Report of the Committee of the Overseers of Harvard College Appointed to Visit the Observatory in the Year ....G.C. Rand & Avery, 1860 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Aglaja American Academy Annals apparatus APPOINTED TO VISIT asteroid BOARD OF OVERSEERS Boston Cambridge Camelop Cephei clock Comet of Donati Committee appointed COMMITTEE FOR VISITING complete computation connection DAVID SEARS declination determination Director dome Donations Dudley Observatory Elements and Ephemeris Elements of Comet Elliptic Encke's Comet engravings Ephemeris Equatorial errors Europe Feronia G. P. Bond Greenwich H. P. Tuttle Hall Harvard College HARVARD COLLEGE APPOINTED INGERSOLL BOWDITCH instrument JARED SPARKS Josiah Quincy July Jupiter labor last Report LL.D Maja meridian Messrs Moon nebula of Orion nucleus object object-glass Observations of Comet Observatory of Harvard OVERSEERS OF HARVARD Paris Phillips Library planet positions present Prof proper motion publication RAND & AVERY reduction refractor right ascension ROBERT TREAT PAINE Royal Astronomical Society Royal Observatory Saturn Sirius spiral stars Struve T. H. Safford tail telescope tion transits Ursæ VISIT THE OBSERVATORY WILLIAM MITCHELL
Popular passages
Page 17 - I should describe the head as nearly equal in brightness to that of the great comet of 1858 between the 30th of September and the 5th of October; it should be considered, however, that the present comet was better situated, from its higher position above the horizon at the end of twilight. " The aspect of the principal tail suggested a resemblance of the comet of March, 1843.
Page 16 - The suddenness of the apparition of the comet in northern latitudes was one of the most impressive of its characteristics. On the 2d of July after the twilight had disappeared, the head, to the naked eye, was much brighter than a star of the first magnitude, if only the effective impression be taken into account, although as to intensity it was far inferior to o Lyrae, or even to a Ursse Majoris. I should describe the head as nearly equal in brightness to that of the great comet of 1858...
Page 14 - ... only faintly presented, were overlooked, or, appearing by mere suggestions and glimpses of vision, they conveyed an erroneous impression ; in this way the mutual relation of the various parts came to be entirely misconceived. The missing links were supplied by the larger optical power of Lord Rosse's telescope, too plainly not to insure notice ; and the nebula then presented itself under a totally different aspect. Instances of similar revelations, completely at variance with previous conjectures,...
Page 18 - It was then evident that a diffuse, dim light with very uncertain outlines, apparently composed of hazy filaments, swept off in a strong curve towards the stars in the tail of Ursa Major — the southern edge directed as low as towards Mizar. This was evidently a broad curved tail, intersected on its curved side at the distance of a few degrees from the nucleus by the long straight ray which at the first glance, from its greatly superior brightness, seemed alone to constitute the tail. The two were...
Page 12 - The general aspect of the greater part of the nebula is therefore that of an assemblage of curved wisps of luminous matter, which, branching outward from a common origin in the bright masses in the vicinity of the Trapezium, sweep towards a southerly direction, on either side of an axis passing through the apex of the Regio Huygeniana, nearly in the angle of position 180°.
Page 13 - ... do, what would otherwise appear as breaks of continuity, and assisting materially in the recognition of a principle of regularity pervading the whole structure. Until the law of relation and continuity in the several parts of such an object is entertained in the mind, it must remain an incoherent, confused assemblage of material, having no orderly or connected arrangement. The change from the previous notion of its configuration is not more considerable than that which took place with reference...
Page 3 - Meeting of the BOARD OF OVERSEERS OF HARVARD COLLEGE, held in the Senate Chamber, in Boston, on the 31st day of January, 1856, his Excellency the Governor in the Chair, the Hon.
Page 2 - LL.D. Robert T. Paine, Esq. J. Ingersoll Bowditch, Esq. Henry C. Perkins, MD David Sears, Jr., Esq. Rev.
Page 17 - September and the 5th of October ; it should be considered, however, that the present comet was better situated, from its higher position above the horizon at the end of twilight. The aspect of the tail suggested a resemblance to the comet of March, 1843. It was a narrow, straight ray, projected to a distance of one hundred and six degrees (106°) from the nucleus, being easily distinguishable quite up to the borders of the milky way.