m a star an d also on accou nt of
the m i n uten ess of t he displace m ent S i r Will ia m .

H u g gi n s showed that the m ethod was feasible and ,

D r Vo g el by substituti n g photograph ic f o r vi sual

.
,

observatio n s su b stantially i ncreased i ts accuracy

,
.

Late r w ith t he large telescope o f the Lick O b s e r v

at o r y P rof Ca m pbel l obtai ne d still higher accu racy
,
.
,

an d at the p resen t ti m e there are half a dozen o b s e r v - -

a t o r i es whe re the velocity of a brigh t star to or f ro m

t he B a i th can be obtai ned with a p robable error of

not m ore than half a m ile a secon d I t i s to be n oted

- -
.

that p rovi ded there is en ough l i ght for an obse rvation

’
,

to be m ade the i n for m ation we derive of t he stars

,

velocities i n this way i s i rrespective of thei r distance .

As m ight be expected the velocities with wh ich the

-

sta r s are a pp roa chi n g o r recedi n g fro m the E arth

vary considerably Those with t he greatest velocity
.

deter m i ned at the Lick O bservatory are

7
7 C e p h e i mi le s p e r s e c o n d to w a rd s Sun
5 H e r c u l i s

e An d r o m e d a e
C a s s io p e i a e
p.

8 Le p o r i s f ro m S un
'

OCa ni s Maj o r i s
 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O VE M E NTS OF ST ARS 1 87

F ro m the velo c ities of 2 8 0 stars Prof Ca m pbell .

deter m i ned the di rection an d a m ou nt of the solar

m otion The m ethod is essen tially the sa m e as that
.

e m ployed i n the case of proper m otions The .

velo c ity fou n d for e ach star is supposed to be co m

pou n ded o f the velocity of the solar syste m an d of
the star itself an d fro m the m an ner i n which stars
,

at one part of the sky are syste m atical ly fou nd to be

m oving towards the S u n and i n a dia m etrically
,

O pposite part of the sky to be m ovi n g fro m the S u n ,

the velocity with wh ich the solar syste m i s m ovi n g

through spa ce is fou n d to be about 1 2 % m i les per
second .

Aver age Di st ances o f S t ar s — This veloci ty of 1 2

m iles per secon d i n a year carries the solar system for
-

ward a distance equal to 4a where a is t he d i st a n c e of ‘

the E arth fro m the S u n I n 1 00 years therefore the

.
, ,

solar syste m moves a distance 4o o n an d the stars are

,

seen fro m p o i nts 2 00 ti m es as far apart as the extre m e

d istance which the revolution of the E arth about the
S u n suppl ies .

R eferri ng to the fi gure on p 1 8 2 w e may take O

’
.
,

to be the position of the S u n i n 1 8 00 a n d O i n 1 90 0 .

Let us suppose a n u m ber of stars at equal b ut u n

known distances fro m the solar syste m to have had
thei r positions i n the sky observed i n 1 8 0 0 a nd agai n
i n 1 900 Fro m comparison of these observation s the
’
.

angle O A O m ay be deter m i ned an d then as the

’ ,

l en gt h Q O i s kno w n t he d i st ance OA of these stars

,
 1 88 A S TR ONO M Y
can be fou n d As the stars are n ot all at the sa m e
.

distance the appl ication of th is m ethod i n p ractice

,

on ly g ives t he average distance of the stars considere d .

As an il lustration take the stars ob served by Groo m

,

b ri d g e i n 1 8 1 0 an d r e observed at G reenwi ch about

-

1 8 90 . Ther e were 2 0 0 stars brighter than 5 0 m ag .

,

454 b etw een m ags 5 0 an

. d 6 0 1 0 0 3 betw e,en m ags .

6 0 an d 7 o 1 2 3 9 between m ags 7 0 an d 8 0 an d 8 1 1
°

.
, ,

between m a g s 8 0 an d 9 0
. Treati ng each group as if
.

all the stars belongi ng to it were at the sa m e distance

fro m the solar system the an gle O A O or the paral
,
’
lactic an gle was fou n d to b e
for the several group s of stars B ut in 80.

years the actual displace m ent of the solar syste m i s

0 W h ere a is the S u n ’
s distance fro m the E arth
3 2 a , ,

an d thus the average parallaxes of these groups of

stars are fou n d by divi di ng t he ab ove an gles by 3 2 0 ,

an d a r e therefore
an d The distances cor re spon din g to these
paral lactic angles are 2 0 2 5 3 0 3 6 an d 3 4 m ill ion
, , ,
‘

ti m es the d istance of the E arth from the S u n No .

stress i s to be placed on these exact fi gures w h ich are ,

on ly given to i n dicate roughly a m ethod by wh ich the

distances of the stars may be app roxi m ately arrived at .

A n other m ethod of obtai n i ng an i dea of the dis

tances of the stars is based on the ve ry s i m ple a s s u m p
tio n that the density of the stars i n space is the sa m e
at greater distances as it is near the S u n I f we take .

a S p he r e w hos e r a d i us R i s o n e m il lio n ti m es the

 D IS TA N CE S AND MO VE M E N TS OF S TA R S 1 89

’
S u n s distance we know that there are stars withi n
20
,

this sphere we should expect to fin d

,
sta rs
withi n a sphere of radi u s 1 0 R an d 2 0 m i llion stars
,

withi n a sphere of radius 1 00 R P recise res u lts can

.

not be given ti ll we are certai n that al l the stars

are known w hich are withi n the smallest of these
spheres For th is i t will be necessary to wait till the
.

results of the organ ized search for stars of large

parallax have been obtai ned The si mple argu ment
.

j ust given shows that while there are only a few stars
’
nearer than a m illion ti mes the S u n s d istance a very ,

consi derable n umber are wit hi n ten ti m es the l i m it ,

an d prob ably a large fraction of those visible to the

naked eye are with i n a h u n dred ti mes this li m it .

O nly a v e ry r o u gh i n d i ca t i bn has been given of

’ ’ ‘

m ethods which may be applied with c onsiderable

d etai l The b rightness of a star other thi ngs bei ng
.
,

eq u al is an i n dication of its d istance

, S i m ilarly a
.

star with large p roper motion is p robably nearer than

one i n the sa m e part of the sky with a small p roper
m otion I t has been established that the stars di ffer
.

very m u ch i n i ntri n sic b rightness an d thus the proper

,

motion generally is a safer gui de than the m agn itu de

to the distance of a star B ut m agn itude an d proper
.

motion are not the on ly classifi c ations which nee d

to be consi d ered i n con ne c tio n with stellar d istances .

As we shall see later the spectroscope enable s stars

to be classified accordi ng to thei r physical con ditio ns .

M ost of the stars fall i nto one of two types : those

1
9 0 A S TR ONOM Y
whose spectra exhibi t b road l i nes due t o hy droge n a n d
so m eti m es to hel i u m such as S i ri us Vega an d R igel
, , ,

an d those whose spectra are l ike the S u n full of

, ,

m etall ic l i nes such as Capella an d A rctu r us It is

,
.

fou n d that the yellow or solar stars are m uch nearer

to us than t he b l ue or S irian stars The followi n g
.

table by K ap t ey n gives the m ean parallaxes of stars

of differen t m agn itu des
Ty p IIe .

7
°

o o z

8
°

o o 1

The\table shows that the m ean distance i s doubled

as w e pass f ro m secon d to f ou rth m agn it u de s tars ,

an d so on ; an d that the m ean distanc e of bl ue stars

is m or e than twice that o f yellow stars of the sa m e
m a g n itu de B ut it m ust be clearly u n derstood that
.

these are on ly average results an d that there are g reat

,

di fferences i n t he distances of stars of the sa m e

m agn i tude .

Velo ci t i es o f t he S tar s — It is beyon d the scope o f this

book t o g o i n to the rather di ffi cult statistical p rocesses
by wh ich the average velocities of the stars are deter
m i ned The followi ng table by P rofessor N ewcomb
.

g ives i n a si m ple for m so m e of h i s concl usions I t .

shoul d be re m e m bered that a veloci ty of th ree m i les

,

a secon d woul d cover the distance fro m the E arth to

 D IS T A N CE S AN D M O V M E E N TS OF S T ARS 1 9 1

the S u n i n one year Taki n g 1 00 0 stars an esti m ate

.
,

is m ade of the n umber of stars m ovi n g 3 6 9 , etc , ,

.
,

miles a se c on d .

V l
e o c ity
No o f
V l
e o c it y
No
Vl e o city l
m m l
l es
.

S ta r s .
1 11 m l
i es
.

S ta r s
o f
.
1 11 m l
i es
No o f
.

S ta r s
.

e r se c e r se c p e r se e
p .
p . .

As the velocity o f t he S u n i n space is about twelv e

’
a

m iles p e r secon d i t is seen that the S u n s velocity is

,

rather below the average of stellar velocities .

Ab so lut e lu m i no si t y o f t he St ar s — If the S u n an d stars

were all at equal distances f ro m the E arth how would ,

thei r lu m i nosities di ffer I t is not ea s y to deter m i ne the

rati o with accuracy but we m ay take it that the l ight
,

fro m the S u n is 40 o o o ooo o oo ti m es the light f ro m the

, , ,

b right star Vega N ow Vega is of m agn itude 0 1

.
, ,

an d a l ittle calculation f ro m these fi gures shows that if

the S u n were removed to two m illion ti m es its dis
tance “ when its parallax would be
,
it woul d appear
to us as a star of 5 1 m ag that is to say woul d be j ust .
, ,

visible to the naked eye As showi ng how m uch the .

stars vary i n absolute l u m i nosity the followi n g table

1 92 AS TR ON OM Y
of P rofessor K a p t e y s ’m ay
be quoted I n a space
n .

con tai n i n g two m i llion stars of the sa m e l um i nosity as

the S u n th e re are
1 t w i th
s ar tim es its l u m i n o s i ty .

3 8 s tar s

1 8 00 1 0 00

3 6 0 0 1 00

10
’
a) a) n a,

5 m i ll i o t
n s a rs w i t h Tfi t h o f
l
t he S u n s l u m ino s ity .

7% n H T U t%h n n

N aturally fi gu res of this kin d do not p reten d to any

great degree of exactit u de b u t the tab le given ab o ve
i s based o n a careful discussion of such m aterial as
exists a n d m ay be taken as an appro x i m ate state m ent
,

of t he great dive rsity which exists i n the i nt ri n sic

bright n ess of the stars .
 C HA PTE R I X
S TAR S AN D N E BU L Z E

I N the last c hapter the q u estions to be answere d

were : Where are the stars ? an d H ow are they mov
i ng ? A nother series of q u estions whic h nat u rally
p re sen t themselves are c oncerne d wi th their c hem i c al
an d physical natu re What are the stars ma d e of ?
.

What are thei r temperat u res ? H o w far d o they

resemble the S u n an d i n what respe c ts d o they d i ffer
from i t ? Partial a n swers to these q u estions c an be
obtai ned from a st u d y of stellar spe c tra w hi c h tea c h ,

us three disti n c t thi ngs ( 1 ) B y c omparison with

.

terrestrial spe c tra somethi ng is learne d of the c hemi c al

composition of the stars Hy d rogen an d hel i u m
.

so d i u m an d calci u m iron an d titan i u m a r e per c eive d

,

i n stars 1 00 m illion m i llion m iles away ( 2 ) B y slight

.

displa c ements of the spectral l i nes from thei r normal

positions movements i n these d istan t bo d ies towards
,

or from the Earth are detecte d an d meas u re d ( 3 , .

B y the di f ferences i n c hara c ter of the spe c tra fa c ts ,

abo u t the phys i cal c on d ition of the stars s u c h as thei r

,

temperat u res an d the exten t of the atmospheres s u r

ro un di ng them may be gathere d These three li nes
,
.

of resear c h are n ot enti rely d isti nct tho u gh they are

,

0 I 93
1 94 A S TR ONO M Y
so to a large extent . The i nterp retation of the
p hysical co n dition s wh ich give rise to the peculiar
ities i n stel lar spectra is a matter of di ffi culty Th i s .

is not to be won dered at fo r the spectru m of a sub

,

stance observed i n a laboratory di ffers acco rdi ng to

the te m peratu re pressu re an d ele c trical con ditions of
, ,

the sou rce fr o m wh ich t he l ight is obtai ned 1 11 the .

stars these con dition s are varied far m ore than our
means of experi m e nt w ill per m it .

S tellar spectroscopy p ractically dates fro m 1 8 6 3 with

the researches of S i r Will iam H uggi ns i n E nglan d
an d Father S ec c hi i n R om e The very co nsi derable
‘

di ffi culties to be overco m e arise p ri marily fro m the

l i m it ed quan ti ty of l ight a sta r a ffords O n ly a por
.

tio n Of th i s passes th rough the narrow sl it ( say

7 53 t h i nch wi de ) of a spe c troscope ; i t is then sp rea d
out i nto a l i ne o f several i nches i n le n gth fro m the red
at one en d to the violet at the other ; an d fu rther i n ,

order to see the structure of the l i ne it is necessary

,

that i t shoul d be b roadened i n to a n arrow ban d by

m eans of a cyli n drical lens When the l ight is sp rea d
.

out i n th is way its i n tensi ty is greatly di m i n ished .

The i n tro d u ction o f photography m a d e a great

advance i n the accu racy an d the range of stellar
spectroscopy D i fficulties still arise t ho u g h i n a n
.
,
'

other form from the small quantity of l ight which is

,

s ub m itted for analysis Lon g exposu res are necessary

.
,

an d therefore t he l ight of the star m u st be kept con

t i n u o u s ly on the sli t of the spe c tros c ope Fu rther
.
,
 S TAR S AN D N E B UL Z E 1
95

the spe c tros c ope m u st be so mou n ted that no fl e x u re

oc c u rs i n the d i ff eren t posi t ions which it takes when
the teles co pe fol lows the same star for several ho urs ;
an d agai n arrangemen ts have to be made to keep the
,

temperat u re of the p risms constan t ( to withi n a smal l

fra c tion o f a d egree ) so that thei r d e n sity may not
,

change an d g i ve a bl u rre d pict u re of the spe c tru m

As the res u lt of an exam i nation of the spectra of
more than 400 0 stars S ecch i ma d e an empi rical classi
,

fi c a t i o n of the stars i nto fo u r types I n the first type

.

he i ncl u d ed white an d bl u e stars s u c h as Vega an d,

S i ri u s whose spectra S how b roa d d ark li nes d u e to

,

absorption of certai n rays by hy d roge n The se c on d .

type contai ne d yellow stars l ike the S u n Capel la an d

, ,

a Centa u ri whose s pect ra show many fine metalli c

,
-

l ines an d two b roa d li nes i n the violet part of the

spe c tr u m d u e to c al c i u m The thir d type con tai ne d
.

red stars of whi c h Antares is an example whose

, ,

spe c tra con tai n a n u mber of d ark ban d s sharp on the ,

violet si de an d fa d i ng o ff grad u ally to the re d The .

fou rth type also c onsiste d of re d stars whose spe c tra ,

co nsist of d ark ban d s d u e to the p resence of c arbon ,

sharp on the red si d e an d fa d i ng o ff towar d s the

violet A fifth type was a dd e d late r by M essrs
. .

Wolf an d R ayet of the Paris O bservatory c onsisti ng

of stars w hose spe c tra c ontai ne d d ark ban d s an d
.

b right l ines as well .

I n the D r a p e r c a t a lo g u e of the Harvar d O bserva

tory the spectra of mo r e than stars are classifie d
0 2
1
9 6 A S TR ONO M Y
by M rs Flem i ng S til l m ore recen tly from an ex
. .
,

a m i nation of 48 00 spectra of 6 8 1 stars taken with a

large r telescope an d greater dispersio n a careful an d ,

elaborate division of the stars i n to 2 2 groups has been

m ade by M iss M au ry This sub division i nto 2 2 .

groups e mphasizes the gradual change fro m type to

type The most i mportant di fference between th is an d
’
.

S ecchi s classificatio n is the sub divisio n of the stars of

Type I
’
.

All the stars of S ec c h i s fi rst type are marked by

the series of hy d rogen l i nes wh ich gradually close u p
to a poi n t i n the ultra violet part of the spectru m -
.

Ab out 3 0 of these l i nes are seen ; they were discove re d

i n t he photographs take n by S i r W H u ggi ns The . .

wave l engths were show n by P rof B al mer to follow

-
.

a very si m ple law

2

A 6
3 47 X fi 4 ’where n
4, 5 6 an d so on
-
14 3 , ,, .
2
fl

The appeara nce of these b road h ydrogen l i nes i n the

spectra of certai n stars is shown i n D iagram
LXX VI I I .

D i g LXXVIII
a . .

Heli u m S t ar s .
—VVhe n
heli u m was discovered i n 1 8 9 5
by S i r W R amsay it w a s f o u n d that some o f these
.
,

stars with b roa d hydrogen l i nes showe d a large -

 ST A RS AN D N E B UL A E
1
97

n u mber of hel i u m li nes as wel l The heli u m stars .

also c ontai n l i nes due to oxygen sil i c on an d n itrogen ,

.

B ut l ines d u e to metals are fo u n d i n very few of them

M any of the b right stars of O rion belon g to this
c lass R ige l an d B ellatrix among them Anothe r
,
.

hel i u m star is B C r u c is i n the S o u thern Cross the

,
—

first star i n whi c h the presen c e of oxygen was re c og

n i z e d ( by M r M c C le a n i n
.

—
Hy d r o gen S t ar e S i rius an d Vega are the b rightest
of the hydrogen stars I n the spe c tra of this gro u p
.

the heli um l i nes are not p resen t B etwee n the b roa d .

li nes of the hydrogen se ries a n u mber of metallic

li nes are fai ntly show n i n some of the stars Thus i n .

S iri u s are seen l i nes d u e to sodi u m c al c i u m mag , ,

n es i u m,
silicon i r o n titan i u m va na d i u m O xygen
, , ,
.

an d n itrogen are not shown .

M ore than half the stars i n the sky belong to

’
S e c chi s first type A remarkable feat u re abo u t them
.

is thei r small proper motions i n d i c ati ng that as a ,

c lass they are very distan t from the S u n Th is is .

spe c ially true of the heli u m stars Many of these .

stars are however of very great brilliancy S irius

, ,
.
,

for example gives us 2 0 times as m u c h l ight as the

,

S u n w ould if pla c ed at the same d istan c e but is only ,

between two an d th ree times as massive as the S u n .

This may result from great i ntri nsi c brightness or

very large s u rfa c e Aga i n the bl u eness of these
.
,

stars may be taken as evi dence that they are not s u r

rou n de d by a d u s k y vei l like the S u n
'

.
1
9 8 A S TR ONO M Y
S o lar S t ar s — The most con spicuous stars of th is type
are Capella an d A rctu rus Thei r spectra are al most
.

exactly si m ilar to that of the S u n P rocyon an d

.

Canop us are i n termediat e between the S i rian an d solar

stars as they show the hydrogen series as well as
,

s t ro ng m e ta l li c l i nes
. A very large n u mber of stars
’
belon g to th is group S ome like Arcturus are at
.
, ,

a very great distance while a Cen tauri is very n ear

, .

The si m ilarity of thei r spectra to that of the S u n

shows that these stars are of si m ilar i n tri n sic b ril
li a n c y . The great di fferences i n thei r apparent
b ri ghtness is therefore to be attrib uted solely to
distance an d actual size M aki n g allowance for
.

distance A rcturu s is fou n d to be m any thousan d

,

ti m es m ore b u lky than the S u n a Centau ri to be

‘

nearly the sa m e size an d some other stars m uch

,

s m alle r .

St ar s o f t he Thi r d Ty p e — When we co m e to stars o f

the th i rd type i t is fou n d that a larger p roportion of
,

thei r total ligh t is i n the red en d of the spectru m

the b l ue l ight is absorbed as i n solar stars b ut to a ,

greater extent The b an ds sharp at thei r vi olet edge s

.
,

an d fadi ng o ff towards the red which are t he ch arac

,

t e r i s t i c featu re of th is type have recently been s hown

,

by P rof Fowler to be due to t itan i u m ox i de The

. .

sam e ban ds have been fou n d by P rof Hale i n S u n .

spots The gen eral appearance of the ban ds is given

.

i n D iagra m LXX I X The existence of an oxi de is

.

taken as an i n dicatio n of comparatively low t e m pera

 ST A RS AN D NEB U L /
E 1
99
’ ’

tur e B esides the bands th ere are a gre at many li n es

.
,

due to metals A ntares a nd B etelge u x the b rightest

; ,
’
st ars bel o ngi ng to this type are at very great dis ,

tan c es a nd appear to b e very m u c h greater than the

,

S un .

D i g LXX IX
a . .

St ar s of t he Fo ur t h —
Typ e Thes e are c omparatively
“

f ew , an d none ar e bri ghter tha n the fifth mag nit u de ;

They are characterized by three b a n d s s ha r p towa rd s
' '

the red an d fa d ing a w a y t o w a r d s the violet wh i c h '

were i de ntifie d by S ecchi as due to carbo n com

'

pou n ds The spe c tra of this group Of stars have

.

been c arefully studied by Prof Hale an d M r E ller . .

man at the Y erkes O bse rvatory They are shown to .

c ontai n i n a d dition to the ban ds a large n u mber

, ,

of dark li nes an d a f e w b right o n es The presen c e .

of sodi u m an d iron a m ong other bo d ies is i n d icate d

, ,

b y the absorption l i nes .

S t ar s o f t he Fi f t h Ty p e — The W o lf R ayet stars -

h a ve c o m plex spectra consistin g of the superposition

,

of a conti n uous bri gh t li ne an d a d ark li n e spec

,

tr u m . S o m e of the li nes are due to heli um an d

hydr o gen but the rest are u n i dentified There are
, .

no metallic l i n es Th e b ri ghtest star of the class is

.

y Arg u s I n it.the first l i ne of hy d rogen is b ri g ht ,

2 00 AS TR ON OM Y

the seco n d neutral an d the rest dark A r em arkab l e

, .

featu re about these star s is the existence of a series

of li nes who e wave lengths c a n be derived fro m the
,
s -

for m ul a fo r the hydrogen se ri es on p 1 96 by g 1 v 1 n g .

n the val ues 3 % e tc This p o in ts to the exist .

ence of hy d ro gen u nder con diti o n s Wh ich have not

been ob tai ned i n an y la b oratory experi m en ts These .

Wol f R a yet stars are all fou n d i n the neighbourhoo d

-

of the M i lky VVa V

I n addition to these stars M iss M a u ry has a class ,

whose spectra are like the heli u m or O rion stars but ,

i n wh ich so m e of the l i nes are b right i nstead of dark .

The fo llowi n g tab le , taken fro m the Harva rd

A n nals shows how the 6 8 1 b rightest stars between
,

°
the n or th pole an d 3 0 S decli nation are divi ded .

am on g the differen t classes

He li u m 1 1 7
In t e r m e d ia e t 3 1

Ty p e I . Hy d r o g e n 18
5
In t e r m ed a e i t 35
Ty p e II . S o la r 2 18

Ty p e III . Ti ta n i u m O x i d e 55
Ty p e IV . Ca r b o n
4
Ty p e V . W o lf -
R ay e t 4
He l i u m t w i t h s o m e b r i g ht li n e s
s a rs 1
4
Co m p o s i t e s p e c t r a ( p r o b a b ly b i n a r i e s ) 18

The table s hows that a very large percen tage of the ~

s tars are i ncl uded i n the th ree types of hel i u m hydro ,

gen an d solar stars The sa m e result is fo u n d whe n

.

t he classi fic ation is exten ded to i ncl u de fai n ter s t ars .

 A RS
ST AND N E B U L AE 20 1

Neb ulae — The relatio n ship of these various c lasses

of stars to one another can not be u n derstood withou t
reference to an apparently very d i fferent ki n d of bo d y .

With hi s sma ll telescope Halle y fou n d two neb u lous

patches of li ght i n the c o n stel lations of An d rome d a
an d O rion . Herschel with his great telescopes d is
covered tho u san ds o f fai n t neb ulo u s a reas S ome .

were i rreg ular an d d i f fu se others nearly ci r c u lar an d

,

s m all
. He cou ld not say c ertai nly whether they
consisted of fai nt stars crowded together o r were ,

con ti n u ous bo d ies of l u m i no u s fl ui d M ost of the .

nebul ae discove re d by Hers c hel are fai n t an d i n visible

except with large teles c opes so m u c h so that the B on n
,

D urchm usteru n g which co ntai n s m ore than

,

stars visible i n a small tele s cope gives no more than ,

6 4 neb ul ae
.

The key to the nature of these bodies w a s fo u n d by

S i r William H u ggi ns i n 1 8 6 4 Light from the b right
.

est o f the neb ul ae that of O rion was collected by th e

, ,

obj ect glass of a tel es c ope an d a small part of it sen t

,

through the slit of his spe c troscope to be analyzed .

The spe c tr u m was n ot a b right ban d with dark a b s o r p

tion li nes across it l ike the solar spectrum b ut con ,

sisted si mply o f four brigh t l i nes of whi c h the b right,

est was green The neb ula therefore was c ompose d

.
, ,

of glowin g gas of low density O ther neb u l ae wer e.

fo u n d to contai n the same li nes two of which wer e ,

i d en tifie d with hy d rogen an d the brightest of all was

,

at first tho u ght to be due to n itrogen Larger tele .

20 2 A S TR ONO M Y
scopes an d spe c tr o sc opes of greater d i s p e r s i o n ha v e
'

si nce been e m ployed an d show that this is not the

,

case an d the origi n of two of the l i nes is still u h

,

kn own A n u nkn ow n ele m en t n e bu li u m may give

.

rise to them o r possib ly so m e k now n element b ut

, ,

u n der con ditio ns wh i c h have not yet been reproduced

i n ou r lab oratories A n u mber of fai nter li nes have
.

si nce been d rs c 0v e r e d i n the spectra of neb ul ae ,

am o ng Oth ers the yellow li ne due to hel iu m i denti fi ed

by P rof Copelan d The m ost extensive stu dy of
. .

neb ular spectra has been m ade at the Lick O bse rva
tory by P rof Keeler who su cc eeded i n deter m i n i ng
.
,

the velocities with which 1 4 were approach i ng or

rece d i n g from the E arth as well as the exact wave
,

lengt h o f neb ular l i nes of u nkn ow n origi n .

N e b ul ae do n ot al l show a spectru m consisti ng of

bri g ht l i nes The A n dromeda neb ula an d a very
.

n um erous class of sp iral neb ul ae show a conti n uous

spectru m .

O u r knowledge of neb ul ae has been largely i ncreased

by the beau tiful photographs wh i c h have been taken
i n recen t years When a telescope is used with a
.
‘

high magn ify i n g power only a very smal l area of the

sky c an be seen at one ti me Th is is of no c o n s e .

q u e n c e i f we are m easu ri ng a close d ouble star or

exa m i n i n g a planet b ut with exten ded bodie s like
,

some of the neb ul ae i t is a great advan tage to have

the whole obj ect before the eye at one ti me i n a
photograp h Agai n a photograph ic plate wi th a
.
,
 A RS
ST AN D NE B UL / E 2 03

su ffi c iently long exposure receives i mpressions which

make no per c eptible e ffe c t on the reti na an d thus ,

fain t neb u l ae an d the fain t details of b right neb u l ae

are re c or d e d whi c h c o u ld not be observed vis u al ly .

A third a d vantage is that the photograph itself is an

u nb iassed an d permanen t re c or d of the observations .

An E ngl ish amate u r astronome r D r Com mon ,

.
,

succeeded i n 1 8 8 3 i n ob tai n ing a bea u tiful photograph

of the great neb ula i n O rion H e u se d a large r efl e c t
.

i ng teles c ope of hi s own con stru c tion whi c h possesse d,

—
great l ight grasp i ng power owi n g to its large size i n
p roportion to its fo c al lengt h Followi n g h i m D r
’
.
,

R oberts another am ateu r ma d e an extensive series

, ,

of photographs of neb u l ae of which he p ubl ished the

,

most i nteresti ng an d striki ng M any photog raphs

.

have si nce been taken at various observatories either ,

‘

with reflectors o r refractors of s ho r t f o c u s A beau .

tiful series of photographs taken by P rof Keeler .

at the L i c k O b s ervatory i ncl uding all the re m arkable

,

nebul ae visible i n that latit u d e has recently been ,

pub lished .

The neb u la of O rion is perhaps the gran de st obj ect

the telescope reveals to us I ts b ri ghtest part c o vers
.

an area of the sky somewhat less than that covered

by the S u n I t can not be less than 1 0 million ti mes
’
.

the S u n s distan c e from us The distance from one

.

si de of the n eb u la to t he o p posite si de is not less than

1 0 m illion m i llion m i les or compari ng with t he s i ze ‘

, ,

of the solar system 4000 ti mes as large as the dista n c e

,
20
4 A S TR O N O M Y
fro m the S u n to N eptu ne The ten u ity Of the neb ula
.

m ust be of a far h igher order than any vacua with

w hi c h we are acquai n ted otherwise the mass would
,

p rodu c e very great velocities i n the stars near i t .

S o m e of the stars seen wi th it appear to be p hysically

‘

c on n e c ted w i th the n eb u la an d n ot to be merely i n

,

the l i n e of v i sion . Thi s applies especially to fou r

stars form i n g a t r a p e z m m i n its b rightest part I t .

was fou n d by S i r W H u ggi ns that the spectra of

.

these stars contai n a n u mber of bright li nes i dentical

with some i n the n e b u la They m ay have been
.

formed by the c on d ensati on of so m e of the gaseou s

matter The displa c emen t of l i nes i n the spectru m
.

sho ws the distan c e between the neb ula an d t he S u n

to be i n creasi ng at a rate of 1 0 o r 1 1 m iles a secon d .

'

Thi s apparen t movemen t is nearly all d u e to th e

m o v emen t of the S u n 1 n the opposite di re c tion .

There are i n dications of di ffe ren t velo c i ties i n di fferent

p arts of t he n eb ula b u t these a r e not gr eater than
,

one o r two m iles a secon d Changes in the lu m i n

.

o s i t y of parts have bee n suspected b ut have not been

,

certai nly est a bl ished The sou rce of this l u m i n osity

.

( which is excessively sm all c ompared with that of the

S u n ) is u nexplai ned b ut there is n o reason to sup
,

pos e that the neb ula i s a t a high temperature D ia .

gram LXXX fro m a photograp h taken at Greenwi c h

,

wit h a 3 0 i n c h refle c tor an d an exposu re of 2 h 1 5 m

-
. .
,

shows the general appearan c e of the neb ula .

The forms of neb u l ae have been m u c h better u n der

 ST A RS AN D N E B U L AE 20
5

stoo d si n c e photographs have been obtai ne d S o m e .

are wholly i rreg u lar an d d i ff u se l ike that of O rion

, ,

b u t s everal are ri n g forme d an d a very large n u mber

-

are spi ral Prof Keeler esti mate d t hat i n the whole
. .

sky there were neb u l ae of spiral form withi n

D i g LXXX — O i
a . . r o n N eb u l a .

—
easy re a c h of the light grasp i n g powers of the refl ec t

i ng teles c ope of the Li c k O bservatory .

Altho u gh the p rocess is not f u lly u n d erstood it ,

seems p robable that stars have been evolve d from

neb u l ae The relationship of the stars i n the O rion
.

neb u la to the neb u la itself an d the forms of sp i ral

neb u l ae confirm the view that the long c onti n u e d -

a c tion of gravitation c onverts the neb u l ae i nto stars

206 A S TR ONO M Y
an d stell ar systems The b r ight l i ne spe c tra of neb ul ae
.

have therefore been taken as a starti ng poi n t i n clas -

s i f y i n g the stars accordi ng to thei r o rder o f develop

m ent C la s s i fi cations have been p roposed by H u ggi n s

.
,

Vo gel Lockye r an d M c C le a n wh i c h di ffer in some

, , ,
’
p a r t i c u la r s o,
w i n
g to the di f fi cu lty of i n te rp reti n g
spectra The foll o wi ng is gi ven by P rof Hale as the
. .

one correspon di ng m ost cl osely with cu rrent views

N e b u l ae .

He l i u m s t a r s .

Hy d r o g e n s t a r s .

S o la r s ta rs .

Ti t an i u m o xi d e a n d car b t
o n s a rs .

D a rk s tars .

The VVo lf R ayet

-
stars are p robably i n an e a r lv

stage of develop m en t .

We suppose then that a star begi ns as a neb u lous

, ,

m ass This con denses an d for m s hel i u m stars like

.
,

th o se fou n d i n the cen tre of the O rion neb u la A t .

fi rst on ly hel i u m an d hydrogen are seen i n the spectra ,

but gradually l i nes of oxygen n itrogen magnesi u m , ,

an d sil icon are fou n d N ext we co m e to stars l ike .

,

S i ri us i n wh i c h the heli u m l i nes are not seen b ut

, ,

where there a re b road hy d rogen li nes suppos ed to be ,

characteristic of very extensive at m ospheres as well as ,

fi ne m etall ic l i n es The st u d y of variable stars shows

.

that hydrogen stars are of m uch less den sity than the
S un . I t is p robab le that s o far the stars have been
getti n g hotter for m ore heat is obtai ned by c o n t r ac
,
 A RS
ST AN D N E B UL E / 29
7

tion than IS lost b y ra d iation as long as a star re m ai n s

,

gaseo u s After the hy d rogen stars the or d er p ro

.
,

c ee d s thro u gh stars like Pro c yon to Capella an d

Ar c t u rus which rese m ble the S u n The spectra of
,
.

these yellow stars is marked by the n umber of metalli c

li nes the disappeara nce of all b ut the first fi ve of the
,

broad hydrogen l i nes an d the p rom i nen c e o f two

,

c al c i u m l i nes i n the violet Fu rther an absorb i n g

.
,

atmosphere l ike the d u sky vei l ro u n d the S u n cuts

, ,

o ff a large amo u nt of the violet an d bl u e light N ext .

we c ome to the re d stars i n w hich the absorb i ng

,

at m osphere has grown more i ntense an d c u ts o ff still

more of the bl u e light The presence of c ompo u n d s
.

with fl uted spe c tra shows that these stars are of lower
an d are d e c li n i ng
'

t e m p e r a t u r e t ha n t he s 01ar stars
‘

to the stage of dark stars There are no d o u bt d if

.

f e r e n c e s i n the evol u tion of d i fferent stars A large .

star wil l p robably be longer i n goi ng thro u gh its

stages than a small one O f the length of ti me o c c u
.

pie d we have no i d ea .
 C H A PTE R X
D O U BLE S TAR S AN D L
C US T ER S
S IR W ILLI A M H E R S CHE L is generally spoken of as

hi s motto
“
the fou n de r of S i dereal Astronomy H e took for
Whatever sh i ne s shoul d be observed ”
.

an d con structed telescopes far su rpassi n g i n light

graspi n g an d penetrati n g power those of h is p re
d e c e s s o r s wi th w hich he exec u ted a m ost thorough
,

an d m i n ute exploration of the sky Herschel was i n .

,

a d d itio n a ph il osopher who i nterpreted what he saw

,

with t he con sisten t ai m of obtai n i n g as co m pletely

l

as possible a rational descri ption of the sidereal u n i

verse b ut it is to his persistence an d en terprise as an
,

e xp lO r e r of the skies that the discovery of double stars

f

i s due .

Wh ile maki ng an exam i nation of the sky for the

p u rpose of fi ndi ng some stars of meas urable parallax ,

he discovered that many stars were do u ble an d i n ,

1 7 8 2 p resented to the R oyal S ociety a catalogue of 2 6 9

double stars H e s u pposed at the ti me that these

.

w ere on ly o ptically d oub le that is were nearly i n the

, ,

same l i ne as seen from the E arth H is i ntention was .

doubtless to see if i n any cases a movemen t of the

b righter star relative to the fai n ter such as would ,

arise fro m thei r di fferent distances , could be discer n e d

208
 D O UBL E ST A RS AN D CL U S T ER S 2 09

i n the c o u rse of the year He was i n fa c t seeki n g

.
, ,

to determ i ne the parallax of a star i n the w a y which

,

was successfully carried out by B essel i n 1 8 3 1 a n d ,

which is described i n Chapter VI I I .

The o bservation of a double star will be u n d erstoo d

fro m D iagram LXXX I I f A an d B are the two stars the
.
1

distance A B b e t w e e n them
is m easured an d also the
,

angle B A N between the

,

li ne j oi n i ng the stars an d
the meridian th rou g h the
star A B y 1 8 0 3 Herschel
.

ha d s u fficient evi d en c e that

so me of the stars he ha d
observed were not d o u b le
D i g LXXXI a
i n appearance only but
. .

were real bi nary co m b i nations of two stars hel d ,

together by the bon d of m utual attraction The .

b right star Castor fi rst convi nced Herschel of the

existence of double stars with orb ital motion about
one another I n the space of 2 2 years the d i r ection of
.

the l i ne j oi n i ng the stars had changed by more than

( Castor is easily seen to be do u ble wi th a s m all
telescope ; the distance between these two stars is
a b o ut b ot h are b right one bei ng of mag 2 7 an d
, .

the other He rschel concluded that the stars

revolve round one another i n 3 42 years S i milarly .

he fou n d for y Leon is a period of 1 2 00 years for 8 ,

S e rpe ntis 3 7 5 years for e B o Ot i s

,
an d f o r y
2 io A S TR ON OM Y
Vi rgi n is 70 8 years He also fo u n d that e Lyr ae is a
’
.

d o ub le double star Herschel s work was conti nue d

.

by his son an d by S i r J oh n S outh bu t m ost of all by

, ,

Wi lhel m S truve at D orpat S truve made meas ures .

of all stars he kn e w to b e double an d i n a ddition ,

made a m in ut e re view of the heaven s from the n o rth

°
pole to 1 5 south of t he equator H e exam i ned .

stars an d p rod u ced a great catalogu e con

’
,

tai n i n g 2 6 40 doubl e st a rs S i nce S truve s ti me the

.

n u mber of astrono m ers who have given attention to

the observatio n of do uble stars is consi derable an d ,

has i ncl u ded so m e o f exceptionally keen eyesi ght

'

With the assistance of larger telescopes the scruti ny

of the stars has been p ushed fu rther so that very fai n t ,

co m pan ions to b right stars have been dis c overed a nd ,

many which with small telescopes appe ar to be si ngle ,

have been resolved i nto very close double stars .

E specially consp icuous is the work of Prof B u rn ha m .

at various observatories i n the U n ited S tates an d of ,

his succe ssors P rofs H u ssey an d Aitken at the Li c k

,
.
,

O bservatory .

D u ri ng the ti me they have been u n der ob servation ,

some do u ble stars have m ade a complete revolution

about one another an d In m any cas es s u ffici e n t move
,

m en t ha s taken place for an accurate deter m i nati o n

of the period or ti me of revol u tion The shortest .

period as yet fou n d is about 5% years There ar e a .

c onsi derable n u mber whose peri o ds are between 2 0 an d

5 0 years,
an d a great many whose perio d s are h u n d re d s
 D O UB L E A RS
ST AN D CL U S T ER S 2 1 1

'

of years The orb it of B o ci t i s shown i n D iagr a m

.
,

LXXX I I an d taken from a work by M r T Lewis 511 . .

23 0 0 11 :

‘ If l
l

D i g LXXXII
a . .

the d o u ble stars observe d by W S truve may be c on

.
,

S i d e r e d as that of a typi c al d ouble star whose com p o

n en t s a re fai rly wi d ely separate d The b righter star of
.

p 2
212 AS TR ONO M Y

the pai r a t A i s of m agn itu de 4 7 a n d of yellow colou r ;

'
'
,

the compan i on IS of magn itude 6 6 an d is p u rple ,

.

The relative positions of the stars as seen by Herschel

i n 1 78 0 an d 1 8 0 2 by S truve i n 1 8 2 2 an d subsequent
, ,

observers a re i n dicated b y d o t s These dots al l lie on

,
.

an ell ipse b u t i t is not an el lipse with A as focus

, ,

for we see no t the true orb i t of the star abou t its

pri m ary b ut the proj ected orbi t o n a pl ane p e r p e n
,

d i c u la r to the l i n e j oi n i ng the E arth an d the star .

The true orb i t m ay be deter m i ned fro m the app aren t

"

one by calculation I n the case of f B o o t i s /t he co m

.

p le t e revol utio n wil l be accompl ished i n abo ut 1 37

f

years The length of the m aj or axis of the apparent

.

orb it i s an d of the m i nor axis an d cal ?

culation shows that the m aj or axis of the true orb i t is

°
”
1 0 6 6 ; the m i nor axis an d that the true orb it
s

is i n c l i ned at an angle of about 50 to the apparen t ° ‘

orbi t .

When the distance of a double star fro m the E arth

is known it is possible to determ i ne the actual d is
,

tance between the stars Take for exam ple the b right
.
, ,

star S i ri us wh ich has a very fai n t com pan ion The

,
.

para llax of S i ri us is know n to be a n d the se m i

m aj or axis of the orb i t of the co m pan ion arou n d S i rius

is app roxi m ately Constru c t a d iagr am ( D ia
gra m LXXX I I I ) i n Which G stan ds for the S u n an d
S for S i ri us an d let G S denote the distan ce of the
,

S u n fro m S iri us D raw G E perpen dicular to G S

’
.
,

an d make G E equal to the E arth s distance fro m the

 D O UB L E STA RS AN D ER S
CL U S T 2 1
3

S un on this scale .
’
S i milarly let S S denote the sem i
maj or axi s of the orbit of the compan ion abou t S i ri u s
on the same scale Then .

D i g Lxxx 1 1 1
a . .

the an g l e ESG p a ra llax o f S iri u s

an d t he an gl e SGS
’ s emi m ajor o f orb i t 8 0

’
-

F ro m which it follows that SS G E: 8 0

or that the se m i maj or axis of the orb it is

’
-

is , or 22

times the E arth s distance from the Thus the S un .

l i near d i mensions of the orb it of the fai n t c ompan ion

arou nd S i rius are known .

Fu rther the c ombi ned mass of the b right star an d

,

its c ompan ion c an be compare d with that of the S u n .

The attra c tion of t he S u n causes the E arth to make

its revolution In one year The compan ion of S irius
.

takes 50 years to go rou n d S iri us an d its mean dis ,

tan c e from S i ri us i s 2 2 ti mes that of the Earth fro m

the S u n As we have seen i n Chapter I I I ( p
. .

we c an from these d a ta fi n d the s u m of the masses of

S i ri u s and its co m pan ion Callin g them m an d m
.
’ ,
2 1
4 A S TR ON OM Y
an d that of the S un M ,
we have the eq u ation
3 2
m + m

) (a
22 I

11 a ,
or the su m of the masses is

43 ti mes t hat of the S u n .

I n the case of S i ri us an d a n u mber of other double

stars i t is possib le to compare the masses of the
pri mary star an d of its c ompan ion Th is however .
, ,

re q ui res other observation s than the relative move

m e n ts of c om pan ion an d p ri mary a fforded by d ouble
star measu re m ents I n these measu res the compan ion
.

is con si dered as describ i ng an ellipse abou t its pri m

ary whereas both the p ri m ary star an d c ompan ion are
,

describ i n g ell ipses abou t thei r c om mon c entre of

gravity B efore the com pan ion of S i ri u s was d is
.

c overed i t was known to exist because S i ri us was seen ,

to have a slightly i rregular move m en t i n the sky I n .

additio n to its proper motion i n a straight l i ne it w a s ,

se e n to be describ i ng a s m all ellipse i n 50 years I n .

1 8 44 B essel was convi nced that the explanation of this

elliptic m ovemen t of S i ri us was to be attributed to an

i nvisible b u t massive co m pan ion I n 1 8 6 2 M r Alva n .
.

G Clark whi le testi n g an obj ect glass of 1 8 i nches

.
,

aperture by exam i n i n g the appearan c e of S i rius with

it discovered th is fai nt compan ion I t was on ly of
,
.

the tenth magn itude an d th u s ti mes fai nte r

,

than S i ri us an d at the ti me of discovery was 1 0 ”

,

distant When the meri dian observations which ha d

.

i n dicated the movemen t of S i ri us abou t its centre of

gravity were i nvestigate d i n 1 8 6 4 by D r Auwers it .
,
 D O UB L E A RS
ST AN D CL U S TER S 2 1
5

was fo u n d that the b right star d escribe d an ellipse

whose sem i maj or axis was
-
Th u s i n D i a g r a m .
‘

L XXXIV w he r e S
is S iri u s S the
,

’
D i g Lxxx 1v
_
,
-

a
fai n t c ompan ion
. .

an d G the c entre of gravity S G

,

an d S S ’
an d therefore S G ’ ,

The mass of the

fai nt c ompan ion IS therefore grea ter than that of
S i ri u s i n the p roportion of to or abo u t
2 % to 1 . Taki n g the total m ass to be 43 ti mes that of
the S u n we see that S i ri u s itself is abo u t 1 2 times the
,

mass of the S u n an d the d ark al most i nvisible com

, , ,

pan ion is rather more than 3 ti mes I n other c ases .

where i t has been possible to c ompare the b right an d

fai nt c omponen ts of a d o u ble star the fai nt c omponen t ,

has u sually been fou n d to be the more m assive .

Sp ect r o s00p i c Bi n ar i e s — S iri u s an d P ro c yon were

shown to have i nvisible compan ions from thei r vari
able motion o n the fa c e of the sky I n a large n u mber of .

c ases stars which are apparen tly sin gle have been shown
to be d o u ble by variations d isclose d by the spe c tro
s c ope ln the velo c ity of the star to or from the E arth .

Let u s c onsi d er the simplest c ase S u ppose there are .

two stars S an d S ( D iagram LXXXV ) whi c h are

, ,

d es c ribi ng c i r c les ab o u t t he i r c e n t r e of gravity G an d , ,

s u ppose the E arth to be i n the same plane as thei r

orb it i n the d i re c tion G E b u t so far away that the
,

stars ap pear si ngle i n the largest teles c ope When .

the star S is at S S S S the c ompan ion will be

1 , 2, 3 , 4,
2 1 6 A S TR ONO M Y
at S 8 S 1 , 2,
so that the l i ne S S always passes
3 ,
S
4,

through G Fu rther for S i mpl icity let us s u pp o se

.
, ,

that G is at rest relative to

the E arth When the st ar .

S is at S it i s m ovi n g 1

away fro m the E arth an d ,

the l i nes of its spectru m

w ill be sh ifted fro m thei r
norm al position towards the
red en d of the spectru m ,

an d fro m the a m ou n t o f this

sh ift the veloci ty o f S can
be deter m i ned At the sa m e .

ti m e the star S is at S 1 ,

D i g LXXX V
a .
an d m ovi
.
n g towards the
E arth the l i nes of its spec
,

tru m wil l be sh ifted towards the viole t from thei r

n or m al positions by an am ou n t which m easu res the
velo city of S When S is at S an d S is at S the con
.
3 , 3

diti o ns will be reversed At the i n ter mediate poi n ts

.

when S is at S or S an d S at S Or S the stars

2 4, 2 4,

have no velocity to or from the E arth an d t he l i nes ,

i n thei r spectra will n ot be displaced from thei r nor m al

posit i ons .

When the spectru m of a b 1 n a ry star wh ich is seen

si ngle i n the telescope IS photographed the result is ,

the sa m e as i f the spectra of two separate stars

had been photographed on the same plate I t m ay .

happen that S is a b ri ght star an d S a very fai n t one ,

 D O U BL E A RS
ST AN D ER S
CL U S T 2 1
7

i n whi c h c ase the spe c tr u m of S will not b e recorde d .

Agai n i t is possible that S an d S may be two star s

,

o f nearly equal magnitude an d si m ilar spectra i n ,

which case owi n g to the sh ift of the li nes due to the

,

m oti o n of the stars li nes i n the spectra will sometimes

,

appear doubled A thi rd possib il ity is that S may be a

.

star givi ng an en ti rely d i ff erent spectrum from S i n ,

which case two separate spectra are superposed B ut

'
.

i n a ll cases photographs of the spectrum of a bi nary

star taken when the components are In di ff eren t rela
,

tive positions will show displace m en ts of the li nes

‘

due to the varyi n g velocities of the stars i n the d i re c

tion of the Earth .

A large n u mber of stars have proved to be spec

t r o s c o p i c b i naries S o m e have been discovered fro m
.

the c omposit e ch aracter of thei r spectra which ,

l o oked l ike the s pectra of stars of two d i fferent types

on the same photograph O thers have been dis
.

c overe d i n the co u rse of meas u rements of the positions

of l i n es i n spe c tra made with the i ntention of d eter
m i n i n g the velo c ity o f the star to o r f rom the Earth .

The spe c tra obtained on di fferen t da ys have given

di fferent results an d subseq u ent photographs have
,

shown the c hanges to be regular an d s u ch as c an be ,

a c cou nte d for by s u pposi n g the stars to be bi naries .

The spe c tr u m of M izar ( C U rs ae M aj oris ) a b right

’

star of the G reat B ear was foun d by M iss M aury to

,

have the K li ne ( due to calci u m ) double on two photo

graphs taken at Harvar d i n 1 8 8 7 an d 1 8 8 9 but ,
2 1 8 A S TR ONO M Y
si ngl e o n other photographs Exam i nation o f 7 2 .

photo g raphs showed that the c han ges i n t he spe ctru m

oc c u r at regula r i ntervals an d were expl i c ab le if
,

M izar con sists of t w o stars wh ich revolve rou n d one

another i n 1 0 4 days Furt her t he relative velo city
.
,

of the two s tars Wa s fou n d to be about 1 00 m i les per

s econ d Assum i n g the m to be of equal m a ss and
.
,

that the plane i n whi c h they m ove passes through

the E arth the two compone nts are 1 40 m illion m iles
,

apart an d the i r comb i ned m ass is 40 ti mes that o f

,
.

the S u n .

I n 1 8 9 0 Vogel fou nd that S pi c a was a Spe c troscopic

b i nary I n th is c ase the star c onsists of the b right
.

star w e s e e an d a dull b u t massive co m pan ion The

’

displ acemen ts of the l i nes i n its spectru m from thei r

nor m al positions are comple tely explai ned o n the
assu mption that S pica revolves abo u t i ts c ompan ion
i n 4 days app roxi mately with a velo c i ty of 57 m iles ‘

a secon d if the plane of the orb it passes t h rough the

E arth I f the orb it is i ncl i ned to the di rection j o rn i n g
.

the E arth an d st a r as i t is certai n to be to a greater or

,

less exte nt the velocity w ill be greate r than 57 m iles a

,

s e con d a s the spe c tros c ope only appreciates that part

’
,

of a star s velocity wh ich is di re c ted to or from it .

A nother i nteresti n g spe c tros c opic b i nary is Capella .

I n 1 90 0 P rof Campbell at the Li c k O bservatory an d

.
,

P rof N ewal l at Camb ri dge i n depen den tly fou n d that

.
,

Capella con sists of two stars o ne l i ke the S u n i n ,

t y p e of spectru m an d the other l ike Procyon These

,
.
 D O UB L E A RS
ST AN D CL U S T ER S 2 1
9

two stars revolve about one another i n a period of

10
4 d ays .

The following example a Cari n ae d iscovered by , ,

M r W r ight i n t he c ou rse of a Li c k O bservatory ex

.

p e d i t i o n to the so u thern hem isphere is a fai rly typ ical ,

case Fro rn photographs of the sp e ctr u m of this star

.

on 2 5 n ights the followi ng velo c ities were fou n d i n

kilometers per se c ( 1 k m =
§ m ile ) . .
e

D a te . Ve l . D a te . Ve l.

1
9 4
0 Fe b .
57 1
9 0 7 Fe b .

1
9 0
5 J an . 1
9
Fe b . ro
°

o Mar .
4 3
1

Fe b .
46 16 7

M ar . 2 57

1 06
9 M a r .
3
°

1
9 7 0
J an

3 1 1 40 8
28 8
444
18 6 Ap r .

3 1 2 M ay 35 2

Fe b .
3 1 8
1 6 2

F rom these fig u res the period d uri n g whi c h thes e

fl u c t u ations o c c u r is fo u n d to be 6 7 44 days ; the velo
c ity o f the centre of gravity of the system away from
t he S u n is 2 3 3 km per se c ; an d the velo c ity of. .

the bright c omponen t of the star varies from o to

43 km p e r
. se c .

I n the last few y ears a very large n u mber of spec

t r o s c o p i c b i nar i es have b een d is c overe d especially ,

with the large teles c opes of the Li c k an d Y erkes

O bservatories with thei r spect r oscopes of great r e
,
220 A S TR ONO M Y
solvi n g powers I n 1 8 98 th i rteen spectroscop ic b i
.

naries were known The n u mber discovered to the

.

en d of 1 90 5 was 1 40 an d si nce that date the n u m ber

,

has been nearly doub led P rof Ca m pbell fou n d one

. .

star i n seven of those s tu died at the Lick O bservato ry

to be a spectroscop ic b i nary The larger proportio n .

of o ne i n th ree was fou n d by P rof Frost at the Y erkes .

O bservatory i n the p a r t i c u la r c las s of stars he was

‘

stu dyi n g I n m ost cases t he spectru m of on ly one

.

co m ponent is visible so that these b i n ary stars l ike

,

S i ri u s co nsist Of a b right sta r w ith a dull b ut m assive

compan ion .

Cl u st er s . I t has frequently happened i n the course

of double star observation s that one of the two com
p o n en t s has I tsel f been fou n d to be double For .

examp le 7 A n dromeda was fou n d by Herschel to

,

consist of two stars of m agn itu des 2 5 an d about

10
” distant O tto S truve fou n d that the fai nte r com
.

ponent when exa m i ned with a very large telescope

, ,
“
was i tself a very close double star I n this way w e .

have beco m e acquai nted with systems consisti n g of

3 o r 4 stars .B ut the sky con tai ns groups of stars
on a m uch gran der scale The Pleiades are one of .

the most fam il iar exa m ples I n th is collectio n of .

stars six are b righ t enough to be seen by most

people w ith the n aked eye an d six or seven more ,

are visib le to persons of specially keen sight while ,

a great many m ore are shown by an opera glass o r

s m all teles c ope I t is fou n d that the b ri ghter stars
.
 D O UB L E ST A RS AN D CL U S T ER S 22 1

a m ong the Pleiades an d m any of the fai nter ones

, ,

”
have the s ame p roper motion of 7 a cent u ry The y .

therefore form a group of stars movi n g together i n

space an d are not a m ere opti c al gro u p be c a u se they
,

happen to lie nearly i n l i ne as seen from the E arth .

The b righter stars have si m ilar spe c tra an d the whole ,

group is fo u n d by photographs taken wi th long

exposures to be i nvolved i n a fai nt neb u la
’
.

I n S i r J oh n H ers c hel s catalogue of n eb u l ae i n 1 8 6 4

he i ncl u des 1 1 0 glob ular cl u sters of stars I n these .

cl u sters the stars are

seen m uch nearer to
gether than i n the
Pleia d es . With a
smal l telescope they
can not always b e
separate d an d the
,

c l uster m ight be
taken for a neb u la ;
but with a larger
telescope they are
resolved i nto separ
ate stars D iagram
.

LXXXVI from a ,

photograph with the

D i g LXX X VI —
a Cl t f St us er o ar s
great refractor of the
. . .

Y erkes O bservatory taken by P rof R it c hey shows

, .
,

the appearan c e of the c l uster i n Pegas u s The stars .

a re small an d con c entrated i n the centre The n u m.

222 A S TR ONO M Y
ber of stars i n some of these cl usters have been
c ou nted I n a photograph of the southern cluster
.

rou n d w Ce n t a u r i P rof B ailey fo u n d more than 50 00

,
.

stars i n a smal l area oc c upyi ng ab ou t as m u c h spa c e

as the S u n o r M o on i n the sky Till we know the .

distance of the c l uster it i s i m possible to sa y how far

the stars i n it are apart .

A cu rious feature abou t the glob u lar clusters of

stars is the large percentage of short per i od variables
( see Chapter X I ) Thus i n.the cl uster illustrate d
above ou t o f 50 0 stars 9 1 are variable .

I n 1 90 8 P rof B oss poi nted o u t that abo u t 40 b righ t

.

stars i n an d near the constellation Tau rus form a

small glob ula rc luster which is s u ffic i e ntly near for us
,

to see i nsi de so to speak an d learn its di mension s

, ,
.

I nv es tigations of p roper m otions p rove that these 40

b right stars of magn itu des 4 0 to 6 5 are movi n g
, ,

tow ards one p oi n t i n the sky D iagram LXXXVI I .

show s the di rectio n of motion the length of t he ,

arrows in d i cati ng the ang u lar distance travelled i n

years Apparen t motio n towards one poi n t
.

In the sky results from parallel ism i n the a ctual

paths of the stars The amou nt of proper motion
.
,

that is p roj ecte d ang u lar motion o n the face of the

,

sky is known for each star an d for three of the m

, ,

the ve locity i n the l i ne of sight is a lso known These .

facts are su fficien t to show that these 40 stars

are all movin g i n parallel di rections towards a
°
poi n t R A 6 b 52 m ; Dec + 7 w ith a veloci ty of
. . .
 D O UBL E ST A RS AN D ER S
CL U S T 22
3

28% m iles a se c on d an d to d eterm

,
i ne the d istan c e
of each star fr o m the Earth The stars for m a .
“

cluster of roughly glob u lar shape The centre of .

7
‘
4- 1

'
20 12 4 56 f 8 40 32
.
5

D i g LXXX VII
a . .

t he c l u ster has a parallax of abo u t 0 0 2 5 c orrespon d

i ng to a d istan c e of abo u t 8 m ill ion ti mes the S u n s’
d istance The d istan c e of o u tlyi ng stars i n the c l u ster
.

from one anoth er is abo u t 2 m ill ion times this d is

tan c e so that the c l u ster is pa c ke d about as loosely
,

a s the S u n an d its nearest stellar neighbo u rs The .

c l u ster was nearest to the S u n abo u t years

ago when it was at half its presen t distan c e It is
, .

m ovi n g rapi d ly a w ay an d will gra d u ally ass u me

,

the more c ompa c t appearance of a glob u lar c l u ster

’
which i n 6 5 million years will be only 2 0 i n d iameter
,

an d c onsist of stars of 9t h to 1 2 th magnitu d e B e .

si d es these 40 stars 50 fai nter stars of magn it u d e s

,
224 A S TR ONO M Y
6 1to 7 5 probably belon g to the cluster an d doubt
°

less some still fai n ter o nes will be discovered To

’
.

con fi rm P rof B oss s results the veloci ties i n the

.
,

li ne Of sight of more stars i n the cl uster are bei ng

deter m i ned at the Y erkes Observatory The curious
’
.

fact has appeared that t he stars are of S ecchi s fi rst

type ( hydrogen ) an d that 8 out of the 1 4 exa m i ned
have p roved to be spectroscopic b i naries .
 C H APTE R XI
V AR I A BLE S T AR S AN D N E W S TAR S
Var i able St ar s — The d iscovery was ma d e i n 1 59 6
by Fab rici u s that the star Ceti varies i n brightnes s
0 .

S o m et i mes this star is easily visible to the naked eye ,

but at other ti mes i t is as fai nt as the eighth or n i nth

magn itude an d can only be seen with a teles c ope
,
.

O ther variable stars were grad u ally d iscovered an d ,

i n 1 8 44 Argelan der p ubl ished a catalog u e givi ng

partic u lars of the 1 8 stars w hich were then known to be
variab le an d u rged t he i mportan c e of st u d yi ng these
bodies i n d etail A great deal of attention has been
.

given to variables si nce this d ate an d i n recent ti mes ,

the i nfor m ation acq u i red by st u dyi ng the variation of

their l ight has bee n supplemente d by that a ff or d ed by
the spect roscope The n umber of stars known t o be
.

variable has i n c reased greatly an d i n 1 90 7 Prof , .

Pickeri ng of Harvard p ublishe d a catalog u e of 3 748

of these bodies He divi des variable stars i nto fi ve
.

classes an d though the d isti nction between them is

,

not absolute this s u bdivision is ren d ere d ne c essary

,

by the well marke d d i fferen c es between them

-

E c l i p si ng St ar s —
. Algol or B Pe r se i is the best known
type of this c lass I ts c hanges of brightness are
.

Q 2 25
226 A S TR ON O M Y
regular an d are repeated after a period of 2 days 2 0
hou rs 49 m i n utes .

Fo r 2 5 days the b rightness of the star re m ai n s

— 1

constan t ( 2 3 i n 4% hou rs it fal ls to m ag

an d i n the nex t 4%
hou rs retu rn s to 2 3
mag . When at its
fai ntest Algol shi nes
Wi th on ly one thi rd of
D i g LXXX VIII a . .

Li ght h ng f Alg l c a es o o
‘

the light it has i n i ts

b rightest phase These variations i n magn itude are
.
‘

show n graphically i n D iagra m LX XXV I I I fro m ,

which the m agn itude at any ti m e between J an uary

3 d.
3 h an
. d J a n uary 5 d 2 5 h 1 9 1 0.m a.
y be
,
i nferred , .

D i g LXXX IX
a . . Di ga . XC .

G oodricke ,who di s covered the law of change i n the

brightness of Algol s u ggested that the star possesses
,

a dark compan ion wh ich periodically i nte rvenes b e

,

tween Algol an d the E arth an d cuts o ff a part of t he

l ight D iagrams LXXX I X an d XC illustrate exactly
.

how this occu rs I n D iagra m LXXX I X the observer

.
 VA R IA B L E ST A RS AN D NE W A RS
ST 22 7

is nearly i n the plan e of the orb ital motion of the two

stars as is really the case while D iagram XC shows
, ,

the plan of the orb it A is t he b r i g ht star ; B o D

‘

.
, , ,

E F are the d ark star i n di fferen t positions When

, ,
.

the dark star i s at B C or D part of the light from ,

A is i ntercepted .

I n 1 8 8 9 Prof Vogel exa m i ned Algol spectroscopic

.

ally an d completely established the fact that the varia

,

tion of light is ca u se d by a dark ecl ipsi ng satellit e .

I f the b right star Algol has a dark co m pan i on they

will revolve abo u t their c om mon c entre of gravity .

After the dark star has passe d i n fron t it will be

movi ng away from the E arth an d the b right star
towards the Earth an d the maxim u m velocity will be
, ,

if the orbit is ci rcular one q u arter of the enti re perio d

,

of revol u tion or 1 7 ho u rs after the ep o chs of

,

m i ni m u m brightness S i m i larly the maxim u m velo

.

city of the b right star from the E arth shoul d occur

17 hours b efore the epo c hs of m i n i m u m bright
ness The spectroscope confi rmed these su rm ises
.
,

an d s ho w e d t ha t 1 7 hours before m i d eclipse Al g ol

.
-

is m ovi ng towards the S u n with a velocity of 3 9

kilometres per se c on d an d 1 7 hours after m i d eclipse
,
-

from the S u n with velocity 47 kilo m etres per secon d .

These fi g u res show that Algol and its c ompan ion are
47 3 9
movi ng from the S un with a vel o city of
; 0r 4

kilo m etres per se c on d an d the velo c ity of Algol i n

, i ts

o rbit is
2
or 43 ki lome t res per secon d an d as
, ,
228 A S TR ONO M Y
'

we have seen the ti me of describ i ng t he o r b i t is 2 days

,

2 0 hou rs 49 m i n u tes .

F ro m the loss of l ight experienced at m i d e c l ipse -

the ratio of the diameters of the b right an d dark stars

m ay be i nferred F rom the ratio of the period of t he
.

ecl ipse to the period of revol uti on the su m of the ,

radi i of the stars c an be compared w i th the distance

between thei r centres . S i n c e t e b rig t “star is m ovi ng
h h 1

43 kilometres or 2 8 m iles a secon d an d takes 2 d ays

2 0 ho u rs 49 m i n utes or nearly , se c on ds to ,

c omplete i ts ci rcle about the centre of grav i ty of the

tw o bodies the ra d ius of th is ci rcle wil l be rather more
,

than o ne m illion m iles I t is ne c essary n ew to m ake

.

some ass u mpti o n about the relative masses of these

two s tars an d Vogel taki n g them to be of equal
, ,

densi ty co ncl u des that Algol is one m i ll ion m iles i n

,

dia m et er or ti mes the size of the S u n the com ,

pa n i on m iles or about the size of the S u n an d

, ,

that the distan c e between the centres is m iles .

B etween 3 0 an d 40 variable star s rese m ble Algol ‘

The period of variation is generally short le s s than ,

5 or 6 days an d the ti me of ecl ipse lasts for so m e

,

hours The b right and dark star are very close together
.

i n c omparison with thei r diameters as would nat u rally ,

be expe c ted fo r otherwise the chan c e of the Earth

,

bei ng near enough to the plane of the orbit to witness

e c l ipses would be very s m all A re m arkable featu re
.

i n all these stars is thei r small mean density I n the .

c ase of Algol for example th is is n ot m ore than a

, ,

of the density of water .

 V A R IA BL E ST A RS AN D NE W ST A RS 2 29

Sho r t p er i o d
-
Var i ablesThe char a cteristic of the
.

variab les whose periodic changes of b rilliancy can be

explai ned by the revolution of a b right an d dark star
aro u n d one another is the mai ntenance of the m axi
m u m b right ness f o r a large part of the whole period .

The stars belongi ng to the se c on d class change thei r

light c ontin uo u sl y S ometi mes i n a complete perio d
.

there ar e two maxi ma an d two m i n i ma someti mes ,

only one The changes of b rightness generally occ u r

.

i n a space of less than 1 0 d ays an d very rarely take

mo re than one m onth At least 6 0 or 70 variables a re
.

known to belon g to this c lass The three stars B Lyr a

.
,

8 Cephei an d CGem i nor u m m ay be taken as exa m ples .

8 Lyr ae go e s thro u gh its changes i n 1 2 9 d ays havi ng

, ,

two maxi ma of magnitu d e 3 4 a p ri mary m i n i m u m of

,

magn it u de 42 an d a se c on d ary one of magn itu d e 3 9

, .

I ts fo u r phases of i ncreasing an d decreasi ng b right

ness are a p p r o x rm a t e ly equal The variability of the
.

star has been known si nce 1 78 4 The s pe ctr u m .

is d i ffi c ult to i nterpret
owi n g to the j u xta po si -

tion of b ri ght an d d ark

lines an d also on a c cou nt
of its variab il ity The .

c hanges whi c h the spec D i g XCI a . .

n ight h g f 3 Ly m
tr u m u n d ergoes have the C an es O e

same perio d as the light variation S ome of these

-
.

c han ges are explicable on the hypothe s is tha t

two stars are revolvi ng rou n d eac h other From .

a very elaborate i nvestigation of the variation of

2
3 0 A S TR ONO M Y
m agn itu de an d changes i n the posi tion of certai n l i nes
i n the spectru m observed by Prof B e lo p o ls k y an d S i r .

N L o ckyer P rof M yers of I n diana has deduced that

.
,
.

the star c o nsists of two large gaseous bodies very near

together whi c h revolve ro u n d o n e another They a re .

not quite spherical b ut owi n g to m utual gravitation

are spheroi d al The s m aller is 2 5 ti m es as b right
.
1

as the large r an d half as m assive The distance .

between thei r centres is 50 m i ll ion m iles an d the orb it ,

they describe ab out one an 0t her i s nearly ci rcular .

As the E ar t h i s nearly i n the plane of the orb i t i n ,

the cou rse of a revolution fi rst one body an d then

the othe r is partly h i dden an d the d i in e n Si o n s given
are such as w i ll a c c o u n t n u merically for the changes
‘

of b rightness The spectroscope shows the stars to

’
.

be gas e ous b ut Prof M yers fi gu res give t he astou n d

, .

’
i n g res u lt that the m ean den si ty of the s y s t e m i s a little
less than that of ai r .

6 Cephei — The l ight c u rve of B Cephei is ve ry

typi c al of short period -

variables The period .

of the light changes is 5

days 8 hou rs 47 m i n utes
4 0 secon d s b ut the time ,

taken for the b rightn e ss

to rise fro m t he m i n i
D i g XCII m u m to the m axi m u m
L gb t h g f E C p h ’
a o

'
1 C an es 0 e 6
IS m u ch shorter than for

the fall I n 1 8 94 this star was show n by B e lo p o ls k y

.
 VA R IABL E A RS
ST AN D W ST A RS
'

NE 2 3 1

to be a spe c troscopic b i nary whose changes i n velocity

,

had the sa m e p eriod as the l igh t chan ges The .

spectrum of only one componen t is shown The Star .

is fou n d to be movi ng i n a ve ry eccen tric orb it an d if

-
,
-

i t exhibited no variation of light woul d b e set down

as a s p e c t r o s c 0 p i c b i nary consisti ng of a bright an d
dark star B ut the changes of l ight can not be a c
.

cou nted for i n this way for i t is foun d that the

,

m i n i m u m b rightness o c c u rs a day before t he ti m e

when the two stars are i n l i ne as seen fro m the E arth .

The l ight variation can not therefore be explai ne d as

, ,

due to an occ u ltation of o n e star by another an d no ,

satisfactory explanation has been given .

5 G em i n o ru m — Th is star goes thro u gh its phases

i n 1 0 d ays 3 hours 41 m i n utes 3 0 secon d s At i ts m i n i .

m u m the magn i

tude is 45 an d
at maxi m u m 3 7 .

The ti me duri n g
wh ich the b right
ness i ncreases is D i g X C III a . .

al most equal to
L i ght h g f § G mi
c anm es o e no ru .

the ti me durin g which i t decreases Forty fou r

’
-
.

photographs of the star s spectr u m were taken at

the Li c k O bservatory between N ovember 1 1 1 8 98 ,

and February 1 1 1 90 0 These showed that the star is

,
.

a spectros c opic b inary of which one componen t is

,

bright an d the other dark The changes of velocity

.

occur i n the same period as the light c hanges

23 2 A S TR O NO M Y
From the m easu res of veloci ty the orb it of the star
w a s determ i ned b ut as i n t he c ase of 6 Cephei the
,

ti me when the two stars are i n li ne as seen from the

E arth does not coi n c i de with the ti m e when the br i ght
nes s is a m i n i m u m The l igh t variation does not
.

therefore res u lt from an eclipse S o m e peculiarities

.

i n the veloci t ies derived from the spectra su g gest that

as the dark an d b right body are very close together ,

large ti dal e ffe c ts m ay be p roduced i n the atmosp here

of the b right star an d that the expl a nation of the l ight
,

c hanges is to be looked for i n causes of this natu re .

I n the variables of short peri od i t is c lear that we

are deali ng with bo d ies o f large size an d sm all density .

There c an be no do u bt of thei r essen tially b i nary

c haracter The two components appear to be very
.

cl ose t o g ether an d m ay i n some c ases be j o m e d by a

ne c k Possib ly the se variables p resen t to us di fferent
.

stages i n the segmentation of neb ulous m atter w hich

is formi n g i n t o two stars the Algol c lass showin g a
,

f u rther stage of this develop ment S u c h a view is .

,

however extremely spe c u lative as very l ittle is known

, ,

of the d ynam ical con ditions to which su c h neb ulous

matter wo u ld be subj e c t .

Lo ng p er i o d Var i ab le s
- — When a star is variable i n
a short period of less than a m onth we have seen ,

that the explanation is probably to be looked for i n

the rotation of two very c lose bo d ies There are a .

large n u mber o f stars whose period of variabi lity is

m u c h longer . M ore than 3 0 0 are known whose
 A R IA BL E
V ST A RS AN D NE W A
S T RS 2 33

perio d s l ie between 2 0 0 and 400 days an d a c on ,

s i d e r a b le n u mber beyon d these l i m its These are all -

c lassifie d a s variables of l on g pe rio d The d i fferen c e .

i n m agn itu d e between these stars at their b rightest

i

an d fai ntest is often very great a d i fference of 5

—

magn it u d es or a variation of light i n the proportion

of 1 00 to 1 bei n g not at all u n u s u al G ene rally speak .

i ng the longer the perio d the greater the d i fferen c e

,

between the extre m e magn it u d es These stars d o not .

go th ro u gh thei r variation s with t he same regulari ty

as the variables of short period The b rightness at .

maxi m u m varies from ti me to ti me an d the length ,

of the period is not exa c tly the same from ea c h maxi

m u m to the next M a n y of the s e stars are re d or
'

re dd ish .

The most famo u s star of this c lass is Ceti or M i ra o

,

Ceti as it was c alle d by Hevel i u s

,

I n abo u t 3 3 2
.

d ays it i ncreases i n brightness from below the n i n th

magn it u d e to abo u t the secon d an d then di m i n ishes
agai n I ts variations have been w at c he d for 2 0 0
.

cy c les an d i ts period has been seen to vary from 3 2 0

,

to 3 70 days b u t no law has be en discovered for these

,

changes The gre a test brightness the star attai ns also

.

varies c onsi d erably I n 1 779 Hers c hel saw it rise to

.

magn itu d e i n 1 8 6 8 i t was only of magn i tu d e 5 6

at maxi m u m ; i n 1 8 97 it reached the thi rd an d i n 1 90 5
the se con d mag n it u d e S im ilarly its b rightness at
.

m i ni m u m has varie d from 8 0 mag to 9 5 mag . .

The spe c trum of M i ra Ce ti has been stu d ied b v

2
34 A S TR ONO M Y
many astrono m ers I t consists of b right li nes an d
.

dark ban ds The dark ban ds are those fou n d i n stars

’
.

of S ecchi s th i rd type due to titan i u m oxi de whi le the

, ,

b right li ne spe c tru m co ntai ns li nes due to hy drogen

an d some metall ic li nes The relative i ntensities of
’
.

the bright l i nes vary i n d i fferen t parts of the star s

cycle The re are no chan ges i n the spect ru m that
.

suggest orb ital m otion I t woul d see m that there are .

periodically great outb u rsts of i ncan descence i n the

star itself The changes wh ich occur i n long pe riod
.
-

variabl es bear a resemblanc e to t he periodi c c hanges

.
’
i n the am o u n t of the S u n s area covered with spots .

—
The su n spot period is long about 1 1 years a nd
-
—
i rregular S u n ls p o t an d long period variables show
.
- -

the ba n ded sp ec tru m of titan i u m o xid e These sug

-
.

gest t hat lon g period variables may be stars which are

-

periodically largely covered by spots .

New St ar s — Pass i n g over another group of variable

stars i n whi c h the l ight fl uctuates i n an altogether
i rregular man ner we co m e to a very re m arkabl e class
wh ich bear some resemblance to variables of lon g
perio d These are the n ew stars H ippar c hus Tyc ho
. .
,

B rahe an d Ke pler all witness ed with astonish m ent

,

the appearance o f n ew stars In the sky Two were se en .

i n the sevente enth c en tu ry and eight i n the n i nete en th , ,

while i n th is cen tury two have been foun d o ne by D r , .

Anderson at E di nb u r gh an d one photograph ically by ,

Prof Turner at O xford The new stars f rom which

. .

most has been learned are N ova Au rigae of 1 8 9 2 a nd

 V A R IA BL E ST A RS AN D NE W ST A RS 2
“
N ova Pe r s e i of both of whi c h were d is c overed
1 90 1 ,

with the naked eye by the same amateur astrono m er ,

D r An derson
. N ova Pe r s e i has been observe d
.

with larger telescopes an d spectroscopes but as far ,

as we know its history is closely like those of pre

v i o u s N ov ae At discovery its magn itude was 2 8 or
.
,

ab out the b rightness of the seven stars of the Great

B ear The ti me of d iscovery was 2 h 40 m on the
. . .

m orn i n g of Feb r u ary 2 2 Twen ty eight hours p revi

.
-

o u sl
y M r S tanley
. Will iam s photographed the same
part of the sky an d although t he photograph showed
,

stars fainter th an the twelfth m agn it u d e there w a s no

sign of a star i n the position N ova Pe r s e i after w ar d s
o cc u pie d Th u s the l ight of the star had i ncrease d
.

at least 400 0 ti mes i n 2 8 ho u rs I ts brightness i n

.

creased for an o the r d ay till i t be c ame 1 0 ti mes as

bright as at the time of disc o very I t then d e c li ne d .

till at the en d of February it was no b righter than on

Feb ruary 2 2 at the en d of 1 90 1 it was of magn itu d e
,

7 0, and at the en d of 1 9 0 2 of m agn it u d e 1 00 .

B efore the star reached its maxi m u m b rightn e ss i ts

spectru m was e xa m i ned an d fo u n d to be of the O rion
or hel i u m type The l ight from the star ha d pa sse d
.

th rough an absorb i n g atmosphere of hydrogen an d

heliu m . The next n ight i t s c ha r a c t e r ha d entirely
‘

changed an d consiste d of b right l i nes associate d wi t h

dark li nes on the side towards the violet S ome of .

the bright lines were d u e to hy d rogen an d were i n

the normal position b u t the d ark l i nes were sh ifted
,
236 A S TR ONO M Y
as m u c h as if the absorb i n g atmosphere wh i c h pro
d u c e d the m were app roa c h i ng the E arth with a
,

x e lo c i t y of 1 0 00 m iles a s e c o n d I n addition a few

.

narrow li nes due to so di u m an d calci u m were dis

placed sl i ghtly towards t he red The sam e displace
‘

ment was fou nd later when the spectru m had chan ged ,

and showed con c lusively that the star was m ovi ng

:

from the S u n with a velocity of 5 m iles per secon d .

The lar g e dis p l ac ements of the dark l i nes i s most

easily explai ne d on the ass u mption of a great e x p lo
sio n by which hydrogen was d riven aw ay from the
star with great velo c ity . The spectrum of the star
changed still further till J uly when the c hief neb ular
l i ne was seen and i n A u gust an d S eptember i t was
,

very si m il ar to the spectru m of a planetary neb ula .

Att empts were m ade to determ i ne the parallax of the

star wi tho u t s u c cess till i n the aut u m n of 1 90 1 Prof .

M ax Wolf m a d e the su r p risin g d iscovery that the

star was surrou n ded by a neb u la Professors R itchey
.

an d Perri ne of the Y erke s an d Lick O bservatories

obtai ned photographs by givi n g long exposu re s w ith
large reflec ti ng telescopes Two photographs taken a
.

fort n ight apart showed the neb ula to be m ovi ng Th i s

.

w a s clearly show n by co m pari n g the position of the

neb u la with the stars near i t i n two photographs taken

by P rof R itchey
. . F u rther photographs le d to the
c on c l u sion that the s u rrou n di ng neb u la had been
expa n di ng conti n uously si nce the appearan c e of the
star . A very i nteresti ng explanation w a s given b y '
 VAR I A BL E ST A RS .
AN D NE W ST A RS 2
37

Prof K a p t e y nH e p o s t u la t e d t he existence i n spa c e

.

of nebulous matter stationary an d non lu m i nous

,
-
.

This matter be c ame visible to us by the reflection it

D i g XC lV
a . .

N eb u l di g N
a s u rr o u n n Po va e r s ei

sen t of the light from the N ova As the light travel .

l i ng out from the star reached ever wi d en i ng c ir c les of

neb ulous matter it ill u mi nated them M ore than this .
,

as we kn ow that l ight travels m iles a second ,

it w a s possible to i nfer the d istan c e of the N ova from

the rate at whi c h the l u m i no u s ri ngs spread out This .

d istan c e is foun d to be abo u t 2 0 m illion ti mes the

2
3 8 A S TR ONO M Y
distance of the E arth fro m the S u n fro m wh ich it fol
,

lows that a t its greatest brill iancy N ova Per s e i was

8 0 0 0 ti m es as bright as the S u n B y exp osi ng a photo
.

graphic plate o n several n ights for 3 6 h o u rs alto

gether i n a little spectroscope fi tted on to a lar ge
telescope P rof Perri n e was able to obtai n the
,
.

spectru m of th is fai n t neb ula an d fou n d it to be

.

S i m ilar to the spectru m of the star i n its early stages .

I n this way i t was de m onstrated that the nebula sh one

by reflected light j ust as the i dentity of the lu nar
,

and solar spectra c o u ld be used to prove that the

’
m oon s lig ht is reflected S u n l ight -
.

O n ly a very hypothetical explanation c an be g i ven

of the phen omena of new stars A c o llision between
.

two bodies i s a n atu ral supposition B ut the spectro .

scop i c observations do not poi nt to two bo dies after

the m omen t of collision Apparentl y so m e con ditions
.

have given rise to a great outb u rst of hydrogen an d

heli u m gas from the i nterior of a star The possib ility .

of such an outb u rst is re m arkab le whatever the ex c i t

i ng cause may have b e en .

The appearance of such a bright new star as N ova

Perse l is a very rare pheno m en on The photog raphs.

of spectra taken at Harvard College r evealed five

obj ects between 1 8 93 an d 1 8 99 with the b right an d
dark l i ne spectru m characteristic of new stars Prob .

ably new stars of small b ri lliancy are n ot i n frequent

oc c u rrences.
 C H APTE R XII
T HE SI D E R EA L U N I VER S E
WE have seen i n p revio u s chapters what varie d
knowledge i t is possible to acq u i re about the stars .

The distances of a few stars have been d eterm i ne d

an d the average distan c es of large n u mbers can be
app roxi mately fixe d When the distances are known
.
,

the velo c i ties can be deter m i ned an d the l u m i nosities

of the stars compared with the S u n B y the stu dy of .

double stars we are en abled in some i nstan c es to dete r

m i ne the m asses of stars an d from variable stars the
,

sizes an d densities The spectroscope has taught us

'

somethi n g of the c hem istry of the stars an d of thei r ,

te m peratures an d physi c al con d iti o ns .

I n these di fferent ways the stars are shown t o be

bo d ies l ike the S u n scattere d i n spa c e at d istan c es
apart co m parable with 3 0 or 40 m ill ion m illion m iles .

The S u n is the body with which we can best c ompare

them S tars m ay be m u c h b igger or smaller d enser
.
,

o r m uch less dense m ore or less l u m i no u s Ma n y are

, .

double an d some triple or quadruple Planets may .

circulate round some of them ; on this poi nt however ,

we have no evi d en c e b u t only analogy for a g u i de

, .

S i d ereal astronomy as we have seen is d ivi d e d

, ,

239
2
40 A S TR ONO M Y
i nto two b ranches O ne o f these concerns itself
.

with the physi c al state of the stars an d seeks to ,

describe complet ely these states i n the di fferen t stages

’
of a star s history an d to foll o w the life of a star
,

th rough its whole course The other b ran c h Of

.

si dereal astronomy is of a more geo m etrical character ,

an d is concerne d to d escribe the u n iverse as it n o w

is to determ i ne whether it is fi n ite o r in fi n ite ; if fi n ite
, ,

to de term i n e its l i m its an d the n u mber of stars withi n

the m ; if i nfi n ite to peer as far as possib le in to its
‘

i nfi n i ty .These two depa rtmen ts ca n not be kep t

enti rely separate as i t m ay an d does happen that
, , ,

stars o f particular ki n ds or i n a parti c ul ar stage of

develop men t have special geometrical relationships .

Hydrogen stars for exa m ple are fu rther from the

, ,

E arth than t hose of solar type .

Wh en t he stars are looked at as a whole the m ost ,

striki n g featu re amon g them is the existence of t he

M ilky Way wh ich may be see n o n a c lear n i ght i n
,

wi nter reach i ng a c ross the sky a s a ban d of fai n t light .

I t stretches right rou n d the celesti al sphere divi di ng i t ,

I n to equal parts Whe n exam i ned w ith a telescope

.
,

it is fou n d to be f u ll of stars The illustration ( D ia

’

gram XCV ) S hows part of it as photographed by

P rof B arnard an d b ri ngs out the remarkable featu res
.
,

of the dark rifts with i n it or places voi d of stars

, .

The M ilky Way th us seems to be not one b ut a

n u mber of agglomerations of stars I t certai nly c on .

tai ns a vast n umber of fai n t stars Does it also con .

 TH E S ID E R EA L UNI VER S E
tai n b righ t o n es or are the bright ones apparently i n
,

it m u c h nearer to the S u n an d merely seen proj e c te d

agai nst it ? An answer can be given to this q u esti on
by c o u nti ng the n u mber of b right stars i n the d ark

D i g XCV
a . .

Pa r t . o f M ilk y W y (B
a ar n ar d ) .

r i fts an d co m pari ng the res u lt with the n u mber i n an

equal area wh e re the fai nt stars are th i c k I n this way .

i t is found that a c onsi d erable n u mber of b right stars

'

r e a ll
y b e lo n
g to the galaxy .

R
2
4
2 A S TR ONO M Y
The physical characteristics of the stars show so m e
“

relationshi p to the M ilky Way S pe aki n g general ly

.
,

the stars i n i t are b lue an d the re m a r kable Wolf

,

R ayet stars are wholly confi ned to it . N ew stars too , ,

u sually appear i n the M ilky Way .

When the n u m ber of stars o f given m agn itu des i n

d i fferent parts of the sky is cou nted i t is fou n d that
,

the density or n u m ber p e r square degree i ncreases

with fai r u n ifo rm it y from the poles of t he M i lky W a y
to the M ilky Wa y i tself B ut this i ncrease i n density
.

is m uch m ore p ronou nced for the fai nt than for the
b right stars I f we take stars b ri ghte r than 5 5 m ag
.
°

there are on t he average i n every 100 square

degrees near t he pole o f the M ilky Way an d in
the M ilky Way i tself or a proportion of 1
,
Fo r
stars o f m a g n itude 8 5 to 9 5 the n u mbers are 2 3 5 an d
59 5 a,
n d the pro p o rt ion 1 F or stars of m agn i
tude to 1 2 5 t he n u mbers a r e 3 3 3 0 an d
an d the p roporti o n 1 The propo rtion i ncreases
very rap i dly for h igher magn itudes M oreover the
.
,

n u m bers i ncrease gradually as the M i lk n a y is

approached an d do not su dden ly alter as if the M i lky
,

Way were entirely disti nct f ro m the other stars .

Whe n we consi de r p roper m otions an d these are ,

a fai r i n dex of the average di s tances of the stars i t ,

is fou n d that stars of large p roper m otion are dis

tributed p retty equally i n all di recti o ns Prof N ew . .

comb poi n ts out tha t: the n umber of stars who se

”
prope r m otion is greater than 5 a centu ry is n o
 TH E S ID E R EA L UNI VE R S E 2 43

gre ater i n the M ilky Way than at a distance fro m it .

N o w in a cen tury the S u n m oves a dis t ance equal to

4 0 0 ti m e s its distance from the E arth an d will the re ,

”
fore p roduce a m ove m ent of 5 i n a star whose parallax
—
i s 1 75
5 "
or which correspon d s to a distance of
’
77

1 6 million ti mes the S u n s distance The M ilky Way .

therefore lies beyon d t his li m it This is to be .

taken as an e xample of the method of reason i ng as ,

the n u m eri c al result is very far less than the probable

d istance of the M ilky Way .

As the M ilky Way d ivides t he sky i n to equal parts ,

the S u n is situated i n its plane We d o not know .

how far i t may be fro m the centre for as yet the d is ,

tan c e to the Galaxy i n di fferent di rections has not been

d etermi ned I t would seem that the u n iverse of s tars
.

extends m uch fu rther i n the di rection of the M i lky

Way than i n that perpen d ic u lar to it I ts bo u n dary .

is i rregular b u t nowhere nearer than 2 00 mi llion

’
,

ti m es the S u n s distance Whether the agglomera

.

tions whi c h for m the M ilky Way are near this boun d
ary or whether we see so m e stars which are quite
,

beyon d the m is as yet u nknown As far as we can .

tell the n u m ber of stars tho u gh very great is fi n ite

, , ,
.

B ut there are some i n dication s that light is absorbe d

i n i ts passage thro u gh spa c e an d ou r conclusion s
,

m ust be very guarded We are obl iged to say w i th

“ .

Laplace Ce que nous con naissons est p e u de chose

, ,

”
c e q u e no u s ignorons est i m m ense .
 IN D E X

A ccr r a li o n o f li ght , —
94 9 6 D u s ky lay er r o un d t he su n

A cnr o nzczli c o bj e c t la s s , 7 0 g —
1 13 1 14
—
A lg o l, 2 2 5 2 2 8
—
A lm ag es t , Pt o le m y s , 2 8 2 9
’ E ar llz,d e n s i t y, —
s ha p e ,
6 1 62
Ap s c, 2 2 49 ; s i ze , 2 6
/ ’
E cccn lr i ci zj o f e a r t h s o r b i t , 2 °

Ca len d a r , 5 E cli p s e o f m o o n , 1 8 4 9, 2 6 2 7 ; —
—
/
Ca n cn zli s n cxp c i i n c l, 6 1 6 2
r n — o f su n , 1 7 1 8

—
C zc zn i s lry o f s t a r s , 1 9 3 2 00 ; o f
—
E cls S i ng S lo w , 2 2 5 2 2 8

/
— E cligfi li c, 1 5
su n , 1 0 9 1 1 2

Cnr o nzo sfi zcr c, s u n s 1

’ E llip s e, 42 , 52
—
,

—
Ci r cles , d i v i d e d , 6 5 6 7 , 7 7 6
E llzjo li c m o t i o n , 42 , 4 47
Clo ck s , 6 5 E o i cy cli c m o ve m e n t , 2 1 , 3 3
— —
E q u a to r i a l m o un ti ng, 7 8 7 9
Cla s i c o f s t ar s , 2 2 0 2 24

Cop er n i ca n SyS zcn z, 3 0 3 7 — ‘

E gn i n o czi a l, 1 6
‘

— —
E r o s , 9 1 93
’
Co m ets , 51 , 1 49 1 57 , 1 6 0 1 6 1
—
-

Co o n a , s u n s , 1 1 9 1 2 1 , 1 2 8
r

Fi x ed Ma r s , — —
1 64 1 6
9 3,
1 5
D ecli n a t i o n , 6 3 6 4 -

—
D en y , o f e a r t h, 6 1 6 2
s i t — o f
Ga li leo , 3 7 40 , 45
G r a n n lczli o n o f s u n s s u r fa c e
’
sun, 1 0 1 o f p la n e t s , 1 3 3 ; o f
—
1 14 1 1 5
Alg o l, 2 2 8 ; o f B L y r ae, 2 3 0
— Gr a U' i zczli o n
‘
—6 8 —
D i s ta n ce o f m o o n , 2 6 2 8 , 45 2 , 9 99
o f p la n e t s , 43 ’
H a c S co ni c i , 56 58
ll y
—
o f s t a r s , 1 7 0 1 7 9, 1 8 7 —
H o li o nzclcr 8 1 8 2 ,
1 90 — —
H ipp a r cfi n s , 2 1 2 5, 2 6 2 7
o f 8 5 99
s u n, 2 8 ,
Hyfi er é o lcz, 52
-

D i u r na l m o ve m e n t o f s t ar s ,
—
9 31
1 3 0
—
f w
a n , 3 8 ,
—1 6
1 3 0 ,
13 5,
m o vem e nt o f su n , 2 4
4
ro tat io n o f e a r t h, 3 0
’L —
D opp ler s
’P r zn cz j ,
é lc
3'
1 2
1

4
c ler S xS ,
ate 4 44
2

c —
B o n olo S a r s , 2 0 8 2 1 5 s p e c t r o L cn S , 6 7
pic L i gh t, a b e r r a t i o n —
o f , 9 4 96
s co 21 5 220
-

2 45
 2
46 IN D E X

L zl n l
‘
i t f — 6 — Pr ecess i o n of t ae eg u i n o xes , 2 3
g z , v e o c y o , 93 9 4, 9 97
L u m i n o s i t i es o f s t a r s , 1 9 1 —1 9 2 —
2 53 50 51
Pr i n co i a , N ew t o n s , 54 ’
Mg a n i t u d e , s t e lla r , 1 6 6 —1 6 8 Pr o m i n en ces , s o la r , 1 1 6 —1 1 9
M ar s, 1 30, —1 3
5 Pr oy er m o t i o n s , s t ella r , 1 7 9—1 8 5
’
o pp o sm o n — —
o f, 8 6 8 8 , 8 9 9 1 Pt o lemy s A lm ag es t , 2 8 —2 9
M a ss , d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f, 52 53
o f eart , h 6 —
0 62 _ R a d i a t i o n , s o la r , 1 0 2 —1 0 3
o f p la n e t s , 1 3 2 1 3 3 -

R efl ect i ng t eles cop e, 7 1 —7 3

of s tar s, 2 1 3— 2 1 5, 228, R f r a ct i ng t eles cop e, 6 7 7 1
e —
230 R ev o lu t i o n of ea r tn r o u n d s un ,

o f s u n, 10 1 —
3 1 33
M 5
er cu r ,
y 3 3
—
34 3 ,
1 0, 1 1, 13 3, R ig nt a s cen s i o n , 6 3
34 4 I ,
1 0 R o t a t i o n of o a r t a on i ts axi s ,
M i d i 64
er an,
3 O _
3 I) 39
M l — pla n e t s
Ml ’ 57
l 8
6
e eo r s , 1

e on s c
y c e,
1 1 of
of su n ,
'

3 9,
,

1 23
133, 134
—1 2 6
Mi m t 7 7 8
1
cr o
W y W y 4 43
l
'
z e

Mi fi l l 3 3
no r
/ —
—
e er ,

a ne s
,
2
,

1
0

2
0 1 1
S a r o s, I9
—
S a t elli t es , 1 3 4 1 3 6
,
M ln 7—8on ,
S atu r n, 1 3 0, 1 3 2, 1 33, —
1 36 1 3 8 ,
M di t o o n, f 6 — 8 s an c e o 2 2 1 41
— —
,

e c li p se s o f, 18 19 26 27 S chelza lli en , a t t r a c t i o n —
o f, 6 0 6 1
,

f eat ur es o f 8 6 — 8 S lt afi e of ear t lz, 2 5, 49

3 7 3 1 4 1 4
-

, ,

hi s t o r y o f , 1 6 3 S i ze of ea r tn, 2 5 2 6 —
m o ve m e n t o f , 7 , 2 2 2 3 , — —
o f p la n e t s , 1 3 1 1 3 2
—
8 60 o f su n , 1 —
5 00 10 1

p ha s e s o f, 6 .
—
S o la r cnem i s t ry , 1 0 9 1 1 2
M o zi o n i n li n e of s zgei , 1 8 5 8 7 i —
es , 1 1 6 1 1 9
p
‘
r o m n e n c
M o u em en z of p la n ets a m o ng {no
‘
r a d i t i o n,
a 1 0 2 — 103
— — —
s la r s , 19 2 1, 33 35 p
s ect r u m ,
1 10 1 1 2

S pect r a , d i ff e r e n t k i n d s o f, 1 08,
N eou la , 2 0 1 —2 0 7 1 09

N eou la r nyp o lne s i s ,

I 6 1 1 6 3 o f co m e t s , 1 53 , 1 57 ; o f
N ep h flze) 56 ) 1 3 0 7 1 3 2 3 1 3 3 ) 1 3 4, n e b u lae , —
20 1 20 2 2 0 4;
,

of p la n e t s 1 41 , 1 42 ;
—
,

N ew s t a r s , 2 3 4—2 3 8 of s t a r s , 1 94 2 0 0 o f
—
1Vew lo n , 46 54, 6 9, 7 1 s un, 1 10 —1 1 2
—
N u m ber o s la r s 1 6 8 1 70 S pect r o neli o g r afi n, 1 2 1 1 2 2
f ,
—
S p ect r o s cop e, 1 0 6 1 0 9
Pa r a bo la , 52 —
S p ect r o s cop i c bi n a r i es , 2 I 5 2 2 0
—
Pa r a lla x, s o la r , 8 6 93 S tar s, nam e s o f, 1 6 5 1 6 6 — cata
—
s lella r , 1 70 1 7 9 lo g ue s o f , 1 6 6 ; li g ht o f , 1 70 ,
Piza s es of t he m o o n , 6 7— —
1 9 1 1 92 m a g n it u d e s , 1 66
 IN D E X 2
47

168 d is t an c e o f, 79,
1 7 0 —1 —
Tr a n s i t ci r cle, 7 4 7 8
—
1 8 7 1 90 v e lo c i t i e s o f , 1 90 Typ es of s t ella r slo ect r a , —
1 9 5 2 00
191 a b s o lu t e lu m i n o s i t y , 1 9 1
—
s p e c t r a o f , 1 9 3 2 00
1 92
—
S u n , 1 00 1 2 8
Ur a n u s , 1 30) 1 3 23 1 3 3) 1 8
3 ) 1 59 3

’
S u n s co r o n a , 1 1 9, 1 2 1 1 2 8 — “

d i st a n c , 8 5 99
e — ~

Va r i a ole s ta r s o
f lo ng p er i o d,
nea t , m a i n t e n a n c e o f , 1 0 3
10 5
— Va r i a ole s ta r s
f
o s no r t fi er i o d ,
m o ti o n i n p
s a ce, 182 1 8 5
— 2 2 5—2 3 2
tem p er a t u r e, 1 0 5 1 06
— Ve lo ci t i es of s ta r s , 1 90 —1 9 1
sp o ts , 3 9, 1 1 2, 1 15 1 16 ,
— Velo ci ty of s o la r sy s t em , 1 8 7
1 26 1 2 8
s o la r s
Ven u s , 3 4—3 5, 3 8 , 1 3 0 , 1 3 1 , 1 33,
S t a oi li ty f
o y s t em , 55

— t r an s i t o f , 8 8 —8 9
Teles cop e, 3 7 , 6 7 8 4
Temp er a t u r e of p la n ets , 139 -

1 41
— 6
o
f sun, 1 0 5 1 0

Ti d es , 49 50

THE E ND
R IC HA R D CL A Y So ns , LI M ITE D ,

B RE AD S T R E ET H IL I E AN D

BUN G AY S U FFO L K .