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A Revised History
I agree in essence with Chet Raymos
conclusions in his review of History of
Astronomy: An Encyclopedia (May issue,
page 61). He writes: All in all, editor
John Lankford and Garland Publishing
are to be congratulated for bringing this
valuable resource to the public. As an
astronomer and a historian of science, I
enjoy this encyclopedia and it will gather
no dust on my shelves. However, the reviewer fell short in discussing the improper coverage of some topics.
While numerous articles concerning
minor astronomers exist, no space was
provided in the encyclopedia for entries
concerning such prominent personalities
as Giordano Bruno, Joseph Fraunhofer,
George Gamow, Carl Gauss, Fred Hoyle,
and many others. In the index you will
find Leonid Brezhnev and Nikita
Khrushchev but not Rudjer Boskovic,
who was mentioned only in passing on
one page. And I will not belabor the
omission of a dozen Russians well
known in the West, including Aleksandr
A. Friedmann and Dmitri D. Maksutov.
The coverage of certain astronomical
observations important to the sciences
history is inadequate as well; there seems
to have been no proper criterion for the
list of entries.
I would like to apologize for six distressing mistakes in my own contributions to this volume. The errors, which
include my affiliation, appeared as a result of editing. In one case a misplaced
semicolon suggests that Nicolai D. Moiseev rather than Boris V. Kukarkin was a
vice president of the International Astronomical Union from 1955 to 1961.
Other mistakes are similar. I regret passing up my chance to check these articles
before publication. I very much hope
that a second, revised edition of this
valuable text is being planned.
Alexander Gurshtein
1119 Chipeta Ave.
Grand Junction, CO 81501
In his review of History of Astronomy,
Chet Raymo asks, When was the Doppler effect first used to measure the radial velocity of a celestial object? The earliest date he mentioned was 1868, when
attempts were made using visual obser12

October 1997 Sky & Telescope

vations of solar spectra.


However, a much earlier astronomical
application involves Ole Rmers famous
determination in 1675 of the finite speed
of light. The Danish astronomer and
mathematician measured the difference
in Ios apparent period as the Earth approached and receded from Jupiter. This
is the same principle that Christian
Doppler applied more than a century
later to the pitch of sounds and that
spectroscopists apply today to the frequency (and wavelength) of light.
The frequency affected by the Doppler
shifts in these examples varies from 6.5
microhertz (one cycle per 43.5 hours)
for Io, to 1 kilohertz for sound, to about
500 terahertz for visible light a span
of 20 orders of magnitude!
Edward P. Wallner
32 Barney Hill Rd.
Wayland, MA 01778-3602
epwallnr@world.std.com

Missing Maps
In the brief review of the NASA Atlas of
the Solar System (July issue, page 68), the
statement If it orbits the Sun and has
been visited up close by a spacecraft,
theres a map of it in this hefty volume,
is not true. Deimos, Gaspra, Hyperion,
Janus, Amalthea, and several other such
minor bodies have been observed in this
way, but maps are not included for them.
The maps in this atlas were produced by
the U.S. Geological Survey, which has
never fully solved the problem of mapping nonspherical worlds. The atlas does
contain an experimental map of Phobos
and an image of Ida with a few labels
added, but on the whole these bodies are
neglected.
I am working with Jean Lorre of the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Yang
Cheng of Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop new approaches to this
problem. A variety of maps and photomosaics of small bodies may be viewed
at http://www.geog.uwo.ca/stooke_
personalhomepage/plancart.htm.
Philip J. Stooke
Department of Geography
University of Western Ontario
London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada
stooke@sscl.uwo.ca
1997 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

The Essential
Magazine of
Astronomy

OCTOBER 1947 Visual methods [for photometry] are well adapted to the use of amateurs because they may be practiced with a
minimum of expensive equipment. Photographic methods are
not used by amateurs
because of the technical difficulties and
expense involved,
and photoelectric
photometry is all
but unknown to the
amateur for the
same reasons. . . .
The equipment
necessary for accomplishing photoelectric
photometry was so expensive, and so difficult to build and operate, that no amateur
could possibly aspire to ownership and use.
Today, however, the picture is somewhat different, owing principally to the introduction
. . . [of] the 1P21 multiplier phototube.
The famous 1P21 continued for decades to be
the workhorse for photometrists.Yet it was never
widely adopted by amateurs. The tedium of
making and reducing photometric observations
was clearly to blame.

50&25
Y

OCTOBER 1972 On the early afternoon


of August 10, 1972, an extremely bright fireball was seen in full daylight in the western
United States and Canada . . . leaving a train
that remained visible for well over an hour.
As reported in the August issue, page 16,
the parent meteoroid actually skipped off the
Earths atmosphere and went back into space.
It returned this year, though far from Earth,
around July 31st. The best
current estimate, by Zdenek
Ceplecha, makes the object 3
to 15 meters in size with a
mass of at most 1,000 tons.
It was announced [on
August 21, 1972] that a 32inch reflecting telescope,
the largest astronomical
instrument ever sent into
space by man, is now
viewing the heavens.
The Copernicus satellite was very successful,
operating until December 1980. It carried a
spectrometer for ultraviolet observations and
three small X-ray telescopes.
From 87 B.C. until the end of February,
1972, there have been 924 appearances of
comets whose paths around the sun are
known, according to the new Catalogue of
Cometary Orbits by Brian G. Marsden.
The 12th edition of the catalog is now
being prepared.
14

October 1997 Sky & Telescope

Bonus Barlows

Variables for the Fun of It

I always enjoy Terence Dickinsons nononsense writing style, and his review of
Barlows (July issue, page 59) was no exception. However, readers who intend to
follow his suggestion and acquire an additional Barlow should consider another
factor namely the interchangeability
of Barlow lenses and tubes. This works
for Barlows that have lens elements in a
separate cell that can be unscrewed from
the tube.
The magnification of a Barlow is dependent on the focal length of its lens
and the overall length of its tube. Unscrewing and swapping the lenses of a
higher-power, shorter-tube Barlow with
that of a lower-power, longer-tube one
effectively produces two new Barlows.
When I swapped the lens cell of my old
2 Celestron Deluxe with that of my
1.8 Tele Vue, I obtained Barlows with
approximate magnifications of 1.65
and 2.3.
Thus, judicious selection of an additional Barlow can lead to effectively buying three for the price of one. An excellent value, in my opinion.
Renato Alessio
35 Cosier Dr.
Noble Park, Victoria 3174
Australia
ralessi@iic.a-l.defence.gov.au

Visual observation of variable stars is a


challenging, aesthetically pleasing, and
spiritually rewarding activity, which also
happens to have a certain scientific utility. But I have no interest whatever in remaining competitive as a variable-star
observer, as suggested by Doug Welch in
his Focal Point (July issue, page 10). I
wouldnt touch a CCD camera with a
10-foot pole.
After 50 years as a professional physicist, I dont have to play to my strengths
I just play. Im not looking for windows of opportunity but a window on
the heavens, which (at least according to
the psalmist) declare the glory of God.
In this respect, amateurs in the postHipparcos age are no different from their
predecessors down through the ages.
They should be proud of their heritage
and not too quick to sell it for the dubious distinction of counting themselves
professionals.
Robert B. Raphael
P.O. Box 1068
South West Harbor, ME 04679
raphael@pctech.net

That Venerable Old Dome


David Gelernter is right in his commentary The End of Dignity (June issue,
page 6). Replacing New York Citys Hayden Planetarium with a theme park is a
sad commentary on our times. Perhaps
nostalgia is a sign of age, but I cannot
forget the excitement of the night sky revealed under that venerable old dome.
As a teenager I even wangled invitations
to space-flight symposia by becoming a
member of the British Interplanetary
Society. No rock music or laser shows,
these events were just stodgy lectures by
pioneers like Fred Whipple, Willy Ley,
and Wernher von Braun. The dumbing
of America can only be countered by
turning off the television, stepping outside, and experiencing natural wonders.
Then again, dont forget to set your VCR
to record those wonderful PBS shows
like Nova and The Mysteries of Deep
Space!
Edward J. Young
2002 Holcombe Blvd.
Houston, TX 77030
1997 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

SZ Herculis
Thank you very much for Alan MacRoberts article on the eclipsing binary
SZ Herculis in the June issue (page 76). I
obtained a usable set of timing estimates
and sent them off to Marvin Baldwin as
suggested. It was the most fun Ive had
astronomically since last years Perseid
meteor shower.
I am mostly interested in whole-sky
binocular astronomy, but observing gets
stale without some sort of project to direct the attention and lend purpose. This
endeavor was nearly ideal. It could be
completed in one evening, and the
eclipses recurred often enough for easy
scheduling. The observations served a
purpose nominally useful to science,
were slow-paced enough to allow time
to see the rest of the sky (I witnessed a
brilliant fireball that I estimated at magnitude 5), and involved both field and
desk work.
Id like to see Sky & Telescope publish
more of these request for semiskilled
assistance articles in addition to the
usual supply of why dont you go look
at this articles.
David Beard
R.D. 1 Box 648
Newmanstown, PA 17073

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