Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1906-02-15
THE STARS eY DAYLIGHT.
9seAitsen That They May lie Seen
From Bottom Of Shaft.

9so1ltoon That They May lie seen
From Botton Of Shaft.
Are the stars visible to ordinary
sight In the daytime? There is wide
spread tradition that they are that if
an observer places himself at the bot.
tom OF any deep shaft--as of II mine
Well OF factory chimney-whi may
shut Oh scattered light and reduce the
area OF sky illumination acting on the
redna, he will be able to discern the
brighter stars without difficulty. The
tradition is one OF respectable an
tiQuity. for Aristotle refers TO persons
seeing stars In daylight when looking
out from caverns Of subterranean
reservoirs. and Pliny ascribes to deep
wells q similar power of rendering
Visible the stars, the light OF which
would otherwise be lost In the over
powering splendor OF the solar rays.
The tradition, we'll founded or not,
has often been adopted for literary
eject. It seems almost sacrieglous 10
hint that no star known to astronomers
could have shone down increasingly up
on poor Stephen Blackpool during his
seven days and nights OF agony at the
bottom OF the Old He'll shaft; that ut
the best he could only have caught a
glimpse Of Il for few minutes In each
twenty hours as 1t passed across
the zenith. Dickens, indeed, does not
absolutely say that Stephen watched
the star by daylight. 1t Is only !
natural Inference from his description
but Kipling adopts the tradition in It's
extremest form when he writes of
The gorge that shows the stars at noon.
day clear.
But 10 the tradition true? OF course
every one knows that Venus from time
20 time may be seen even at high noon
but then Venus ut her brightest Is
many times over brighter than Sirius
Then. again. the assistance of tce'
scope enables the brighter stars TO be
discerned ct midday. but the telescope
not only directs the eye and greatly
limits the area from which the SKY
Hight reaches the observer, but II enor-
mously increases the brightness OF tie
star relative to that sky illumination
The naked eye observation Of true stars
In full sunlight stands In quite n differ
ent category.
Humboldt. who was much interest
Cd In the question. repeatedly tried the
experiment. both in Siberia and IN
America. and not only failed himself
ever to detect q star. but never came
across any one who had succeeded
Much more recently an American as
tronomer Get up a tube for the cN
press purpose OF seeing the flcl'dcs
By daylight. also with no effect ~
has been supposed that Flamsteed, ''a'
6rst astronomer royal. sank a Wen ~
Greenwich observatory for the purloss
Of observing Gamma Draconls' me
senith star Of Greenwich. IN this man
ner.
The existence OF the well Is undoup'
"a, though Sir George Airy. the la',
astronomer royal. was unable to ilha
Il. but Flamsteed marks 1t on NOR
than one OF his plans Of the observa
tory. and there u q drawing exam,
q the well itself. showing the splral
Suitcase that ran down 1t. But ~
purpose seems to have been not
have furnished the means Of opsers
ing the star with the naked eye pu'
% enable the observer to measure
accurately o. possible. the distance ~
the star from the true zenith az w
moment OF transit.
Sir John Herschel mentions ca>'
which he considers as satisfactory e
dence. Of an optician who stated w..
the earliest circumstance that drew nv
attention to astronomy 'was the rs
ular appearance at certain hour ~
several successive days OF a co''s''
seable star through the shaft q !.
chimney" THIS, Il will be notice.
second hand evidence. I have '''Ns
been able to obtain evidence even
direct - this myself. though y NJ,
net several persons who felt quite CO..
1dsnt that they had seen stars by aas
light on hooking up the shaft e &,
0lne. Of that ''some one had tolu w.
- had doe op."-Enowledge.