Round the year with the stars: The chief beauties of the starry heavens as seen with the naked eye — John Shaqi
Round the year with the stars: The chief beauties of the starry heavens as seen with the naked eyeServiss, Garrett Putman
Science
Round the year with the stars: The chief beauties of the starry heavens as seen with the naked eye
Serviss, Garrett Putman
Astronomy -- Popular works
Next, suppose that without changing the hour of observation he changes
the date, and instead of observing on the 20th of March he observes
on the 5th. Then he will notice precisely the same difference that
was manifest when his observation was made an hour too early on March
20th--_i. e._, some of the eastern stars on the chart will not yet have
risen, and other stars, not on that particular chart, will be visible
in the west. Although at first all this may be a little confusing to
the beginner, he will soon find that he can make due allowance for the
changes of aspect. The whole matter becomes very simple when it is
remembered that the heavens have a double revolution toward the west;
one of these revolutions, due to the earth’s rotation on its axis,
being effected in twenty-four hours, and the other, due to the earth’s
revolution round the sun, requiring an entire year. One hour of the
daily revolution (represented by an hour of right ascension) produces
the same effect on the position of the stars as two weeks of the annual
revolution; or two hours of the first correspond to one month of the
second.
If the observations are made at a later date or a later hour than
those indicated on the chart, the changes will occur in the reverse
order--_i. e._, western stars will have disappeared and eastern stars
will have come up into view.
I particularly wish to impress upon the beginner the needlessness of
being troubled about these discrepancies. He can avoid all possibility
of perplexity by fitting his observations to the exact times of
the charts. As I have already said, a difference of a few degrees
in his latitude on the earth may be disregarded. The charts, with a
slight allowance for the shift of position of the extreme northern
and southern stars, are available for any of the middle latitudes of
the northern hemisphere. And if the effects of a change of hour or
date prove in the least confusing, the beginner has only to await the
given date and the given hour, and all will be clear. Then, as soon as
he has become familiar with a few of the leading constellations, the
others, which in themselves are not so easily recognizable, will fall
into their proper places, after which there can be no possibility of
confusion. In fact, much less effort is required to become familiar
with the aspect of the starry sky than is demanded for a similar
acquaintance with the fundamental data of botany, mineralogy, geology,
or any other of the observational branches of natural science.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account