The Washington bee., 1898-12-31
LIST OF IMPORTANT ITEMS IN
ASTRONOMICAL PROCESS.
From Signs of The Times


The frst:eclipse recorded occurred
at Babylon, March Ie, 72I B. C. 1t was
of the moon, and was recorded by
Ptolemy. A.tablet found at Nineveh
is thought to contain a record of a
solar eclipse which occurred June IS,
763 B. c.
The earliest-known works on astron-
omy were prepared by Aristotle about
$50 B. c.
The .mean motion of the sun and
moon was determined by Hipparchus
(who also discol cred the procession
of the equinoxes), I6o-I25 B. c.
The places and distances of the
planets were discovered by Ptolemy,
I3e-I6I A. D.
Astronomy was cultivated by the
Arabs about go A. D., and introduced
into Europe al
The princip euse of thtelescope was
described by: Roger Bacon in 1850,
and in 1887 Leonard Digges arranged
lenses so that he could see very dis
tant objects. In 1853 telescopes were
constructed by Lipperhey and Jensen.
A description of these enabled Calico,
in the following year, to construct an
improved instrument, with which, i'll
1910, he discovered Jupiter's satellites.
Kepler's laws of planetary motion
were announced in COG and 1913.
In 1854 HuyghenS discovered Sa-
turns rings.
In 1855 Huyghens discovered Titan,
the largest Of Saturn's satellites.
Four more of Saturn's satellites
were discovered by CasSiuS from 1871
to 1854. VIM. Herschel discovered
two in 1888: and Bond, the last, in
IS48.
The rejecting telescope was invent
ed by Gregory in 1868.
The first charts of the moon were
constructed in 1870
In 1875 Romer discovered the velo-
city of light by the. observation of
Jupiter's satellites.
Newton's system was taught and
demonstrated in 1913.
In 1905 HALEY made the first sue
cessful prediction Of the return of
certain comet. This comet, known
as Halley's, will return again in IoIo.)
Uranus was discovered in 1881, and
two Of his satellites, in 1877, by Her
schel; tthe other two, by Lassell and
Struve in 1874.
Neptune was found by DR.. Gale, of
Berlin, on september %, 1916, who
had been told by Leverier where the
planet would be found. In the follow
by Mr.. Lassell.
he art of producing pictures by the
action of sunlight upon a sensitized
plate (now so extensively used IN con-
nection with astronomical work. was
discovered by Wedgewood and Davy,
of London, in 1902. M. Daguerre i'm
proved upon their work, and in 1889
produced Daguerretype plates. The
first photograph of the moon was made
by Draper, of New York City, in IS4o;
but 1t was not till 1880 and 1851 that
good work in this line began to ap-
pear. The first picture of the sun was
taken in 1S45; but successful views o
the corona were not secured until 1870
The first photograph of a star was
taken in 1880; of nebula, in 1880; and
of comet, in 1851.
Spectrum analysis was applied to as
tronomy In 1861
In 1877 the two satellites of Mars
were discovered by Hall, of Washing
ton.
The great Lick Observatory was
completed in 1883, and the Yerkes
Observatory in 1897.
In 1892 the fifth moon of Jupiter was
discovered by Prof E. E. Barnard, a,
the Lick Observatory.
In 1895 Prof. James E. Keeler de.
monstrated that the rings Of Saturn
consist of countless satellites revolv
ing about the same or parellel planes
those at the inner edge moving faster
than those at the outer edge. During
the same year Prof. Barnard, discover
ed vast nebula in the constellation O
Scorpio.