CONTENTS

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CHAPTER PAGE
I.—Different kinds of measurement 1
The measurement of angles and time.
II.—The stars and their diurnal motion 10
Finding the stars—Their apparent motion—Latitude—Direction of the meridian—Sidereal time—Definitions.
III.—Fixed and wandering stars 29
Apparent motion of the sun, moon, and planets—Orbits of the planets—How to find the planets.
IV.—Celestial mechanics 46
Kepler's laws—Newton's laws of motion—The law of gravitation—Orbital motion—Perturbations—Masses of the planets—Discovery of Neptune—The tides.
V.—The earth as a planet 70
Size—Mass—Precession—The warming of the earth—The atmosphere—Twilight.
VI.—The measurement of time 86
Solar and sidereal time—Longitude—The calendar—Chronology.
VII.—Eclipses 101
Their cause and nature—Eclipse limits—Eclipse maps—Recurrence and prediction of eclipses.
VIII.—Instruments and the principles involved in their use 121
The clock—Radiant energy—Mirrors and lenses—The telescope—Camera—Spectroscope—Principles of spectrum analysis.
IX.—The moon 150
Numerical data—Phases—Motion—Librations—Lunar topography—Physical condition.
X.—The sun 178
Numerical data—Chemical nature—Temperature—Visible and invisible parts—Photosphere—Spots—FaculÆ—Chromosphere—Prominences—Corona—The sun-spot period—The sun's rotation—Mechanical theory of the sun.
XI.—The planets 212
Arrangement of the solar system—Bode's law—Physical condition of the planets—Jupiter—Saturn—Uranus and Neptune—Venus—Mercury—Mars—The asteroids.
XII.—Comets and meteors 251
Motion, size, and mass of comets—Meteors—Their number and distribution—Meteor showers—Relation of comets and meteors—Periodic comets—Comet families and groups—Comet tails—Physical nature of comets—Collisions.
XIII.—The fixed stars 291
Number of the stars—Brightness—Distance—Proper motion—Motion in line of sight—Double stars—Variable stars—New stars.
XIV.—Stars and nebulÆ 330
Stellar colors and spectra—Classes of stars—Clusters—NebulÆ—Their spectra and physical condition—The Milky Way—Construction of the heavens—Extent of the stellar system.
XV.—Growth and decay 358
Logical bases and limitations—Development of the sun—The nebular hypothesis—Tidal friction—Roche's limit—Development of the moon—Development of stars and nebulÆ—The future.
Appendix 383

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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