WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
Through the Telescope cover

Through the Telescope

Chapter 24: Transcriber's Note
Open in WeRead

About This Book

An accessible, illustrated introduction to observational astronomy, explaining the development and practical use of telescopes and guiding readers through observation of the Sun, its surroundings, planets, the Moon, asteroids, comets, meteors, star fields, clusters, and nebulae. Chapters describe telescope history and handling, solar phenomena, individual planets, lunar features, and deep-sky objects, offering observing lists and lunar formation and target appendices. Emphasis is on practical advice for amateurs, illustrated with photographs and drawings, and on conveying key observational facts and structures of the heavens without advanced mathematics.

P
  • Palisa discovers asteroids, 151
  • Pallas, discovery of, 149;
    • diameter of, 152
  • Peck, 'Constellations and How to Find Them,' 238;
    • star-charts, 278
  • Pegasi κ, short-period binary, 245
  • Pegasus, 237
  • Perihelion of planets, 131 (note)
  • Period, synodic, of moon, 103
  • Perrine discovers Jupiter's sixth and seventh satellites, 167
  • Perseid, meteors, 214, 224, 225
  • Perseus, sword-handle of, 257
  • Petavius cleft, 119
  • Peters discovers asteroids, 151
  • Phillips, Rev. T. E. R., polar cap of Mars, 134;
    • canals of Mars, 137;
    • clouds on Mars, 140
  • Phobos satellite of Mars, 143
  • Phosphorescence of dark side of Venus, 97
  • Photosphere, 75
  • Piazzi discovers Ceres, 149
  • Pickering, E. C., number of lucid stars in northern hemisphere, 233;
    • parallax of Orion nebula, 262
  • Pickering, W. H., on lunar ray systems, 120, 121;
    • changes on moon, 126;
    • on polar cap of Mars, 134, 135;
    • discovers Saturn's ninth and tenth satellites, 187;
    • photographs Orion nebula, 262
  • Planetary nebulæ, 266;
    • spectra of, 266;
    • nebula in Draco, 266
  • Plato, 117, 126
  • Pleiades, number of stars in, 233, 256, 257;
  • Pleione, 256
  • Polarizing eye-piece, 66
  • Pollux, 234
  • Præsepe, 256
  • Procellarum Oceanus, 111
  • Proctor, 2;
    • method of finding Mercury, 82;
    • on state of Jupiter, 166
  • Proctor on the Saturnian system, 181;
    • visibility of Cassini's division, 182;
    • on Challis's search for Neptune, 199;
    • Star Atlas, 278
  • Procyon, 234
  • Projecting sun's image, 67
  • Projections on terminator of Mars, 141
  • Prominences, 73, 74
  • Ptolemäus, 112
  • Pulkowa, 30-inch refractor, 8, 9
R
  • Radiant point of meteors, 223, 224;
    • number of, 225;
    • stationary, 229
  • Ranyard Cowper on parallax measures, 231
  • Regulus, 234
  • Reversing layer seen by Young, 74;
    • spectrum photographed by Shackleton, 75;
    • depth of, 75
  • Riccioli observes duplicity of ζ Ursæ Majoris, 240
  • Rigel, 232, 234;
  • Ritchey, 5-foot reflector Yerkes Observatory, 12
  • Roche's limit, 186
  • Rosse, Earl of, 6-foot reflector, 12;
    • colouring of Jupiter, 158, 159;
    • telescope, resolution of Orion nebula, 260;
    • drawing of Orion nebula with, 262;
    • spiral character of M. 51, 265
  • Rotation period of Mercury, 85;

S
  • Satellite of Venus, question of, 97, 98;
  • Saturn, orbit of, sun-heat received by, period of, diameter of, compression and density of, 172;
    • features of globe, rotation period, 173;
    • varying aspects of rings, 178;
    • measures of rings, 178;
    • constitution of rings, 179;
    • satellites of, 186-189;
    • satellites, transits of, 189
  • Scheiner, construction of refractors, 2
  • Scheiner, Julius, spectrum of Andromeda nebula, 264
  • Schiaparelli, rotation of Mercury, 85;
    • surface of Mercury, 86;
    • rotation of Venus, 96;
    • discovery of Martian canals, 135-137;
    • connection of comets and meteors, 214, 224
  • Schmidt, lunar map, 114;
    • observation of comet 1882 (iii.), 217, 218;
    • observes Nova Cygni, 253
  • Schröter, observations of Venus, 94;
    • lunar mountains, 118;
    • rills, 118;
    • lunar atmosphere, 126
  • Schwabe, discovery of sun-spot period, 61, 62
  • See, Dr., duration of sun's light and heat, 80
  • Serenitatis, Mare, serpentine ridge on, 110, 111;
    • crossed by ray from Tycho, 120
  • Shackleton photographs spectrum of reversing layer, 75
  • Sidereal month, 103
  • Siderites and siderolites, 227
  • Sinus Iridum, 117
  • Sirius, companion of, discovered, 8;
    • brightness, 234;
    • colour, 235;
    • brilliancy compared with Venus, 90;
    • with Jupiter, 156
  • Sirsalis cleft, 119
  • Smyth, Admiral, on amateur observers, 18, 19, 45
  • Sodium in chromosphere, 73
  • Solar system, translation of, 269-272
  • South, Sir James, 12-inch telescope, 6
  • Spectroscope, 73, 76
  • Spectroscopic observations of rotation of Venus, 96;
    • of Martian atmosphere, 140;
    • investigations of Saturn's rings, 180;
    • of Uranus, 195
  • Spectrum of reversing layer, 75;
    • of chromosphere, 73
  • Spencer, Herbert, relation of stars and nebulæ, 267
  • Spica Virginis, 234
  • Stars, distance of, 231;
  • Struve, F. G. W., 'Mensuræ Micrometricæ,' 278
  • Struve (Otto) discovers satellite of Uranus, 196;
    • verifies discovery of Neptune's satellite, 201
  • Sun, size, distance, 47, 48;
    • rotation period of, 57-59;
    • methods of observing, 65-67;
    • atmosphere of, 75;
    • light and heat of, 78
  • Sun-spots, 49, 50;
    • rapid changes in, 54, 55;
    • period of, 62;
    • zones and variation of latitude of, 62
  • Synodic period, 103
  • Syrtis Major, 145
  • Swift, Dean, satellites of Mars, 142
  • Swift's comet, 214, 224
T
  • Taygeta, 256
  • Telescope, invention of, 1, 2;
    • refracting, 3;
    • achromatic, 5;
    • reflecting, 10, 11;
    • forms of reflecting, Newtonian, Gregorian, Herschelian, Cassegrain, 10, 11;
    • mirrors of reflecting, 11, 12;
    • finders, 23, 24;
    • mountings of, Altazimuth, 25-28;
    • equatorial, 30, 31;
    • house for, 37, 38;
    • management of, 39, 40;
    • powers of, 40, 41
  • Tempel's comet, 211
  • Terminator of moon, 107;
    • of Venus, 94
  • Titius, discovery of Bode's law, 148
  • Turner discovers Nova Geminorum, 255
  • Tycho, 114;
    • ray-system of, 108, 120, 121;
    • Brahé observes Nova Cassiopeiæ, 252
U
  • Uranus, 190;
    • distance from sun, period, diameter, visibility, 194;
    • spectrum and density, 195;
    • satellites, 196
  • Ursæ Majoris ζ, duplicity of, 240;
    • ξ binary, 244;
    • spectroscopic binary, 247
V
  • Variable stars, 248-251
  • Variation in sun-spot latitude, 62
  • Vega, 234;
    • colour of, 235;
    • apex of solar path, 271
  • Venus, diameter, 89;
    • orbit and elongations, 89;
    • visibility of, 89, 90;
    • brilliancy, 90;
    • reflective power, 90;
    • phases, 92;
    • as telescopic object, 93;
    • atmosphere, 93;
    • blunting of south horn, 94;
    • rotation period, 96;
    • 'phosphorescence' of dark side, 97;
    • question of satellite of, 97, 98;
    • transits, 98;
    • opportunities for observation, 98, 99
  • Vesta, discovery of 149;
    • diameter of, 152;
    • reflective power, 152
  • Vienna, 27-inch refractor, 8
  • Vogel, atmosphere of Mars, 140;
    • discovery of spectroscopic binaries, 245, 246
W
  • Washington, 26-inch refractor, 8
  • Watson, asteroid discoveries, 151, 153
  • Webb, Rev. J. W., remarks on telescope, 17;
    • on amateurs, 18;
    • on cleaning of eye pieces, 20;
    • visibility of Saturn's rings, 181;
    • lunar chart, 124;
    • 'Celestial Objects,' 124;
    • colouring of Jupiter, 158;
    • description of planetary nebula in Draco, 267
  • Williams, A. Stanley, seasonal variations in colour of Jupiter's belts, 159;
    • periods of rotation (Jupiter), 163;
    • rotation of Saturn, 174
  • Wells's comet, 213
  • Wilson, theory of sun-spots, 60, 61
  • Winnecke's comet, 211
  • Wolf, asteroid discoveries, 151
Y
Z

THE END

BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.


Transcriber's Note

° indicates hours (or degrees); ′ indicates minutes (prime = minutes = feet); ″ indicates seconds (double prime = seconds = inches).

Sundry missing or damaged punctuation has been repaired.

Illustrations (or Plates) which interrupted paragraphs have been moved to more convenient positions between paragraphs.

A few words appear in both hyphenated and unhyphenated versions. A couple have been corrected, for consistency; the others have been retained.

Page x: 'XI' corrected to 'IX'

"IX. THE ASTEROIDS 148"

Page 4: Corrected 'lengthwas' to 'length was'.

"... with a glass whose focal length was 212¼ feet."

Page 25: 'familar' corrected to 'familiar'.

"... or, to use more familiar terms,..."

Page 90: "... more especially if the object casting the shadow have a sharply defined edge,..."

'have' is correct, and has been retained (subjunctive after 'if').

Page 92: 'firstfruits' corrected to 'first-fruits'. (OED, and matches 2 other occurrences.)

"The actual proof of the existence of these phases was one of the first-fruits which Galileo gathered by means of his newly invented telescope."

Page 109: 'eyeryone' corrected to 'everyone'.

"... —'the man in the moon'—with which everyone is familiar."

Page 118: 'of' added - missing at page-turn.

"They embrace some of the loftiest lunar peaks reaching...."

Page 128: 'lnnar' corrected to 'lunar'.

"The lunar night would be lit by our own earth,..."

Page 157: 'imch' corrected to 'inch'.

Jupiter, October 9, 1891, 9.30 p.m.; 3⅞-inch, power 120."

Page 158: 'eyepiece' corrected to 'eye-piece', to match all the rest.

"... and a single lens eye-piece giving a power of 36."

Page 194: The code for the astronomical symbol for Uranus is U+26E2 or ⛢ (& # 9954;), but it does not seem to work, except, perhaps, in the very latest browsers) so an image has been used instead:

Page 205: removed extraneous 'of'.

"The nucleus is the only part of [of] a comet's structure "

Page 209: 'unconsidreed' corrected to 'unconsidered'.

"... that some unconsidered little patch of haze...."

Page 240: 'Ursae' corrected to 'Ursæ' to match entries in the Index, and for consistency.

"... though Riccioli detected the duplicity of Zeta Ursæ Majoris (Mizar), in 1650,..."

Page 248: 'in once and a half times,'. 'once' is as printed (and may have been intended).
As it is part of a quote, it has been retained.

"'Once in eleven months,' writes Miss Clerke, 'the star mounts up in about 125 days from below the ninth to near the third, or even to the second magnitude; then, after a pause of two or three weeks, drops again to its former low level in once and a half times, on an average, the duration of its rise.'"

Page 256: 'Celæno' appears here in the text; 'Celaeno, 256' is the Index entry. Both are as printed.

Page 281: 285·9″ corrected to 285·9°

"Equuleus.

Σ 2737 or ε : 20 h. 54 m. + 3° 55′ : 5·7-6·2-7·1 : 285·9°, 73·8° : 0·53″, 10·43″. Triple with large instruments."

This follows the pattern of preceding

Draco.

Σ 2323 or 39: 18 h. 22 m. + 58° 45′ : 4·7-7·7-7·1 : 358·2°, 20·8° : 3·68″, 88·8″. Triple.

Page 282: 3·80° corrected to 3·80″ to match pattern.

"Σ 2161 or ρ : 17 h. 20 m. + 37° 14′ : 4-5·1 : 314·4° : 3·80″. 'Gem of a beautiful coronet' (Webb)."

Page 288: 'Lyrae' corrected to 'Lyræ'.

"Lyræ ε, double double, 241, 242;"

Page 291: 'obsering' corrected to 'observing'.

"methods of observing, 65-67;"

Page 292: 'elongagations' corrected to 'elongations'.

"orbit and elongations, 89;"

Page 292: 'GUIDFORD' corrected to 'GUILDFORD'.

"BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD."