Annual Report Of The Naval Observatory For The Fiscal Year PDF Download

Excerpt from Report of the Superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory: For the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1900 Sir: I have the honor to submit the annual report of the operations of the United States Naval Observatory for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900. Department of Astronomical Observations. The work of the year in this department may be summarized as follows: Prof. William Harkness, who retired from active service on December 15, 1899, was succeeded in the astronomical directorship by Prof. Stimson J. Brown, the senior professor of mathematics on duty at the Observatory. Professor Brown's first duty was as member of a board of examiners, to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Professor Harkness by the selection of a suitable candidate for appointment as professor of mathematics in the Navy. The labors of this board, of which Prof. William Hendrickson, U. S. N., was senior member, resulted in the selection and appointment of Prof. W. S. Eichelberger. In this connection it is pertinent to observe that the present condition of the astronomical staff of the Observatory is highly satisfactory, and gives promise for the future. The vacancies, caused by the rapid successive retirement of the older professors, have all been filled by young men of marked ability, and the Observatory has followed its traditional policy in this respect, and has every reason to anticipate a renewed activity and a period of harmony, industry, and usefulness. All the astronomical instruments of the Observatory have been steadily and continuously in use during the year on every clear night and day. The XXVI-inch equatorial telescope has been employed on the observation of difficult double stars, the satellites of the planets and the measurement of their disks, and on other objects suitable to an instrument of its power. This instrument was in charge of Professor Brown, assisted by Prof. T. J. J. See until December 15, and has since been in charge of Professor See. In the month of October, during the hazy weather common at that season, the images of celestial bodies were marked by great steadiness in the field of view, unusual at other times. Owing to this favorable condition Professor See noticed on several occasions faint markings on the disk of Neptune, similar to the equatorial belts of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.