Elements of Descriptive Astronomy: A Text-Book (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from Elements of Descriptive Astronomy: A Text-Bo...)
Excerpt from Elements of Descriptive Astronomy: A Text-Book
The purely descriptive matter about the sun, moon, planets, etc., has been kept quite free from such statistics as the values Of the masses of the planets, and the intensity of the pull of gravitation at the surface Of each. The student should, however, learn the distance, diameter, time of revolution, and time of rotation of each planet. More extended data for purposes Of reference are to be found in the Appendices.
In this edition the results of the latest important investigations and discoveries have been stated. The work Of the Lick Observa tory, as set forth in the publications of the Astronomical Society Of the Pacific, merits and has received much attention. The columns of astronomical periodicals have furnished a large amount Of reliable information.' The author will welcome for a second edition any suggestions or corrections.
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Catalogue Of 50 New Double Stars, Discovered With The 11 In. Refractor Of The Cincinnati Observatory
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Herbert Alonzo Howe was an American astronomer and educator.
Background
Herbert Alonzo was born on November 22, 1858, in Brockport, Monroe County, N. Y. , where his father, Alonzo J. Howe, was principal of a school. His mother, Julia M. Osgood, was the daughter of a Baptist missionary. Alonzo Howe was later appointed professor of mathematics in the old Chicago University, a post that he held for many years.
The great meteor shower of 1866 occurred when he was a boy of eight and kindled his interest in astronomy, an interest that became absorbing in later life.
Education
Alonzo J. Howe always looked after his son's education personally, usually hearing his lessons before they were recited to the teacher. With this personal care of his father, Howe was able to graduate from college at sixteen years of age, receiving the degree of A. B. from Chicago in 1875. In the university he studied and mastered a wide range of subjects – Greek, Latin, mathematics, and physical sciences.
In November 1875 he went to Cincinnati Observatory where he was student and assistant until 1880. His work was confined chiefly to observation of double stars, computation of orbits, and researches on new methods of solving Kepler's problem. In 1877 he received the degree of A. M. from the University of Cincinnati.
In 1884 he received from Boston University the first degree of doctor of science ever granted by that institution. He presented two theses: "A Short Method for Kepler's Problem, " published in Astronomische Nachrichten, May 13, 1884; and "The Great Comet of September 1882, " published in The Sidereal Messenger, May 1884.
Career
Close application to his work with long hours of study and observation broke his health. Two severe hemorrhages of the lungs, early in 1880, warned him that a change in climate was necessary. Accordingly, he accepted a position as teacher of mathematics in the University of Denver, although the condition of his health did not permit him to carry a very arduous schedule at first. His physical condition improved, however, and in 1881 he was assigned to the chair of mathematics and astronomy.
During the early years of his residence in Denver he was greatly hampered by lack of telescopic equipment until he secured from Humphrey B. Chamberlin the gift of an excellently equipped observatory, the principal instrument of which was a twenty-inch refractor with Clark lens and Saegmuller mounting, erected in 1894. Unfortunately, financial reverses during the panic of 1893 prevented the donor from fulfilling his desire of endowing the observatory, and the University of Denver could scarcely afford the luxury of a research professor. Consequently, Howe, already overburdened with teaching and administrative work, had to carry out his observational programs on his own time.
It is surprising how much research he was able to accomplish in the face of such odds. In 1899 he wrote, "Found out that during the twelve months ending August 31, I had used up 1, 765 pages of my observing books. For this record I was glad. " He discovered double stars and nebulae, carried out an ambitious program of remeasuring the positions of faint and inadequately catalogued nebulae, and made extended observations of the famous asteroid, Eros, and Halley's Comet. He designed a traveling-wire micrometer, which facilitated certain types of astronomical measurement. His researches on Kepler's problem are well known. The results of his work appear in Publications of the Cincinnati Observatory, Astronomische Nachrichten, Astronomical Journal, and other contemporary scientific periodicals.
In 1891 he became dean of the College of Liberal Arts and director of Chamberlin Observatory, continuing to carry a full teaching schedule. He acted as chancellor of the university for a few months in the fall of 1899 and again, during 1907-08, while Chancellor Buchtel was governor of Colorado, he carried a heavy share of the administrative duties related to the chancellorship. He was the author of a popular work entitled A Study of the Sky (1896) and a textbook, Elements of Descriptive Astronomy (1897, revised 1909).