The St. Louis Republic., 1903-12-31

vancement here was donation OF S.2U
made by Mr.. Sheldon Clarke to Yale Col
| lege in 1873, Tor the purchase OF teie-
| scope. The instrument was made by DOL
lond Of London. having an object glass
OF 5 inches aperture and focal length
| OF 10 feet. II was very nne instfu,
| menI, being perfectly achromatic and OF
really good definition. 1t had a spinder-
| line rnicrometer attachment OF the beg;
| construction. This telescope was mounted
on castors and placed in room with low
viewed that had attained an altitude OF
| - degrees above the horizon.
The predicted return of Halley's comet,
| in 1875, was an event that aroused great
| interest in astronomers. The most eminent
| European astronomers had computed the
periodic time Of the great comets return
/ and the popular journals OF the time drew
| public attention 10 the subject. Halley's
| was the first comet the orbital time OF
| which had Deen computed.
Professors Olmsted and L0omis with
| this Clarke telescope, we're the first in
| this country 70 observe the comets re-
| turn, and made the fact known weeks
before news arrived Of its having been
seen in Europe.
This really gave great impulse in this
| country to astronomical observation anS
| brought prominently before the public the
Importance Of having large telescopes
| With all the appurtenances necessary Tor
| exact observation
Refore the Clarke telescope the instru-
ments in use IN this country were few
| and small, and the observations seldom
reached beyond the notice OF a solar or
| lunar eclipse and some few Unimportant
| celestial measurements by means Of
| sextant
Professor Albert Hopkins, in 1886. may
be s1id to have founded the first regular
astronomical observatory In this country.
Il was built in connection with Williams
College. Massachusetts
on the evening Of January 8. 1888. the
mighty equa toriai Of the Lick Observatory
WIS first directed TO the heavens The
| observatory is situated on Mount Hamil
ton. fifty miles south of San Francisco,
The sreet absctts ab2ys e sye & 9f hs ssa
was made by the CIar,ss. The Lick OBJ
servatory besides possessing the great
Telescope , has the best equipment OF as
Professor Edward z Barnard. one OF
the observers. renowned always for his
keenness Of vision. discovered. with the
= Bs2, q fifth moon to the planet Jupiter.
The little satellite is less than 100 miles
IN mi diameter. is distant about 1850 miles
periodic time of II hours 81 minutes, and
26l seconds and shines with the lustre
OF rh, 2 star a. Of the thirteeTth magnitude,
astronomical achievement OF the century.
Professor barnard was the first to dis
cover a comet by means Of photography;
Attached to the University of Chicago
Is the great Yerkes Observatory In this
observatory Is a migfty forty-irch re-
| A
corps of observers is IN charge of the OBJ
servatory. and certainly great things are
expected from that quarter.
Thus sixty years ago the United States
mad scarcely ore properly equipped OBJ
seryatory: now they have the finest In the
, world manned by the most untiring and
| competent astronomers.
Celestial photography is a great aid TO
the astronomers of today. and has made
wonderful progress within a very few
years.
The chemical plate is sensitive to rays
| which are incapable of affecting vision,
| and by long exposure can accumulate inn
pressions almost Indefinitely. Faint OBJ
jects may be photographed, which the tel
| escope could never reveal
photography also registers planetary.
so!ar and stellar phenomena, Independent
OF the source Of error of ordinary OBJ
Doctor Henry Draper of New York and
Professor Bond of Cambridge made the
first exneriments in celestial photography.
Doctor Draper was the first TO obtain a
photograph of the fixed lines in the spec
| ira Of stars, and he persevered in this
work until he had obtained Impressions OF
the spectra Of more than 100 stars.
In 1871 he announced "the discovery of
new theory of the solar spectrum" This
| was certainly one of the most brilliant
astronomical discoveries ever made
America may be said to be new and
science. but American astronomers are
fervent and devoted. They have, indeed.
already achieved much and may be con-
| hdently expected to achieve even much
| more brilliant results in the near future
! They work in harmony and are thorough
| ly organized. They have formed already
some excellent associations. s,Icf as the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific. the
Science.