Abstract
IN the preface to this edition, Sir Robert Ball remarks that he has taken the opportunity to “revise the work in accordance with the progress of astronomy during the last four years,” and, generally speaking, new facts and theories are briefly referred to. A few points, however, are hardly brought up to date. For example, the spectrum of the Andromeda nebula is said to be “a faint continuous band of light” (p. 462), although it is now definitely known that this continuity does not exist. We also find no reference to the many stars now known to have bright lines in their spectra. The author thus misses a chance of exercising his well-known descriptive ability in an account of the connection between such stars and nebulæ; the similarity of the two being so considerable that Pickering has followed Lockyer in arranging them in a single group. Dr. Huggins's old view as to the coincidence of the nebula line with nitrogen is mentioned merely to be dismissed as erroneous. Why, therefore, is no notice taken of the suggested magnesium origin of the line—for, on any published evidence, the edge of the magnesium fluting is nearer the proper position than the nitrogen double? We would also point out that, according to recent observations, the apex of the sun's way is much nearer Lyra than Hercules. Telescopic changes in comets are fully described, but the accompanying changes in their spectra are not touched upon. Motions of stars in the line of sight are considered; but not those of nebulæ, although Mr. Keeler's observations have been published for some time. In fact, it may be said that there is a tendency to eschew spectroscopic questions, and hence much of the most beautiful part of the story of the heavens is left untold.
The Story of the Heavens.
By Sir Robert Stawell Ball. Eighteenth Thousand. (London: Cassell and Company, 1891.)
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The Story of the Heavens. Nature 44, 589 (1891). https://doi.org/10.1038/044589a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/044589a0