Astronomy for Amateurs by Camille Flammarion (ereader for android .TXT) 📖

Contemplation   Frontispiece   From a painting by Paul Renaud   FIG.   PAGE 1. The great Book of the Heavens is open to all eyes 15 2. The earth in space. June solstice, midday 20 3. The Great Bear (or Dipper) and the Pole Star 34 4. To find the Pole Star 35 5. To find Cassiopeia 37 6. To find Pegasus and Andromeda 37 7. Perseus, the Pleiades, Capella 38 8. To find Arcturus, the Herdsman, and the Northern Crown 40 9. The Swan, Vega, the Eagle 41 10. The Constellations of the Zodiac: summer and autumn; Capricorn, Archer, Scorpion, Balance, Virgin, Lion 46 11. The Constellations of the Zodiac: winter and spring; Crab, Twins, Bull, Ram, Fishes, Water-Carrier 47 12. Orion and his celestial companions 48 13. Winter Constellations 51 14. Spring Constellations 52 15. Summer Constellations 53 16. Autumn Constellations 54 17. The double star Mizar 69 18. Triple star ξ in Cancer 72 19. Quadruple star ε of the Lyre 73 20. Sextuple star θ in the Nebula of Orion 74 21. The Star-Cluster in Hercules 79 22. The Star-Cluster in the Centaur 80 23. The Nebula in Andromeda 81 24. Nebula in the Greyhounds 82 25. The Pleiades 83 26. Occultation of the Pleiades by the Moon 85 27. Stellar dial of the double star γ of the Virgin 86 28. Comparative sizes of the Sun and Earth 93 29. Direct photograph of the Sun 96 30. Telescopic aspect of a Sun-Spot 97 31. Rose-colored solar flames 228,000 kilometers (141,500 miles) in height, i.e., 18 times the diameter of the Earth 103 32. Orbits of the four Planets nearest to the Sun 115 33. Orbits of the four Planets farthest from the Sun 116 34. Mercury near quadrature 117 35. The Earth viewed from Mercury 119 36. The Evening Star 123 37. Successive phases of Venus 124 38. Venus at greatest brilliancy 126 39. The Earth viewed from Venus 130 40. Diminution of the polar snows of Mars during the summer 136 41. Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., 1901) 137 42. Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., 1901) 138 43. Chart of Mars 140 44. The Earth viewed from Mars 144 45. Telescopic aspect of Jupiter 150 46. Jupiter and his four principal satellites 155 47. Saturn 159 48. Varying perspective of Saturn's Rings, as seen from the Earth 161 49. The Great Comet of 1858 174 50. What our Ancestors saw in a Comet [After Ambroise Paré (1858)] 177 51. Prodigies seen in the Heavens by our Forefathers 178 52. The orbit of a Periodic Comet 182 53. The tails of Comets are opposed to the Sun 185 54. A Meteor 191 55. Shooting Stars of November 12, 1799 [From a contemporary drawing] 196 56. Fire-Ball seen from the Observatory at Juvisy, August 10, 1899 199 57. Explosion of a Fire-Ball above Madrid, February 10, 1896 200 58. Raphael's Fire-Ball (The Madonna of Foligno) 202 59. A Uranolith 203 60. Motion of the Earth round the Sun 222 61. Inclination of the Earth 224 62. The divisions of the globe. Longitudes and latitudes 226 63. To find the long and short months 230 64. The Full Moon slowly rises 234 65. The Moon viewed with the unaided eye 236 66. The Man's head in the Moon 237 67. Woman's head in the Moon 238 68. The kiss in the Moon 239 69. Photograph of the Moon 240 70. The Moon's Phases 241 71. Map of the Moon 247 72. The Lunar Apennines 251 73. Flammarion's Lunar Ring 253 74. Lunar landscape with the Earth in the sky 254 75. Battle between the Medes and Lydians arrested by an Eclipse of the Sun 266 76. Eclipse of the Moon at Laos (February 27, 1877) 269 77. The path of the Eclipse of May 28, 1900 273 78. Total eclipse of the Sun, May 28, 1900, as observed from Elche (Spain) 281 79. The Eclipse of May 28, 1900, as photographed by King Alfonso XIII, at Madrid 285 80. Measurement of Angles 289 81. Division of the Circumference into 360 degrees 291 82. Measurement of the distance of the Moon 292 83. Measurement of the distance of the Sun 297 84. Small apparent ellipses described by the stars as a result of the annual displacement of the Earth 306

INTRODUCTION

The Science of Astronomy is sublime and beautiful. Noble, elevating, consoling, divine, it gives us wings, and bears us through Infinitude. In these ethereal regions all is pure, luminous, and splendid. Dreams of the Ideal, even of the Inaccessible, weave their subtle spells upon us. The imagination soars aloft, and aspires to the sources of Eternal Beauty.

What greater delight can be conceived, on a fine spring evening, at the hour when the crescent moon is shining in the West amid the last glimmer of twilight, than the contemplation of that grand and silent spectacle of the stars stepping forth in sequence in the vast Heavens? All sounds of life die out upon the earth, the last notes of the sleepy birds have sunk away, the Angelus of the church hard by has rung the close of day. But if life is arrested around us, we may seek it in the Heavens. These incandescing orbs are so many points of interrogation suspended above our heads in the inaccessible depths of space.... Gradually they multiply. There is Venus, the white star of the shepherd. There Mars, the little celestial world so near our own. There the giant Jupiter. The seven stars of the Great Bear seem to point out the pole, while they slowly revolve around it.... What is this nebulous light that blanches the darkness of the heavens, and traverses the constellations like a celestial path? It is the Galaxy, the Milky Way, composed of millions on millions of suns!... The darkness is profound, the abyss immense.... See! Yonder a shooting star glides silently across the sky, and disappears!...

Who can remain insensible to this magic spectacle of the starry Heavens? Where is the mind that is not attracted to these enigmas? The intelligence of the amateur, the feminine, no less than the more material and prosaic masculine mind, is well adapted to the consideration of astronomical problems. Women, indeed, are naturally predisposed to these contemplative studies. And the part they are called to play in the education of our children is so vast, and so important, that the elements of Astronomy might well be taught by the young mother herself to the budding minds that are curious about every issue—whose first impressions are so keen and so enduring.

Throughout the ages women have occupied themselves successfully with Astronomy, not merely in its contemplative and descriptive, but also in its mathematical aspects. Of such, the most illustrious was the beautiful and learned Hypatia of Alexandria, born in the year 375 of our era, public lecturer on geometry, algebra, and astronomy, and author of three works of great importance. Then, in that age of ignorance and fanaticism, she fell a victim to human stupidity and malice, was dragged from her chariot while crossing the Cathedral Square, in March, 415, stripped of her garments, stoned to death, and burned as a dishonored witch!

Among the women inspired with a passion for the Heavens may be cited St. Catherine of Alexandria, admired for her learning, her beauty and her virtue. She was martyred in the reign of Maximinus Daza, about the year 312, and has given her name to one of the lunar rings.

Another celebrated female mathematician was Madame Hortense Lepaute, born in 1723, who collaborated with Clairaut in the immense calculations by which he predicted the return of Halley's Comet. "Madame Lepaute," wrote Lalande, "gave us such immense assistance that, without her, we should never have ventured to undertake this enormous labor, in which it was necessary to calculate for every degree, and for a hundred and fifty years, the distances and forces of the planets acting by their attraction on the comet. During more than six months, we calculated from morning to night, sometimes even at table, and as the result of this forced labor I contracted an illness that has changed my constitution for life; but it was important to publish the result before the arrival of the comet."

This extract will suffice for the appreciation of the