Astronomy Explained Upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles: And made easy to those who have not studied mathematicsFerguson, James
Science
Astronomy Explained Upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles: And made easy to those who have not studied mathematics
Ferguson, James
Astronomy -- Early works to 1800
In order to have a tolerably good figure of the paths of
these Satellites, I took the following method.
[Sidenote: Fig. IV.
PL. VII.
How to delineate the paths of Jupiter’s Moons.
And Saturn’s.]
Having drawn their Orbits on a Card, in proportion to their relative
distances from Jupiter, I measured the radius of the Orbit of the fourth
Satellite, which was an inch and a tenth part; then multiplied this by
424 for the radius of Jupiter’s Orbit, because Jupiter is 424 times as
far from the Sun’s center as his fourth Satellite is from his center;
and the product thence arising was 466-4/10 inches. Then taking a small
cord of this length, and fixing one end of it to the floor of a long
room by a nail, with a black lead pencil at the other end I drew the
curve _ABCD_ &c. and set off a degree and an half thereon, from _A_ to
_T_; because Jupiter moves only so much, whilst his outermost Satellite
goes once round him, and somewhat more; so that this small portion of so
large a circle differs but very little from a straight line. This done,
I divided the space _AT_ into 18 equal parts, as _AB_, _BC_, &c. for the
daily progress of Jupiter; and each part into 24 for his hourly
progress. The Orbit of each Satellite was also divided into as many
equal parts as the Satellite is hours in finishing it’s synodical period
round Jupiter. Then drawing a right line through the center of the Card,
as a diameter to all the 4 Orbits upon it, I put the card upon the line
of Jupiter’s motion, and transferred it to every horary division
thereon, keeping always the said diameter-line on the line of Jupiter’s
path; and running a pin through each horary division in the Orbit of
each Satellite as the card was gradually transferred along the Line
_ABCD_ etc. of Jupiter’s motion, I marked points for every hour through
the Card for the Curves described by the Satellites as the primary
planet in the center of the Card was carried forward on the line: and so
finished the Figure, by drawing the lines of each Satellite’s motion,
through those (almost innumerable) points: by which means, this is
perhaps as true a Figure of the paths of these Satellites as can be
desired. And in the same manner might those for Saturn’s Satellites be
delineated.
[Sidenote: The grand Period of Jupiter’s Moons.]
270. It appears by the scheme, that the three first Satellites come
almost into the same line or position every seventh day; the first being
only a little behind with the second, and the second behind with the
third. But the period of the fourth Satellite is so incommensurate to
the periods of the other three, that it cannot be guessed at by the
diagram when it would fall again into a line of conjunction with them,
between Jupiter and the Sun. And no wonder; for supposing them all to
have been once in conjunction, it will require 3,087,043,493,260 years
to bring them in a conjunction again: See § 73.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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