A System of Astronomy: On the Principles of CopernicusJ.B. Moore, 1827 - 252 pages |
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Page viii
... equinoxes . SECTION VII . The Moon ; her distance from the earth and revolutions ; why she always exhibits the same face to the earth ; how the earth appears at the moon ; com- parative magnitude of the earth and moon ; phases of the ...
... equinoxes . SECTION VII . The Moon ; her distance from the earth and revolutions ; why she always exhibits the same face to the earth ; how the earth appears at the moon ; com- parative magnitude of the earth and moon ; phases of the ...
Page xvi
... equinoxes is reduced to a slight motion of the terrestrial axis . The circles , imagined by Ptolemy , to explain the alternate direct and retro- grade motions of the planets , disappeared . Coper- nicus only saw in these singular ...
... equinoxes is reduced to a slight motion of the terrestrial axis . The circles , imagined by Ptolemy , to explain the alternate direct and retro- grade motions of the planets , disappeared . Coper- nicus only saw in these singular ...
Page 19
... Equinoxes , or equinoctial points , are two points in the ecliptic , where it is cut by the equator ; one called the vernal , the other the autumnal equinox . Eccentricity is the distance between one of the foci and the centre of a ...
... Equinoxes , or equinoctial points , are two points in the ecliptic , where it is cut by the equator ; one called the vernal , the other the autumnal equinox . Eccentricity is the distance between one of the foci and the centre of a ...
Page 21
... equinoxes , the retrograde motion of the equinoxes from a fixed point in the heavens . Primary planets are those which revolve immediately round the sun . * See Obliquity , Prime vertical is that vertical circle which crosses the ...
... equinoxes , the retrograde motion of the equinoxes from a fixed point in the heavens . Primary planets are those which revolve immediately round the sun . * See Obliquity , Prime vertical is that vertical circle which crosses the ...
Page 22
... equinoxes . Star , a luminous heavenly body appearing always in the same , or very nearly the same situation ; hence called fixed star . Supplement of an arch , what it wants of 180 ° . Synodical revolution is the time intervening ...
... equinoxes . Star , a luminous heavenly body appearing always in the same , or very nearly the same situation ; hence called fixed star . Supplement of an arch , what it wants of 180 ° . Synodical revolution is the time intervening ...
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Common terms and phrases
altitude angle aphelion appear Aries ascending node astronomers atmosphere axis bissextile calculated celestial centre comets conjunction constellation dark shadow declination degree diameter disk diurnal motion diurnal rotation divided dominical letter earth earth's shadow eclipse Epact equal equator equinox fast of clock full moon heavenly body heavens Herschel horary motion horizon hour inferior conjunction Jupiter latitude light longitude and anomaly luminous lunar lunation March Mars mean anomalies mean distance Mercury meridian miles minutes month moon's orbit obliquity observed opposite parallax parallel passing penumbra perihelion planet polar circles pole Proportional Logarithms radius reckoned refraction Retrograde motion revolution right ascension rising round the sun satellites Saturn seen semi-diameter side sidereal slow of clock solar solstice subtract Sun fast Sun slow sun's anomaly sun's mean sun's place surface tides tion transit tropic true Turn the globe Venus visible zenith
Popular passages
Page 200 - Rectify the globe to the latitude of the place; bring the sun's place in the ecliptic to the meridian, and set the index to XII.
Page ii - BBOWN, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit : " Sertorius : or, the Roman Patriot.
Page 177 - Observer' at a salary of 100£ per annum, his duty being 'forthwith to apply himself with the most exact care and diligence to the rectifying the tables of the motions of the heavens and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired longitude of places for the perfecting the art of navigation.
Page iv - ... constitution of the universe by the means of these buildings and of observers stationed in them, shall we doubt of their usefulness to every nation? And while scarcely a year passes over our heads without bringing some new astronomical discovery to light, which we must fain receive at...
Page 179 - ... that, situated as we are in this Western hemisphere, more than three thousand miles from any fixed or known meridian, it would be proper, in a national point of view, to establish a first meridian for ourselves ; and that measures should be taken for the eventual establishment of such a meridian in the United States. In examining the maps and charts of the United States, and the particular States, or their...
Page 160 - The atmosphere is known to abound with electric matter, and the appearance of the electric matter in vacuo is exactly like the appearance of the aurora borealis, which, from its great altitude, may be considered to be in as perfect a vacuum as we can make. The electric matter in vacuo suffers the rays of light to pass through, without being affected by them. The tail of a comet does not expand itself sideways, nor does the electric matter. Hence, he supposes the tails of comets, the aurora borealis,...
Page 162 - ... aperture; and, at another time, in 41 minutes, he saw 258,000 stars pass through the field of his telescope. Every improvement in his...
Page 179 - Junonia, one of these islands, supposed to be the present island of Teneriffe. " The Arabians, it is said, fixed their firs,t meridian at the most westerly part of the continent of Africa. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when Europe was emerging from the dark ages, and a...
Page 66 - There is not, perhaps," said this great and sound astronomer, " another object in the heavens that presents us with such a variety of extraordinary phenomena as the planet Saturn ; a magnificent globe encompassed by a stupendous double ring ; attended by seven satellites; ornamented with equatorial belts; compressed at the poles ; turning on its axis ; mutually eclipsing its rings and satellites, and eclipsed by them ; the most distant of the rings also turning on its axis, and the same taking place...
Page 138 - A month in law is a lunar month, or twenty-eight days, unless otherwise expressed ; not only because it is always one uniform period, but because it falls naturally into a quarterly division by weeks. Therefore a lease for