El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-05-02

- HE mHMnHmLLAEA 4A1I0hEAg ia N~ -
ermost known planetary MEMBER OF
On solar system. Neptune, as a re
suit OF the independent tADoIs o. ~
different men OF SCIENCE, -o-- So
-i-Lff17Iv accepted as being the most slB
1iTcant triumph in all the history OF me
oreqe@1 al Years AFTER the discovery o. the
-7e1sr Uranus in 17S1 by sir Wlllam her
ss-hei. ii was found that that BODY was no.
TeiIorvf1r precisely its computed path In ths
heavens BY the year 1e4os the QALetsnC9
Let-sa7 its aparent position and that com
nuted for II 10 occupy on the celesllal sphere
amounted 10 almost two minutes o.
Fubtended angle sufficiently great 70 DS ~
Tertable by a skilled eye without optical ald-
IN the wear 1880, the astronomer besseL l44
mt forward the idea that this obvious us
arreement between the observed ana calCu-
Tsfed locations Of the planet was due 10 the
evfsrence Of another body reVoFlnB LouAu
the sun outside the or2L OF ,Sd "a 20 tbs
raiders probably know thal accorILAs -
laws Of gravitation, every obJecl IN me
verse attracts every other oolec5 ~ a.
force proportional TO It's mass anu = u
rance. Not only. then. are the planets OF
the solar system acted upon Ds me SoL-
trolling power OF the sun which IoEess men
10 reToIve round him in elliptic orDlls' nuL
according 10 the principle haI I nave Jus
enunciated. they must also attract one an
other with a force directly proportional 10
their respective masses and distances
Influence Of Planets
It IS reasonable TO suppose therefore, tnat
Il one planet be sufficiently IN proximity 10
anofher- III will exert an appreciable infu-
enc uDon that othe- so that that influence
might be perceptible 10 our eyes. with, Ct
even without, as the case might Pc. reIlne1
means II was just this supposluon, lrsL
propourded by Bessel. which Ultimately iel
70 the triumphant discovery Of the planet
Neptune. But IL must not be supposed lor a
moment that the complex motions OF the
nIauets are by any means an easy thing Tor
astronomers TO cope with quite on the con-
rrary. they are among lhe mus uL-Ll-
problems that can confront the average
When 4 planet is swerved from its path
by virtue Of the attraction Of another planet
il is said 10 experience what We tecnnlcaIy
term perturbation me perLufDeu9M' %
rather the measured deviauOns Of Uranus
from its computed orbit, were the basis. and
the only available data for the discovery OF
Neptune. In the year 1913 shortly after lie
had taken his degree at Cambridge uni
vrsity in England. a young man BY the name
lem Of discovering mathemaucauy planet
more remote from the sun than GraEus,
solely from a knowledge OF the perturbation
"s stupendous PrO5le@.
We shan revert for a moment at this
point to briefly consider how Il vas possible
10 20 about the solution OF this stupendous
u-ob1em- Consider q planet TO be placed
freely in space. and consider a second one
7iEau-fsa situated. We must now fit the orbit
OF the unknown planet as well as its mass
in such way as TO account lof me peIlUDa
lions of our known planet According TO
the laws Of gravitauon, each planet VIII al
tract the other Let US assume that these
rIanets are separated by a certain specified
dfgtance- our assumption may at the begin
ming be quite in error, but we can vary H.
ever decreasing or increasing the distance
between the two po9les a. our 60 me-
require. until we finally arrive at the condi-
zion under which the l1poLleLGdl pldleL
with a given mass placed AT gwen lls-
lance from the known one. VIII account ior
the perturbations- IN this way. Dolh me az
E0lute mass and the relative distance OF rs
unknown planet can be computed. and. con
Esqueutly, its exact position IN Its orbit al
any time. and. subsequently,. its place on the
celestial sphere in terms Of right ascension
and decIinaton for any moment, can be cal
culated.
Sir Robert Ball writes Long anu aruuou'
was the inquiry-demandtng an enormous
-~.awFnaH nmHnmHaHHnn as we'll As
cousummate mathematical resource but
gradually Nj. Adams overcame the Difficult
ties. As the subject untolQed itself. ne saw
how the perturbations Of Uarnus could bt
fully explained by the existence Of an ex-
terror planet. and at length he had ascer'
tanned, not only the orbit OF the outer Dody
but he was even able TO indicate the part Of
the heavens IN which the unknown gio3e
must be sought mere IL may De Wen e
quote from Sir John Herschel in his ad-
dress to the British association on September
year hes given to US the new planet AEtraes
1t has done more, it has given US the prob
able prospect Of another We see it as Co
T--r-e cav America from rna shores q
Spain. Its movements have been felt trem
bling along the far reaching line OF oui
analysis. with a certainty hardly inferior Il
ocular demonstration
when Adams had completed his labors. h
communicated them 10 the Astronomo
Royal. Sir George Airy, at the Greenwich OBJ
servatory. who. If we are 20 judge from hi
actions. was far from seriously tntereste'
in the matter. allowing II 10 remain prac
ficaIlv unc0nsidered. NJ. Adams result
had not been puDLlSue4 Up 10 TINS uMlel ar
were known TO comparatively few beside tn
Astronomer Royal and Prof Challis Of Cam
bridge. who was afterwards entrusted wit
the duty OF making the actual search for tn
Planet Discovered.
In the meantime. T. J. J.. LeFerrier.
great French mathematician, and the direC
tor Of the Paris observatory, had been WORT
lug On the same problem Of the presenc
Of an ultra-Uranian planet In the years isl
and 1916. portions Of LeNerriers computa
lions were published. and Immediately 10
owing their publication, the AstrOnoms
ROYAL Of England noticed the remarkabl
close agreement OF Adams calcualtion
which we're then in his hands. with thos
OF the Freuchman LeFerriers both assigne
places TO the planet not differing to the e
tent OF more than one degree Of arci "HeI
was a planet unknown to human sight,
again writes Ball, yet felt. as Il were. I
mathematical analysis with a certainty Z
great that two astronomers, each in tot'
Ignorance Of the others labors. concurred
locating the planet in almost the same sp'
OF the existence OF the suspected body. q
pedieut was II that the telescope search Z
Instituted at once. Prof. Challis at Can
bridge commenced the task in July. 1S4
Ny space viii not allow me to 20 into II
details connected with this lab0rious pie,
Of work. but suffice il TO say that Chall
lacked many Of the improvements in Il
way OF elaborate star charts known 10 OF
modern observstories. and was forced
take the time and expend the pains 10 NAL
them for himself.
The Planet Discovered.
LeTerrier had not been idle in publishir