Side-Lights on Astronomy and Kindred Fields of Popular Science — John Shaqi
Side-Lights on Astronomy and Kindred Fields of Popular ScienceNewcomb, Simon
Science
Side-Lights on Astronomy and Kindred Fields of Popular Science
Newcomb, Simon
Astronomy; Compass; Flying-machines; Hyperspace; Learning and scholarship; Rain-making
Another feature showing the unity of the system is the symmetry of the
heavens on the two sides of the galactic belt Let us return to our
supposition of such a position of the celestial sphere, with respect to
the horizon, that the latter coincides with the central line of this
belt, one galactic pole being near our zenith. The celestial hemisphere
which, being above our horizon, is visible to us, is the one to which
we have hitherto directed our attention in describing the distribution
of the stars. But below our horizon is another hemisphere, that of our
antipodes, which is the counterpart of ours. The stars which it
contains are in a different part of the universe from those which we
see, and, without unity of plan, would not be subject to the same law.
But the most accurate counts of stars that have been made fail to show
any difference in their general arrangement in the two hemispheres.
They are just as thick around the south galactic poles as around the
north one. They show the same tendency to crowd towards the Milky Way
in the hemisphere invisible to us as in the hemisphere which we see.
Slight differences and irregularities, are, indeed, found in the
enumeration, but they are no greater than must necessarily arise from
the difficulty of stopping our count at a perfectly fixed magnitude.
The aim of star-counts is not to estimate the total number of stars,
for this is beyond our power, but the number visible with a given
telescope. In such work different observers have explored different
parts of the sky, and in a count of the same region by two observers we
shall find that, although they attempt to stop at the same magnitude,
each will include a great number of stars which the other omits. There
is, therefore, room for considerable difference in the numbers of stars
recorded, without there being any actual inequality between the two
hemispheres.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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