The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-10-28
EROS IS DRAWING NEAR.
OBSERVATION NEXT YEAR OF NEW.
LIZ DISCOVERED PLANET.
n celestial NeiKhb Dor Only Thirty.
one Million Miles Distant From
the Earth-TOtaI Eclipse of the
sun to Take Place Nay p, 1900.

several events OF grea: interest 10 as
.E"honers are due TO occur in the more or
less near future, Tor which active prepara-
s'ois are being made. Among these is the
approach 10 the earth next year OF the
he"l% discovered planet Eros. On the 18th
OF August, lssH. Herr Witt. Of the Urania
observatory, at Berlin. discovered an as
S@rotd which was at first thought 20 differ
az no important respect from the hundreds
Oh other small bodies which circle around
the sun In the space between the orbits CT
Mars ahu Jupiter When its path was CAL
cIiate~i. however, il was at cree seen that
''4@ ne" pooy was unique amorg It's COM
panlons, Tor while all the other asteroids
pursue their courses completely outside
th; ofc!t OF Mars, Eros as the new member
oI the soar system was named. at times
comes nearer TO the earth than any other
known celestial body, the moon only ex-
NsRted- IN fact. Its mean distance from
.ns sun - less than the mean distance OF
Mars, and at its closes, approach is only
a9"ul oIrr.ee miles from the earth while
-'iai s. nnder ths most favorable circuIn-
stances, never comes nearer than 81 er.So1
"h'es' Al the time of discovery the new
piaiet was about the eleventh magnitude
" s"tHess, bot when nearest the earth
~ VIII ABOUT equal a sixth magnitude star.
"AfvoVsoDO Niles Away,
me next close approach OF Eros to the
eatth VIII be on January 3, 1917. and one
sun more favorable is due on January
-. Is-i In November. 1900, however.
Eros ana the earth will be separated
" "Niy Si.VoGo miles, and IL is for this
,l'ne tnat plans are being laid Prof.
Edward c. Pickering has completed
drawings Tor new form of teIescope
"ilch ne trusts will be ready for this
he sx3
nave already been procured and IL is
hoped that the funds for It's completion
VIII De Forthcoming. AS projected. this
Telescope viii have an aperture Of only
Twelve 10 fourteen inches-not large for
ihodefn Northumberland its focal length
VIII De iaa TO l62 feet. This form will,
Is thought, make ii possible to do GER
tam Kinds OF astronomical work much
better than with the larger Instruments
The idea is supported by the excellent
results which have been achieved with
the twenty -four-inch Instruments now
located at the Harvard station in Peru.
and the money TO construct which was
provided by Miss Catherine w. Bruce.
OF New York. This latter instrument
Is known az the Bruce Photographic
telescope. and with its aid a large nor
ton OF the southern sky has been photo
graphed with such minuteness that in
some cases 100000 stars appear on a single
plate. Now Prof. Pickering wants an
o'her OF the aperture and focal length
already mentioned The new telescope
Will probably be placed horizontally. and
the star reflected into II BY means OF a
mirror. the motion of the earth being
counteracted by moving the PHOTOGRAPHIC
plate by clockwork. thus making a large
horizontal photo heliograph. Press dis
patches from Kingston, Jamaica, where
Froi. PICKERING spent part OF the sum-
mer. represent him as being favorably
impressed with that island as a location
for the new instrument
The Suns Distance-A Total Eclipse.
The reason why il is considered 50 i'm
portant 20 observe the Eros Is. that IN this
way II is hoped 10 determine more accu-
fately the distance OF the earth from the
sun. the astronomical unit on which all
other measurements depend. The large
paFal3ax which Eros presents when near
the earth affords most excellent oppor-
tunity for determining his important con-
s;apt The transit OF Venus In 1874 was OBJ
served from about eighty stations a, a
cost Of more than 81, oco.oo in the attempt
20 solve this problem. There Will not be-
another transit Of Venus, however. until
2ooi, and in the meantime the SUMS dis
tance Will undoubtedly be determined more
closely than Is possible by such transs;s
In other and better ways. and among thess
other ways observation OF Eros take
high rank. The best figures obtainable 10
date on the suns distance from the earth
are se.99S $50 miles, which il believed not
10 he more than 90 o,o miles in error
Another astronomical event OF next year
and one in which the new Harvard teIe-
scope would prove very valuable Is the to-
tai eclipse - the sun May q. 1850 a phe-
nomenun which viii be visible in narrow
Path extending from New Orleans 10 Nor
folk. The tot,i,y viii las. about two min
utes only. but those two minutes will he
pat 10 good use. provided the weather liz
good Meteorological records show that
the stations In the Appalachian mountains
are more likely 70 have clear skies al that
season than points on the seacoast. SO that
the af3rlty Of the Observing parties will
probably choose inland places for their
headquarters on eclipse day. Total eclipses
~ the s'lu are rare at any given place.
There Will be none visible in the United
states after that ~ May unti June g. Iafs:
so that many people. aside from the pro-
feEsivnai astronomers g.ll doubtless take
the opportunity a witness Eext spring
years eclipse viii he visible in Spain Per
tagal ard Algeria as wen A. in ehe south
eru part ~ the United states and Scian-
tiSgs hope Cor a Uniform series 81 chse-ya4
,iaus tu all these countries A - the case
cf recent nciipses. the study 81 the corona
WI probably Re the chief poiut e inter
este r. Ii Ia New York Mail ara Ex-