Evening star., 1913-06-15

tied to a wealthy citizen of Nuremberg..
Bernhard Walther. 1t was Used from
1472 until 1Jo4. part of the time by the,
celebrated astronomer kegiomantanus.
Then came the important observatory OF
Tycho Brahe In Denmark. and German
one at Cassell, the great national Brit:
ish observatory at Greenwich, near Lon
don. was founded In 1919. for the promo
ton OF astronomy and navigation, and it
has held a leading place in science ever
since.
When the first European observatories
were instituted the instrumental equip
ment was very different from what 1t Is
today. There were no telescopes, nor
spectrcscopes. no photograph-c :ppara--
tus, no magnetic and meteorological In
Struments. Measurement of the positions
of the stars and planets was impossible
to be made with great accuracy oy
means of the simple sextants and quad
rants In use in those days, and 1t was
not till Galileo invented the astronom cal
telescope that the science of astronomy
was put upon firm basis of matheinat-c
ical accuracy. The field OF observation.
has SO greatly increased in late years by
the application of the exqustaly refined
instruments of the present time that few,
observator,es can devote themselves to-
more than 1one or two special DEPART
mentS of research.
Greenwich observatory contains thres:
very large telescopes. refractors and re-
Electors. thirty, twenty-eight and twen-
ty-six inches in diameter, besides several
smaller ones Some of these used for
Photographic the heavens only, ana.
many important discoveries have beels
made with them. A photograph of the
sun is taken every day when the weather.
| permits. Owing to the Well known un-@
certainty of the English climate, there
are many Interruptions to this activity,
| but 1t was possible in 1911 to get pic.
tLres on 225 days-it does not always
rain in England, A special line of re-
search is the charting OF the northern
I.l- lf fFanr
materials to judge of the size and shape
| of the visible universe This work is being
| done in cola borat.on with other observa-a
| tories scattered throughout the globe.
| The study of double stars, namely,
those stars which have a comDanion very
close to them, forming a connected sys-
| tenn, is one of the most promising
| branches of astronomy. By means of this
We are acquiring some knowledge or the 7
! dimensions of many stars. and when they
are all properly classified expect to
discover some hitherto unknown laws OF
| the structure of the universe. Greenwich
| observatory devotes great attention To
| this branch of observation.
The study Of terrestrial magnetism is
also carried on at Greenwich. sunshine,
temperature and rainfall are recorded
and the standard "motor-clock, Kept IN
perfect time by constant observation o.
the stars through the great transit in-t
struments, is the center of system or
electrically controlled clocks in all parts
of the United Kingdom. The astronomer
royal Hho is also president of the Royal
Astronomical Society, is the director or
the observatory, and there are sixty per
sons regularly employed under him
Greenwich observatory stands upon the
meridian degrees. q minutes, y seconds
from which navigators calculate their
longitude.
Greenwich is not only celebrated for its
great national observatory, but on ac-
count of its fine park and other attrac-
tions it is a favorite resort of London
ers. The park was inclosed nearly 400
years ago. and commands "A famous view
of London and the river Thames. The
Royal Naval College stands upon the site
of an ancient royal palace, the birthplace
of some of the greatest soVereigns of
England. The present buildings are aboLt
200 years old, and present a very stately
appearance as seen from the Thames.
Until 1869 they were used a home
for old retired sailors. but in 1873 the
rooms were diverted to the use of the
students of the Royal Naval College. and
the old seamen were given liberal PEN
sions and sent away.
The college was built in the renaissance
style, after designs by the two famous
architects Ignigo Jones and Christopher
Wren. The largest hall is called the
painted hall, from the interesting series
of pictures of British naval Victories,
portraits of admiras and the wall and
ceiling decorations by Thornhill. One of
the domes of the observatory is seen in
the distance between the towers Of the
COLLEGE