AN ASTRONOMICAL VOCABULARY: BEING An Explanation of all Terms IN USE AMONGST ASTRONOMERS AT THE PRESENT DAY. BY J. RUSSELL HIND, FOREIGN SECRETARY OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, OF THE INSTITUTE OF PARIS, ETC. ETC. ETC. LONDON: JOHN W. PARKER AND SON, WEST STRAND. 184. c. 16. PREFACE. In order to keep pace with the requirements of modern astronomy, many new terms have been introduced of late years, and the significations of some of the old ones extended or altered; the Constellations have been wholly revised, proper names assigned to some of the Satellites, and the list of Planets greatly augmented. In the present little work I have endeavoured to embody, as far as possible, the whole of these additions and alterations; and the reader will find a short explanation of every term he is likely to meet with in astronomical publications. As far as my limits allowed, I have also attempted to extend the use of the work by the introduction of descriptive notices and facts bearing upon the different subjects. It must be understood that this Vocabulary is not intended to include optical or mechanical terms, which could not have been inserted without greatly extending its limits. But few of these, therefore, will be found. The reader who wishes for information respecting astronomical instruments and their minutiæ, will do well to consult Capt. Smyth's Cycle of Celestial Objects,' without exception, the most useful and instructive work of the kind with which I am acquainted. J. RUSSELL HIND. GROVE ROAD, ST. JOHN'S WOOD, LONDON, October, 1852. |