Views of the Architecture of the Heavens: In a Series of Letters to a Lady |
Common terms and phrases
36 OPHIUCHI 40 ERIDANI 61 CYGNI actual appear ascer ascertained astronomers bodies bright brilliant centre cluster colour comets comparatively compressed condensation connected constitution descry diameter diffused discovery double stars epochs equal exhibit existence faint farther firmament foregoing gravity greater number Heavens hypothesis indicate inference infinite instance instrument intervals labour light luminaries magnitude manifestly mass ments mighty Milky Mizar mode naked eye nature nebula Nebular Hypothesis Nichol Lithog number of stars object observation optical orbits orbs order of distances parallax peculiar perhaps period phenomena phenomenon planetary planets Plate position present principle probably proper motion proximity quantity reach referred regions remarkable remote revolving ring rotation separated shape shew singular Sir John Herschel Sir William Herschel Sirius solar space space-penetrating power speculation sphere spot stellar stratum Struve Suppose telescope tion truth Universe URSÆ VARIABLE STARS variations vast velocity visible whole wonderful Zodiacal Light zone
Popular passages
Page 107 - ... a red and a green, or a yellow and a blue one — must afford a planet circulating about either; and what charming contrasts and "grateful vicissitudes," — a red and a green day, for instance, alternating with a white one and with darkness, — might arise from the presence or absence of one or other, or both, above the horizon.
Page 22 - Way is not a mere stratum, but an annulus ; or, at least, that our system is placed within one of the poorer and almost vacant parts of its general mass, and that eccentrically, so as to be much nearer to the parts about the Cross than to that diametrically opposed to it.
Page 136 - I know not," says Sir John Herschel, " how to describe it better than by comparing it to a curdling liquid, or a surface strewed over with flocks of wool, or to the breaking up of a mackerel sky, when the clouds of which it consists begin to assume a cirrous appearance.
Page 195 - The phenomenon referred to would simply point to the close of one mighty cycle in the history of the solar orb — the passing away of arrangements which have fulfilled their objects that they might be transformed into new.
Page 21 - The general aspect of the southern circumpolar region, including in that expression 60° or 70° of S PD, is in a high degree rich and magnificent, owing to the superior brilliancy and larger development of the Milky Way ; which, from the constellation of Orion to that of Antinous, is...
Page 105 - ... presents a new and remarkable phenomenon. STRUVE records that, in at least 104 binary systems, the two stars exhibit the complementary colours, that is, the colour of one constituent belongs to the red or least refrangible end of the spectrum, while that of the other belongs to the violet or most refrangible extremity — as if the entire spectrum had been divided into two parts, and distributed between the two companions.
Page 154 - ... process, or a mightier power, even in the growth of a world ! The thing which bewilders us, is not any intrinsic difficulty or disparity, but a consideration springing from our own fleeting condition. We are not rendered incredulous by the nature, but overwhelmed by the magnitude, of the works ; our minds will not stretch out to embrace the periods of this stupendous change. But time, as we conceive it, has nothing to do with the question ; we are speaking of the operations, and tracing the footsteps,...
Page 125 - She it was,' says the best of authorities, ' who, having passed the nights near the telescope, took the rough manuscripts to her cottage at the dawn of day, and produced a fair copy of the night's work on the ensuing morning; she it was who planned the labour of each succeeding night, who reduced every observation, made every calculation, and kept everything in systematic-order;' she it was — Miss Caroline Herschel — who helped our astronomer to gather an imperishable name.
Page 119 - ... milky way, to the amount of eight or ten millions, is to have its place determined and its motion watched, would be extravagant ; but at least let samples be taken — at least let monographs of parts be made, with powerful telescopes and refined instruments, that we may know what is going on in that abyss of stars, where, at present, imagination, wanders without a guide.