Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-10

reversible meridian circle by which they
can reverse and take observations Of
the same star within 20 seconds. 1t
was the same at Potsdam and Meuden,
near Paris.
I'VE have good instrument here,
but it is old. Foreign observatories have
| fine telescopes to determine the paral-
| lax Of distant stars; we have none. Now
| for such work we should be provided
to make up-to-date observations.
About rs years ago there was an in
ternational movement looking toward
| photographing the entire heavens. We
did not take part In that. When I was
at Meuden and Heidelberg discovered
| there had been lapse in some part of
the work. PotSdam had failed to do its
share, and the astronomers asked me
whether the Naval Observatory might
not take 1t up. This Is one of the great
| astronomical projects of the present.
A complete Photographic record will
| allow us to determine the proper mo-
tons Of the stars and calculate the
| drift of our solar system.
"Of course, We know the sun Is q
moving body. We can. I believe, dis
cover the direction of its motion. That
could be done by repeating the photo
| graphic map of the heaven, say, 20
years hence using the same instru-
ments. We would also discover the
motion Of the stars, not speaking of our
own solar system.
Another observation I made was
that most astronomers, both here and
abroad, are engaged in spectroscopic
studies, that Is, having to do with the
composition of heavenly bodies. This
leaves a great deal of fundamental work
to national observatories.
I'VE have been asked to increase our
observations of the moon, sun, stars,
planets and asteroids. The demands
come from workers in geodesy, theo-
retical astronomy and many related
sciences.
There still are a great many I'M
solved problems. For instance, we do
not know the full motion of the moon,
although men have been working at 1t
for century The orbits OF great
many asteroids have likewise not been
determined. And satellites as well. I
do not know Of single private observa-
along these lines. Such exacting and
fundamental work rightfully belongs to
national observatory.
The defect with most private OBJ
ssrvetories Is that they continue GER
tain phase of work for 40 or 80 years
and then are forced to abandon it.
Work with fundamental astronomy
must be extended over long periods.
| Our most valuable data come from
| Greenwich, Paris and Pulkova OBJ
servatories. Greenwich astronomers
| have been at 1t for more than 200
years, while the Paris Observatory ex-
tends back nearly 800 years. In other
| words, in 164S the French began this
work whose value lies principally in its
| antiquity. Information concerning the
stars is not gained in few weeks no
| tice.
High accuracy In observations re-
| quires very skilled men who will devote
their entire lives to the work. Prob
ably, that Is why private institutions
have abandoned original programs
Prof. Deslandres, head Of the Paris OBJ
servatory. has sought to interest us in
the project OF making fundamental OBJ
servations.'
| Very properly the Naval Observatory
aims high. And query from legisla-
| tor, asking whether the American in
stitution has the man-power and genius
| TO father such research, may be an
| swered with an emphatic yes"
" *
OUR Government astronomers are
equal to the Europeans. A simple
test Is what the Yankees have done In
the realm OF theoretical astronomy
What has been accomplished In the