The Observatory, Volumes 48-49Editors of the Observatory, 1925 |
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Common terms and phrases
absolute magnitude absorption appear Astrographic Astronomer Royal atmosphere atoms bright catalogue centre Cepheids chromosphere comet Crommelin curve Decl deduced density determination diameter discussion distance double stars Earth eclipse Eddington effect ephemeris equator equatorial error galactic give given Greenwich hydrogen hydrogen lines instrument interesting International Astronomical Union investigation Jeans July June km./sec latitude light limb lines longitude luminosity magnetic mass maximum mean measures meeting meridian meteorological meteors method Moon nebula Nova observations Observatory obtained orbit paper parallax parsecs perihelion period Perseids photographs photosphere planets plates polar position present President probably Prof prominences proper motions proper-motions radial velocity radiation pressure recent refractor region remarks rotation Royal Astronomical Society seen slide solar spectra spectral type spectroscopic spectrum spiral spots Steavenson stellar suggested sun-spots Sun's surface telescope temperature theory Turner variable stars variation wave-length zone
Popular passages
Page 291 - our astronomical observer" at a salary of £100 per annum, his duty being "forthwith to apply himself with the most exact care and diligence to the rectifying the tables of the motions of the heavens and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired longitude of places for the perfecting the art of navigation.
Page 263 - The sky was clear — remarkably clear — and the twinkling of all the stars seemed to be but throbs of one body, timed by a common pulse. The North Star was directly in the wind's eye, and since evening the Bear had swung round it outwardly to the east, till he was now at a right angle with the meridian. A difference of colour in the stars — oftener read of than seen in England — was really perceptible here. The sovereign brilliancy of Sirius pierced the eye with a steely glitter, the star...
Page 233 - Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows ; But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar : When Ajax strives some rock's vast- weight to throw, The line too labours, and the words move slow ; Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.
Page 70 - Earth, Was all conceiv'd in the Creator's mirth, Forecasting at the time Man's spirit deep, To make dirt cheap. Put by the Telescope ! Better without it man may see, Stretch'd awful in the hush'd midnight, The ghost of his eternity. Give me the nobler glass that swells to the eye The things which near us lie, Till Science rapturously hails, In the minutest water-drop, A torment of innumerable tails.
Page 265 - To give a stronger impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific inquiry, — to promote the intercourse of those who cultivate Science in different parts of the British Empire, with one another, and with foreign philosophers, — to obtain a more general attention to the objects of Science, and a removal of any disadvantages of a public kind which impede its progress.
Page 265 - Association ; to give a stronger impulse and more systematic direction to scientific enquiry, to promote the intercourse of those who cultivate Science in different, parts of the British Empire with one another and with foreign philosophers...
Page 263 - Orion, which gorgeous constellation never burnt more vividly than now, as it swung itself forth above the rim of the landscape. Castor and Pollux with their quiet shine were almost on the meridian : the barren and gloomy Square of Pegasus was creeping round to the north-west ; far away through the plantation, Vega sparkled like a lamp suspended amid...
Page 237 - Account thereof, that the suddain darkness, wherin the Starrs will be visible about the Sun, may give no surprize to the People, who would, if unadvertized, be apt to look upon it as Ominous, and to Interpret it as portending evill to our Sovereign Lord King George and his Government, which God preserve.
Page 344 - The figure of Mars is that of an oblate spheroid whose equatorial diameter is to the polar one as 1355 to 1272, or as 16 to 15 nearly. The equatorial diameter of Mars reduced to the mean distance of tho earth from the sun is 9" 8'". And that planet has a considerable but moderate atmosphere, so that its inhabitants probably enjoy a situation in many respects similar to ours.
Page 342 - IT. p. 165 (1922). Eddington has calculated a relativity shift of 20 km./sec. on the basis of a spectral type of Fo and an effective temperature of 8000° for the companion. The resulting density is 53,000 for a radius of 19,600 km. Although such a degree of agreement can only be regarded as accidental for observations as difficult as these, the inherent accord of the measurements made by different methods, and in particular with the registering microphotoineter, is thoroughly satisfactory.