Starlight Detectives

by Alan Hirshfeld

  p. 246“Many ladies are interested in astronomy and own telescopes . . .”—Pickering (1882), p. 4.

  Chapter 22. The Union of Two Astronomies

  p. 247“The domains of the physical sciences . . .”—Keeler (1897), p. 271.

  p. 247“there may be some who view . . .”—Keeler (1897), p. 277.

  p. 248“The majestic elder astronomy . . .”—Clerke (1888), pp. 29–30.

  p. 248“I regret having to give . . .”—W. W. Campbell to James Keeler, April 4, 1894. Lankford (1997), p. 179.

  p. 248“the superior attractiveness of astrophysical . . .”—Lankford (1997), p. 179.

  p. 249“Astronomers must have been a group . . .”—Stebbins (1947), p. 412.

  p. 249“who were at sword’s points before . . .”—Stebbins (1947), p. 412.

  p. 250“a good-sized check on a bank . . .”—Stebbins (1947), p. 405.

  p. 250“The new astronomy . . .”—Clerke (1888), p. 30.

  p. 250“Although the work is the most acute and absolutely . . .”—Plotkin (1990), p. 49.

  p. 251“Life is work, and work is life”—Becker (2011), p. 300.

  p. 252“Of the sciences in America . . .”—Lankford (1997a), pp. 375–376.

  p. 253“kind of wealthy pauperism”—Plotkin (1984), p. 124.

  p. 253“If any millionaire be interested . . .”—Carnegie (1889), p. 687.

  p. 254“The great irony of the project . . .”—Lankford (1997a), pp. 397–398, 399.

  p. 255“virtually killing the ambitions . . .”—Struve (1943), pp. 474–475.

  p. 256“Light is all-important . . .”—Keeler (1897), p. 277.

  Part III. Money, Mirrors, and Madness

  p. 257“The doors of the observatory are never closed . . .”—Chant (1907), p. 263.

  Chapter 23. Mr. Hale of Chicago

  p. 259“[George Ellery Hale was] slight in figure . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 132.

  p. 259“A queer man lives nights in that cheese box”—Wright (1966), p. 36.

  p. 259“seemed bent on going where . . .”—Adams (1947), p. 197.

  p. 260“I was born an experimentalist . . .”—Adams (1938), p. 372.

  p. 260“George always wanted things yesterday”—Wright (1966), p. 30.

  p. 260“nervously organized”—Wright (1966), p. 33.

  p. 260“Our delights were enhanced by frightening . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 31.

  p. 261“I cannot think without excitement . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 42.

  p. 261“The odor of the disulphide . . .”—Adams (1938), p. 372.

  p. 262“Mr. Hale of Chicago”—Wright (1966), p. 43.

  p. 262“any grating of mine should be good . . .”—Adams (1938), p. 371.

  p. 262“To say that I have been busy . . .”—George Ellery Hale to Harry Goodwin, October 8, 1891. Sheehan and Osterbrock (2000), p. 96.

  p. 263“The red portion of the spectrum . . .”—Young (1890), p. 197.

  p. 263“Setting the spectroscope upon this latter...”—Young (1890), p. 199.

  p. 264“Not only is a large amount . . .”—Hale (1890b), p. 314.

  p. 266“I am treated like a Grand-Duke”—George Hale to Harry Goodwin, August 21, 1891. Wright (1966), p. 82.

  p. 266“The enclosed looks like business”—Wright (1966), p. 75.

  p. 267“I would not consider . . .”—George E. Hale to Harry Goodwin, July 17, 1892. Wright (1966), p. 92.

  p. 268“Boodler”—Wright (1966), p. 100.

  p. 268“lick the Lick”—Wright (1966), p. 98.

  p. 270“telescope is not only the largest . . .”—George Hale to Charles Yerkes, May 31, 1897. Wright (1966), p. 129.

  p. 270“logical formulation was shaped . . .”—Seares (1939), p. 266.

  p. 270“a fairly accurate analysis . . .”—Adams (1947), p. 199.

  p. 271“This is a very peaceful region . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 137.

  p. 271“two sets of underwear and one pair of pants . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 139.

  p. 271“moving cylinder of fur coats . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 126.

  p. 273“None of the beams they collect . . .”—Clerke (1893), p. 516.

  Chapter 24. The Universe in the Mirror

  p. 274“It has often been asserted . . .”—Ritchey (1901), p. 228–229.

  p. 277“It was a mighty bewilderment . . .”—Holmes, Oliver Wendell. The Poet at the Breakfast-Table. Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., 1872, p. 257.

  p. 278“I was never more struck with the conviction . . .”—King (1955), p. 224.

  p. 278“The nights are as remarkable . . .”—Lassell (1852), p. 14.

  p. 279“I was not without a pang or two . . .”—Lassell (1877), p. 179.

  p. 281“to have been one of the greatest calamities . . .”—Osterbrock (1985), p. 88.

  p. 282“For the English, mine does not exist”—Gascoigne (1996), p. 108.

  p. 282“After some five years’ constant experience . . .”—Browning (1870), p. 31.

  p. 283“reflector is so seriously influenced . . .”—Turner (1912), p. 25.

  p. 283“No combination of lenses . . .”—Hale (1897), p. 123.

  p. 284“It would be interesting to think . . .”—Ritchey (1901), p. 233.

  Chapter 25. Threads to a Web

  p. 285“The stars looked like jewels on black velvet . . .”—Hale (1912), p. 198.

  p. 286“discover the exceptional man . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 159.

  p. 287“I am a born adventurer . . .”—Christianson (1995), p. 170.

  p. 287“The prospects of a bohemian year . . .”—Walter S. Adams to George E. Hale, February 12, 1904. Wright (1966), p. 182.

  p. 288“a struggle for existence . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 183.

  p. 288“The gods bring threads . . .”—Seares (1939), p. 266.

  p. 289“Noble instrument”—Wright (1966), p. 201.

  p. 292“a sense of great events . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 205.

  p. 294“Congestion of my head . . .”—Christianson (1995, p. 169.

  p. 294“He immediately began to make plans . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 265.

  p. 295“neurasthenic quagmire”—Wright (1966), p. 275.

  p. 296“How the devil should I know”—Adams (1947), p. 302.

  p. 296“Starlight is falling on every square mile . . .”—Hale (1928a), p. 640.

  p. 296“An article of mine on large telescopes . . .”—George E. Hale to Robert G. Aitken, June 26, 1928. Wright (1966), p. 390.

  p. 297“steep and beset with difficulties . . .”—Wright (1966), p. 284.

  p. 298“Regret cannot accept your invitation . . .”—Mayall (1970), p. 180.

  Chapter 26. Size Matters

  p. 299“Once one has exhausted all possibilities . . .”—Gough, D.O. “Impact of Observations on Prejudice and Input Physics.” Weiss, W. W., and Baglin, A., eds. Inside the Stars. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series 40 (1993), p. 775.

  p. 299“His tall, vigorous figure, pipe in mouth . . .”—Humason (1954), p. 291.

  p. 300“I sometimes feel that there . . .”—Christianson (1995), p. 67.

  p. 302“[I]t does not add appreciably . . .”—Edwin Hubble to Edwin Frost, May 1, 1917. Christianson (1995), p. 101.

  p. 302“These questions await their answers . . .”—Hubble (1920), p. 69.

  p. 302“I barely got under fire . . .”—Edwin Hubble to Edwin Frost, August 14, 1919. Christianson (1995), p. 109.

  p. 303“By these observations . . .”—Herschel (1817), p. 326.

  p. 304“drawing a map of New York City . . .”—Struve and Zebergs (1962), p. 408.

  p. 304“The question of whether they are to be regarded . . .”—Fernie (1970), p. 1214.

  p. 306“To the measurer of the sidereal . . .”—Shapley (1930), p. 155.

  p. 307“It is probable that the further accumulation . . .”—Shapley (1919), p. 312.

  p. 307“From the new point of view . . .”—Shapl
ey (1919), p. 311.

  p. 307“Between us we have put a crimp . . .”—Harlow Shapley to Adriaan van Maanen, June 8, 1921. Bartusiak (2009), p. 164.

  p. 309“spirals live close to the right . . .”—Campbell (1917), p. 532.

  Chapter 27. A Night to Remember

  p. 311“What are galaxies? . . .” —Sandage (1961), p.1.

  p. 314“On this plate (H335H), three stars were found . . .”—Berendzen, et al (1984), p. 135.

  p. 315“seems to rule undisturbed . . .”—Hubble (1925b), p. 432.

  p. 315“Here is the letter that . . .”—Christianson (1995), p. 159.

  p. 316“undoubtedly among the most notable . . .”—Berendzen and Hoskin (1971), p. 5.

  p. 316“undoubtedly among the most notable scientific . . .”—“Finds Spiral Nebulae . . .” (1924), p. 6.

  p. 316“Well, he is an ass . . .”—Gingerich (1987), p. 126.

  p. 317“the straws are all pointing in one direction . . .”—Edwin Hubble to Harlow Shapley, August 25, 1924. Christianson (1995), p. 159.

  p. 318“with reserve”—van Maanen (1935), p. 337.

  p. 318“The work that Hubble did on galaxies . . .”—Shapley (1969), p. 57.

  Chapter 28. Oculis Subjecta Fidelibus

  p. 320“It is . . . an enormous advantage . . .”—Longair (2009), p. 242.

  p. 323“the time that has passed since Creation”—Belenkiy (2012), p. 40.

  p. 324“the complications of the theory . . .”—Smith (1979), p. 140.

  p. 326“realm of positive knowledge”—Hubble (1935), p. 4.

  p. 327“great pioneer work”—Hubble and Humason (1931), pp. 57–58.

  p. 327“If all this does not carry conviction . . .”—Herschel, John F. W. “Address Delivered at the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, February 12, 1842 on Presenting the Honorary Medal to M. Bessel.” Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, 12 (1842), pp. 442–454. Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, / Quam quæ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus: “What we learn merely through the ear makes less impression upon our minds than what is presented to the trustworthy eye.”—Horace, Ars poetica.

  p. 329“history of astronomy is . . .”—Hubble (1958), p. 21.

  p. 330“We are, by definition, in the very center . . .”—Hubble (1958), pp. 201–202.

  Epilogue

  p. 333“Other desires perish in the gratification . . .”—Housman, A. E. Introductory Lecture, Delivered Before the Faculties of Arts and Laws and of Science in University College, London, October 3, 1892. London: University Press, 1933.

  TIME LINE

  1839

  François Arago announces the daguerreotype photographic process. William Henry Fox Talbot announces his calotype photographic process.

  1840

  John W. Draper takes the first daguerreotype of the Moon that shows surface details.

  1843

  John W. Draper takes the first daguerreotype of the Sun’s spectrum.

  1845

  A-H-L Fizeau and Léon Foucault take the first daguerreotype of the Sun that shows sunspots. The Third Earl of Rosse completes the Leviathan reflector telescope in Ireland. William Lassell builds a twenty-four-inch, equatorially mounted reflector telescope outside Liverpool, which he reassembles on the island of Malta in 1852.

  1847

  William and George Bond and John Whipple commence their experiments in celestial photography at Harvard.

  1850

  First daguerreotype of a star (Vega) is obtained at Harvard.

  1851

  Harvard’s daguerreotype of the Moon is displayed to great acclaim at the Crystal Palace exhibition in London. First daguerreotype of a planet (Jupiter) is obtained at Harvard. First daguerreotype of a total solar eclipse showing the Sun’s corona is taken by Berkowski at Königsberg. Frederick Scott Archer announces his wet- collodion photographic process.

  1852

  Warren De La Rue produces the first wet-collodion photographs of the Moon.

  1856

  Justus von Liebig develops a chemical method to deposit a coating of silver onto glass. Léon Foucault produces the first silvered-glass reflector telescopes.

  1857

  George Bond obtains a wet-collodion photograph of the double star Mizar and Alcor.

  1858

  William Usherwood photographs Comet Donati using a tripod-mounted camera. Warren De La Rue produces stereoscopic pictures of the Moon; constructs a photoheliograph to record daily images of solar surface activity.

  1859

  Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff announce their findings on the origin and significance of the solar spectral lines, opening up the Sun and stars to chemical analysis. William Lassell builds a forty-eight-inch, equatorially mounted reflector telescope, which he reassembles on the island of Malta in 1861.

  1863

  William Huggins and William Allen Miller publish their initial visual study of stellar spectra.

  1864

  Henry Draper publishes his manual describing the construction of a silvered-glass reflector telescope and its use in celestial photography. Based on a visual spectroscopic study, William Huggins concludes that some nebulae consist primarily of distributed, luminous gas, not discrete stars.

  1865

  Lewis Rutherfurd commences his long-term project to obtain images of star clusters with a refractor telescope optimized for photography.

  1869

  The Great Melbourne Telescope, the last of the large speculum-metal reflectors, is put into service.

  1871

  Richard Leach Maddox announces the dry-plate photographic process.

  1872

  Henry Draper obtains the first photographic spectrum of a star (Vega) that depicts spectral lines.

  1880

  Henry Draper photographs the Orion Nebula.

  1882

  David Gill’s photograph of the Great Comet of 1882 captures an unexpected backdrop of stars. Henry Draper photographs the spectrum of the Orion Nebula.

  1883

  Andrew Common’s photograph of the Orion Nebula depicts features not seen visually through a telescope.

  1887

  The first-ever international conference of astronomers convenes in Paris to discuss the Carte du Ciel, a comprehensive photographic map of the night sky.

  1888

  Isaac Roberts displays his revelatory three-hour exposure of the Andromeda Nebula before the Royal Astronomical Society. Henry Rowland publishes a map of the Sun’s spectrum depicting some twenty thousand absorption lines.

  1889

  Edward C. Pickering and Hermann Vogel independently discover spectroscopic binary stars, based solely on photographs of the periodic Doppler shift of their spectral lines. Edward E. Barnard commences his wide-field photographic survey of the Milky Way. George E. Hale invents the spectroheliograph.

  1890

  First volume of Harvard’s Henry Draper catalog of stellar spectra is published.

  1891

  Maximilian Wolf makes the first photographic discovery of an asteroid.

  1892

  Edward E. Barnard makes the first photographic discovery of a comet.

  1895

  The Astrophysical Journal begins publication.

  1897

  Completion of the forty-inch refractor at Yerkes Observatory.

  1899

  James E. Keeler obtains photographs with Lick Observatory’s Crossley reflector that reveal the ubiquity of spiral nebulae. First meeting of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America.

  1904

  Mount Wilson Observatory founded by George E. Hale.

  1908

  Mount Wilson Observatory’s sixty-inch reflector telescope is put into service.

  1914

  Vesto M. Slipher presents his spectroscopic study revealing that the radial velocities of galaxies are unexpectedly large.

  1917

  Mount Wilson Observatory’s one-hundred-inch reflector
telescope is put into service. Albert Einstein publishes his General Theory of Relativity.

  1919

  Harlow Shapley proposes a tenfold increase in the diameter of our galaxy based on observations of its globular star clusters.

  1920

  The Great Debate about the dimensions of the galaxy and the scale of the universe is held in Washington, DC.

  1923

  From observations of its Cepheid variable stars, Edwin Hubble concludes that the Andromeda Nebula lies well outside the Milky Way Galaxy.

  1929

  Edwin Hubble and Milton Humason announce their preliminary finding that the radial velocities of galaxies increase linearly with distance, a quantitative relationship that would become known as Hubble’s law.

  1931

  Hubble and Humason present additional observations that confirm the extragalactic velocity–distance relationship, which many astronomers accept as evidence that the universe is expanding.

  GLOSSARY OF NAMES

  Adams, Walter S. (1876–1956) — Staff astronomer and, later, director of the Mount Wilson Observatory in California. George Ellery Hale’s right-hand man in the establishment and operation of the facility.

  Airy, George Biddell (1801–1892) — England’s seventh Astronomer Royal, Airy was a prime mover in the improvement of positional astronomy and an influential figure in other branches of astronomy.

  Arago, François (1786–1853) — Director of the Paris Observatory and dean of the French scientific establishment in the mid-1800s. Publicly announced the daguerreotype photographic process in 1839.

  Archer, Frederick Scott (1813–1857) — Announced his wet-collodion photographic process in 1851.

  Barnard, Edward Emerson (1857–1923) — Pioneering wide-field astrophotographer at Lick and Yerkes Observatories. Noted for his panoramic images of the Milky Way.