Recreations in Astronomy - With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work

Recreations in Astronomy

-

With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work

by

Henry White Warren

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Contents

Recreations in Astronomy - With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work

A Brief History of Astronomy

PREFACE.

I. CREATIVE PROCESSES.

II. CREATIVE PROGRESS.

Constitution of Light.

Chemistry of Suns revealed by Light.

Creative Force of Light.

III. ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS.

The Telescope

The Spectroscope.

IV. CELESTIAL MEASUREMENTS.

Celestial Movements.

V. THE SUN.

What the Sun does for us.

VI. THE PLANETS, AS SEEN FROM SPACE.

VI. THE PLANETS, AS SEEN FROM SPACE

The Outlook from the Earth.

VII. SHOOTING-STARS, METEORS, AND COMETS.

VII. SHOOTING-STARS, METEORS, AND COMETS.

Aerolites.

Comets.

Famous Comets.

Of what do Comets consist?

Will Comets strike the Earth?

VIII. THE PLANETS AS INDIVIDUALS.

The Aurora Borealis.

The Delicate Balance of Forces.

Tides.

Telescopic Appearance.

Eclipses.

Satellites of Mars.

Satellites of Jupiter.

Rings of Saturn.

Satellites of Saturn.

IX. THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS.

X. THE STELLAR SYSTEM.

X. THE OPEN PAGE OF THE HEAVENS.

Equatorial Constellations.

Characteristics of the Stars.

Number.

Double and Multiple Stars.

Colored Stars.

Clusters of Stars.

Nebulæ.

Variable Stars.

Temporary, New, and Lost Stars.

Movements of Stars.

XI. THE WORLDS AND THE WORD.

XII. THE ULTIMATE FORCE.

SUMMARY OF LATEST DISCOVERIES AND CONCLUSIONS.

SOME ELEMENTS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

EXPLANATION OF ASTRONOMICAL SYMBOLS.

CHAUTAUQUA OUTLINE FOR STUDENTS.

GLOSSARY OF ASTRONOMICAL TERMS AND INDEX.

TO FIND THE STARS IN THE SKY.

Illustrations

Fig. 1.—Orbit A D, resulting from attraction, A C, and projetile force, A B.

Fig. 2. The Moon’s Orbit about the Earth

Fig. 3.—Changes of orbit by mutual attraction.

Fig. 4.—Velocity of Light measured by Eclipses of Jupiter’s Moons.

Fig. 5.—Measuring the Velocity of Light.

Fig. 6.—White Light resolved into Colors.

Fig. 7.—Showing amount of Light received by Different Planets

Fig. 8.—Measuring Intensities of Light.

Fig. 9.—Reflection and Diffusion of Light.

Fig. 10.—Manifold Reflections.

Fig. 11.—Refraction by Water

Fig. 12.—Atmospherical Refraction.

Fig. 13.—Refracting Telescope.

Fig. 14.—Reflecting Telescope.

Fig. 15.—Cambridge Equatorial.

Fig. 16.—New Paris Reflector.

Fig. 17.—Spectroscope, with Battery of Prisms.

Fig. 18.—Spectra of glowing Hydrogen and the Sun.

Fig. 19.—Illustrating Arcs and Angles

Fig. 20.—Illustration of Angles.

Fig. 21.—Mural Circle.

Fig. 22.—Scale to measure Hundredths of an Inch

Fig. 23.—Transit of a Star noted.

Fig. 24. —Illustrating Triangulation

Fig. 25.—Measuring Distances.

Fig. 26.—Measuring Elevations.

Fig. 27.—Illustrating Parallax

Fig. 28.—Illustrating Stellar Parallax

Fig. 29.—Mode of Ascertaining Longitude.

Fig. 30.—Relative Size of Sun as seen from Different Planets.

Fig. 31.—Zodiacal Light.

Fig. 32.—The Corona in 1858, Brazil.

Fig. 33.—The Corolla in 1878, Colorado.

Fig. 34.—Solar Prominences of Flaming Hydrogen.

Fig. 35.—Change in Spots as rotated across the Disk, showing Cavities.

Fig. 36.—Solar spot, by Langley.

Fig. 37.—Holding Telescope to see the Sun’s Spots.

Fig. 38.—Orbits and Comparative Sizes of the Planets.

Fig. 39.—Orbit of Earth, showing Parallelism of Axis and Seasons.

Fig. 40.—Inclination of the Planes of Orbits.

Fig. 41.—Inclination of Orbits of Venus and Earth. Nodal Line, D B.

Fig. 42.—Showing the Sun’s Movement among the Stars.

Fig. 43. —Passage of the Sun by Star Regulus

Fig. 44. —Apparent Path of Jupiter among the Stars

Fig. 45. —Showing Position of Planets.

Fig. 46.—Apparent Movements of an Inferior Planet.

Fig. 47.—Illustrating Movements of a Superior Planet.

A SWARM OF METEORS MEETING THE EARTH.

Fig. 48.—Explosion of a Bolide.

Fig. 49.—Bolides.

Fig. 50.—Santa Rosa Aerolite.

Fig. 51.—Orbit of the November Meteors and the Comet or 1866.

Fig. 52.—Aspects of Remarkable Comets.

Fig. 53.—Phases of Venus, and Varions Apparent Dimensions.

Fig. 54.—Earth and Moon in Space.

Fig. 55.—The Aurora as Waving Curtains.

Fig. 56. —Tide resulting from Centrifugal Motion

Fig. 57.—Lunar Day.

Fig. 58.—View of the Moon near the Third Quarter. From a Photograph by Professor Henry Draper.

Fig. 59.—Illumination of Craters and Peaks.

Fig. 60.—Lunar Crater Copernicus, after Secchi.

Fig. 61.—Eclipses; Shadows of Earth and Moon.

Fig. 62.—Apparent Size of Mars at Mean and Extreme Distances.

Fig. 63.—Jupiter as seen by the great Washington Telescope. Drawn by Mr. Holden.

Fig. 64.—a. Various Positions of Jupiter’s Moons; b. Greatest Elongation of each Satellite.

Fig. 65.—View of Saturn and his Rings.

Fig. 66.—Perturbation of Uranus.

Fig. 67.—Circumpolar Constellations. Always visible. In this position.—January 20th, at 10 o’clock; February 4th, at 9 o’clock; and February 19th, at 8 o’clock.

Fig. 68.—Algol is on the Meridian, 51° South of Pole.—At 10 o’clock, December 7th; 9 o’clock, December 22d; 8 o’clock, January 5th.

Fig. 69.—Capella (45° from the Pole) and Rigel (100°) are on the Meridian at 8 o’clock February 7th, 9 o’clock January 22d, and at 10 o’clock January 7th.

Fig. 70—Regulus comes on the Meridian, 79° south from the Pole, at 10 o’clock March 23d, 9 o’clock April 8th, and at 8 o’clock April 23d.

Fig. 7l.—Arcturus comes to the Meridian, 70° from the Pole, at 10 o’clock May 25th, 9 o’clock June 9th, and at 8 o’clock June 25th.

Fig. 72.—Altair comes to the Meridian, 82° from the Pole, at 10 o’clock P.M. August 18th, at 9 o’clock September 2d, and at 8 o’clock September 18th.

Fig. 73.—Fomalhaut comes to the Meridian, only 17° from the horizon, at 8 o’clock November 4th.

Fig. 74.—Southern Circumpolar Constellations invisible north of the Equator.

Fig. 75.—Aspects and Revolution of Double Stars.

Fig. 76.—Sprayed Cluster below η in Hercules.

Fig. 77.—Globular Cluster.

Fig. 78.—The great Nebula about the multiple Star θ Orionis. (See Frontispiece.)

Fig. 79.—Crab Nebula, near ζ Tauri. (See Frontispiece.)

Fig. 80.—The Ring Nebula.

Fig. 81.—Constellation Lyra, showing place of the Ring Nebula.

Fig. 82.—Horizontal Pendulum.

A Brief History of Astronomy

Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological and astrological practices of pre-history. Early cultures identified celestial objects with gods and spirits – and related these objects (and their movements) to worldly phenomena. Rains, droughts, seasons and tides were all explained via the heavenly realm. It is generally believed that the first ‘professional’ astronomers were priests and that their understanding of the skies was seen as ‘divine’, hence astronomy’s ancient connection to what is now called ‘astrology’. This area of knowledge, a complex mix of belief and science, has been developed all over the world – from cultures and countries as diverse as China, India, the ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, the medieval Islamic and the western world. It is, of course, still evolving today.

In the last couple of decades, our understanding of prehistoric European astronomy in particular has radically changed. This occurred with the discoveries of ancient astronomical artefacts such as the world’s oldest observatory, the ‘Goseck circle.’ Located in Germany, the site proves that Bronze Age Central Europeans had a much more sophisticated grasp of mathematics and astronomy than was previously assumed. According to Berlin archaeologist Klaus Goldmann, ‘European civilization goes further back than most of us ever believed.’ The enclosure is one of hundreds of similar wooden circular Henges built throughout Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic during a 200-year period around 4,900 BC. While the sites vary in size (the one at Goseck is around 220 feet in diameter) they all have the same features: A narrow ditch surrounding a circular wooden wall, with a few large gates equally spaced around the outer edge. These gaps were used to observe the sun in the course of the calendar year and at the winter solstice, observers at the centre would have seen the sun rise and set through the south east and southwest gates.

The Ancient Greeks further developed astronomy, which they treated as a branch of mathematics, to a highly sophisticated level. The first geometrical, three-dimensional models to explain the apparent motion of the planets were developed in the fourth century BC by Eudoxus of Cnidus and Callippus of Cyzicus. Their models were based on nested homocentric spheres centred upon the Earth. A different approach to celestial phenomena was taken by natural philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. They were less concerned with developing mathematical predictive models than with developing an explanation of the reasons for the motions of the Cosmos. In his Timaeus Plato described the universe as a spherical body divided into circles carrying the planets and governed according to harmonic intervals by a world soul. Aristotle, drawing on the mathematical model of Eudoxus, proposed that the universe was made of a complex system of concentric spheres, whose circular motions combined to carry the planets around the earth. This basic cosmological model prevailed, in various forms, until the sixteenth century AD.

Depending on the historian’s viewpoint, the acme or corruption of physical Greek astronomy is seen with Ptolemy of Alexandria, who wrote the classic comprehensive presentation of geocentric astronomy, the Megale Syntaxis (Great Synthesis). Better known by its Arabic title Almagest, it had a lasting effect on astronomy up to the Renaissance. In this work, Ptolemy ventured into the realm of cosmology, developing a physical model of his geometric system, in a universe many times smaller than earlier (more realistic) conceptions It was not until the scholarly endeavours of Nicolaus Copernicus that astronomy developed much beyond this point. Copernicus was the first astronomer to propose a heliocentric system, in which the planets moved around the sun not the earth. His De revolutionibus provided a full mathematical discussion of his system, using the geometrical techniques that had been traditional in astronomy since before the time of Ptolemy. Copernicus’s work was later defended, expanded upon and modified by Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler.

Galileo is considered the father of observational astronomy. He was among the first to use a telescope to observe the sky, and after constructing a 20x refractor telescope he discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter in 1610. This was the first observation of satellites orbiting another planet. He also found that our Moon had craters and observed (and correctly explained) sunspots. Galileo argued that these observations supported the Copernican system and were, to some extent, incompatible with the model of the Earth at the centre of the universe. Kepler built on this work, and was one of the first scholars to unite physics and astronomy. Kepler was the first to attempt to derive mathematical predictions of celestial motions from assumed physical causes. Combining his physical insights with the unprecedentedly accurate naked-eye observations made by Tycho Brahe, Kepler discovered the three laws of planetary motion that now carry his name.

Isaac Newton further developed these ties, through his law of ‘universal gravitation.’ Realising that the same force that attracted objects to the surface of the Earth held the moon in orbit around the Earth, Newton was able to explain – in one theoretical framework – all known gravitational phenomena. In his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, he derived Kepler’s laws from first principles. Much of modern physics (and indeed modern astronomy, as the two are now very closely linked) builds on these very discoveries. Outside of England however, Newton’s theory took a long time to become established; Descartes’ theory of vortices held sway in France, and Huygens, Leibnitz and Cassini accepted only parts of Newton’s system, preferring their own philosophies. It wasn’t until Voltaire published a popular account in 1738 that the tide changed. In America, it was not until the mid-seventeenth century that astronomical thought began to move away from the much respected Aristotelian philosophy.

Today, astronomy is a vast and incredibly complex field of research, studied by scientists all over the globe. Although in previous centuries noted astronomers were exclusively male, at the turn of the twentieth century women began to play a role in the great discoveries. It was during this most recent century that most of our current knowledge was gained. With the help of the use of photography, fainter objects were observed. Our sun was found to be part of a galaxy made up of more than 1010 stars (ten billion stars). The existence of other galaxies, one of the matters of the great debate, was settled by Edwin Hubble, who identified the Andromeda nebula as a different galaxy, and many others at large distances and receding, moving away from our galaxy. Physical cosmology, a discipline that has a large intersection with astronomy, also made huge advances during the twentieth century; the hot big bang model was heavily supported by evidence such as the redshifts of very distant galaxies and radio sources, the cosmic microwave background radiation, Hubble’s law and cosmological abundances of elements.

As is evident from this incredibly short introduction to astronomy, it is a branch of knowledge that has changed massively from its early beginnings. Having said this, the study of the stars, skies and heavenly realms has continued to be an enduring source of human fascination. The work of scholars such as Newton, Kepler, Galileo, Ptolemy and Aristotle has had a massive impact on the way we understand the world around us. This collection celebrates the work of these early astronomers. There is still so much to discover, so many assumptions to be questioned - and the scientists of today are heavily indebted to the pioneers of the past, who did just this. We hope the current reader enjoys this book.

THE CONSTELLATIONS OF ORION AND TAURUS.

NOTES.—Star α in Taurus is red, has eight metals; moves east. At o above tip of right horn is the Crab Nebula. In Orion, α is variable, has five metals; recedes 22 miles per second. β, δ, ε, ξ, ρ, etc., are double stars, the component parts of various colors and magnitudes. λ and ι are triple; σ, octuple; θ, multiple, surrounded by a fine Nebula.

RECREATIONS IN ASTRONOMY

WITH

DIRECTIONS FOR PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS AND TELESCOPIC WORK

BY

HENRY WHITE WARREN, D.D.

AUTHOR OF SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS; OR, KNOWLEDGE BY TRAVEL, ETC.

WITH EIGHTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS OF STARS

ΤΗΙ ΨΥΧΗΙ

ΤΗΙ ΑΓΑΠΗΤΗΙ

ΑΣΤΡΑΠΤΟΥΣΗΙ

ΚΑΙ

ΙΣΑΓΓΕΔΩΙ

PREFACE.

All sciences are making an advance, but Astronomy is moving at the double-quick. Since the principles of this science were settled by Copernicus, four hundred years ago, it has never had to beat a retreat. It is rewritten not to correct material errors, but to incorporate new discoveries.

Once Astronomy treated mostly of tides, seasons, and telescopic aspects of the planets; now these are only primary matters. Once it considered stars as mere fixed points of light; now it studies them as suns, determines their age, size, color, movements, chemical constitution, and the revolution of their planets. Once it considered space as empty; now it knows that every cubic inch of it quivers with greater intensity of force than that which is visible in Niagara. Every inch of surface that can be conceived of between suns is more wave-tossed than the ocean in a storm.

The invention of the telescope constituted one era in Astronomy; its perfection in our day, another; and the discoveries of the spectroscope a third—no less important than either of the others.

While nearly all men are prevented from practical experimentation in these high realms of knowledge, few Page viii have so little leisure as to be debarred from intelligently enjoying the results of the investigations of others.

This book has been written not only to reveal some of the highest achievements of the human mind, but also to let the heavens declare the glory of the Divine Mind. In the author’s judgment, there is no gulf that separates science and religion, nor any conflict where they stand together. And it is fervently hoped that anyone who comes to a better knowledge of God’s works through reading this book, may thereby come to a more intimate knowledge of the Worker.

I take great pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to J. M. Van Vleck, LL.D., of the U.S. Nautical Almanac staff, and Professor of Astronomy at the Wesleyan University, for inspecting some of the more important chapters; to Dr. S. S. White, of Philadelphia, for telescopic advantages; to Professor Henry Draper, for furnishing, in advance of publication, a photograph of the sun’s corona in 1878; and to the excellent work on Popular Astronomy, by Professor Simon Newcomb, LL.D., Professor U. S. Naval Observatory, for some of the most recent information, and for the use of the unequalled engravings of Jupiter, Saturn, and the great nebula of Orion.

I.

CREATIVE PROCESSES.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

—Genesis i. 1, 2.

"Not to the domes, where crumbling arch and column

  Attest the feebleness of mortal hand,

But to that fane, most catholic and solemn,

  Which God hath planned,—

To that cathedral, boundless as our wonder,

  Whose quenchless lamps the sun and stars supply;

Its choir the winds and waves, its organ thunder,

  Its dome the sky."    H. W. LONGFELLOW.

"The heavens are a point from the pen of His perfection;

The world is a rose-bud from the bower of His beauty;

The sun is a spark from the light of His wisdom;

And the sky a bubble on the sea of His power."

  SIR W. JONES.

During all the ages there has been one bright and glittering page of loftiest wisdom unrolled before the eye of man. That this page may be read in every part, man’s whole world turns him before it. This motion apparently changes the eternally stable stars into a moving panorama, but it is only so in appearance. The sky is a vast, immovable dial-plate of that clock whose pendulum ticks ages instead of seconds, and whose time is eternity. The moon moves among the illuminated figures, traversing the dial quickly, like a second-hand, once a month. The sun, like a minute-hand, goes over the dial once a year. Various planets stand for hour-hands, moving over the dial in various periods reaching up to one hundred and sixty-four years; while the earth, like a ship of exploration, sails the infinite azure, bearing the observers to different points where they may investigate the infinite problems of this mighty machinery.

This dial not only shows present movements, but it keeps the history of uncounted ages past ready to be read backward in proper order; and it has glorious volumes of prophecy, revealing the far-off future to any man who is able to look thereon, break the seals, and read the record. Glowing stars are the alphabet of this lofty page. They combine to form words. Meteors, rainbows, auroras, shifting groups of stars, make pictures vast and significant as the armies, angels, and falling stars in the Revelation of St. John—changing and progressive pictures of infinite wisdom and power.

Men have not yet advanced as far as those who saw the pictures John describes, and hence the panorama is not understood. That continuous speech that day after day uttereth is not heard; the knowledge that night after night showeth is not seen; and the invisible things of God from the creation of the world, even his eternal power and Godhead, clearly discoverable from things that are made, are not apprehended.

The greatest triumphs of men’s minds have been in astronomy—and ever must be. We have not learned its alphabet yet. We read only easy lessons, with as many mistakes as happy guesses. But in time we shall know all the letters, become familiar with the combinations, be apt at their interpretation, and will read with facility the lessons of wisdom and power that are written on the earth, blazoned in the skies, and pictured by the flowers below and the rainbows above.

In order to know how worlds move and develop, we must create them; we must go back to their beginning, give their endowment of forces, and study the laws of their unfolding. This we can easily do by that faculty wherein man is likest his Father, a creative imagination. God creates and embodies; we create, but it remains in thought only. But the creation is as bright, strong, clear, enduring, and real, as if it were embodied. Every one of us would make worlds enough to crush us, if we could embody as well as create. Our ambition would outrun our wisdom. Let us come into the high and ecstatic frame of mind which Shakspeare calls frenzy, in the exigencies of his verse, when

"The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;

And, as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet’s