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Home , Beta Hydri, Briggs (crater), Carte du Ciel, Durchmusterung, Groombridge 1830, HD 217107

Notes

1Before use of the Euro in 1999, ESA used first an Accounting Unit and later the European Currency Unit to simulate the basket of currencies of its member states. To simplify num- bers, and ignoring inflation over the intervening period, I label amounts simply in Euros 2Accepted practice in capitalises the word when it refers to our own 3Billion is used throughout to signify one thousand million, or equivalently 1 000 000 000, or 109 in scientific notation 4The Impact of Science on Society by Bertrand Russell (Routledge, 1985) 5A similar analogy was used by in his Oort Lecture at Leiden University in 1999, but it may have been used by others before him 6BCE, or Before the Common Era, is synonymous with BC. CE, or Common Era, is synony- mous with AD, and is dropped where confusion is unlikely 7The Expanding Universe by Arthur (Penguin, 1932) 8To commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of Galileo’s first recorded observations of the night sky using a telescope, the United Nations scheduled 2009 to be the Interna- tional of Astronomy 9The names of the fifty or so brightest carry a mix of Greek (e.g. ), Latin (e.g. ), or Arabic (e.g. ) etymology. Extending the naming to more stars, Johan ’s 1603 Uranometria comprised forty nine maps, and a new ordering of names in which Greek letters, and thereafter Roman letters, along with the Latin possessive form of the constellation name, were assigned depending on magnitude and location. John Flamsteed’s 1729 Coelestis embraced the naming of more stars by as- signing Arabic numerals within the from west to east. For fainter stars, a plethora of other names abound, generally their sequence number in one or other obser- vational catalogues, such as the HD (for Henry Draper) or HIP (for Hipparcos) catalogues 10The division of the sky into constellations dates to antiquity. In the western world, the constellations of the northern hemisphere are based on star patterns described by

M. Perryman, The Making of History’s Greatest Star Map, Astronomers’ Universe 263 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-11602-5, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 Notes

the ancient Greeks. Many for the southern hemisphere were introduced by the French astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille (1713–1762). The constellations are nothing more than widely spaced patterns of bright stars that appear loosely related to each other from the perspective of the Earth, generally with little scientific relevance, and typically bearing little resemblance to the objects they pretend to represent. For centuries the boundaries were arbitrary and somewhat fluid. The 88 constellations now defined by the Interna- tional Astronomical Union had their boundaries drawn up by Eugène Delporte in 1930 11Quoted in Star-Names and Their Meanings by R.H. Allen (G.E. Stechert, 1899) 12Apparent magnitude is a measure of a star’s brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, i.e. as an object appears in the sky taking no account of its distance. It has its origin in the Hellenistic practice (generally believed to have been introduced by Hipparchus and popularised by Ptolemy) of dividing stars visible to the into six magnitudes: the brightest stars of first magnitude, while the faintest visible to the eye were of sixth magnitude. The system is now more formalised, based on a logarithmic scaling which allows both for fainter and brighter objects. Thus , the brightest star in the sky, has an of 1.4, while Venus and can reach 4. The full is − − about magnitude 13 and the is around 26. Once we know an object’s distance, we − − can calculate its ‘’, i.e. its , or energy output 13If our home had been Jupiter instead of Earth, angles would be five times larger; but we would have to wait twelve Earth to trace out a full path around the Sun 14Astronomical distance measurements in meters or kilometers, or even millions of kilo- meters, are unwieldy, although I use them in a few places to make a point. The two most convenient and widely-used units of distance are the light-year and the . The light- year is the distance travelled by light in one year; it’s a little less than 10 million million kilometers. The parsec is tied to the geometry of the Earth’s motion around the Sun; it’s a little more than 30 million million kilometers. I have tended to use parsec when empha- sising the measurements, and light-year—which still seems to me a little more poetic— when emphasising their immensity. Multiply distances in parsec by about three, or 3.26 to be more precise, if you prefer distances in light-years 15More background can be found in The Cambridge Illustrated by Michael Hoskin (Cambridge University Press, 1997) 16The Rise of Scientific Europe 1500–1800 by David Goodman & Colin Russell (Hodder & Stoughton, 1991) 17Aristarchus of Samos by Thomas Heath (Oxford University Press, 1913) 18The story is told in the popular account Longitude by Dava Sobel (Fourth Estate, 1996) 19Further details are given in Dividing the Circle by Allan Chapman (Ellis Horwood, 1990) 20Road to Riches, or the Wealth of Man by Peter Jay (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000) 21Star-Names and Their Meanings by R.H. Allen (G.E. Stechert, 1899) 22The publication of 1801 gave only the observations carried out over ten years at the École Militaire. The calculations to produce the catalogue were only made in 1837. It was pub- lished in 1847 as ‘A Catalogue of those Stars in the Histoire Céleste Française, reduced at

– 264 – Notes

the expense of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and printed at the expense of Her Majesty’s Government’ 23Parallax: the Race to Measure the Cosmos by Alan Hirshfeld (W.H.Freeman, 2001) 24More than a century later, Lick observatory astronomer Carl Wirtanen is said to have kept a widow spider in his office to supply his own instrument needs 25Quoted in The Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy by Michael Hoskin (Cambridge University Press, 1997) 26The Physical Universe by Frank Shu (University Science Books, California, 1982) 27A highly readable account was published by the Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Ox- ford, H.H. Turner, as The Great Star Map (John Murray, 1912). The book is a mine of in- formation, with costs, weight of the plates and catalogue, and many other details 28Adriaan Blaauw recalls that Pieter van Rhijn (1886–1960), Kapteyn’s successor as director of the Astronomical Institute in Groningen and who Blaauw himself knew well, had told him that Kapteyn had numerical computations of star coordinates carried out by prison- ers in Groningen. According to Blaauw: “A number of these tables still exist and are now part of the Kapteyn legacy collection kept in the Groningen University Library where they can be consulted. They are a marvel of neatness and accuracy. The people who made them must have taken great pride in delivering them and one can imagine that it must have given them great satisfaction to contribute in this way to Kapteyn’s scientific work.” Doubts were raised about the role of prisoners at the Kapteyn Legacy Symposium in 2000, there being no written documentation, but Blaauw vouches for the story’s pedigree 29A History of the European Space Agency, Volume 2 (1958–1987) by J. Krige, A. Russo & L. Sebesta (ESA Publications, 2000) 30ESA’s Halley comet probe was named after the Italian artist, Giotto di Bondone (1266– 1337). Inspired by the reappearance of Comet Halley in 1301, Giotto transformed the Star of Bethlehem into a golden comet in his 1304 fresco Adoration of the Magi 3123rd Meeting of ESA’s Science Programme Committee, 4–5 March 1980 3224th Meeting of ESA’s Science Programme Committee, 8–9 July 1980 33Contributions to the History of Number 6: Miraculous Approval of Hipparcos in 1980 by Erik Høg, 28 May 2008 34Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 25, p1498 (1993) 35Matra Marconi Space is now known as EADS Astrium, but its name at the time is retained throughout this account 36New Scientist, Issue 1678, 19 August 1989 37Commentary on the failure was given, by reporter Peter B. de Selding, in the 11 June 1990 issue of Space News Europeans Tussle over Motor Failure, and in the 16 July 1990 issue Hi-Shear Part Blamed for Hipparcos Failure 38Each card, of size 7-3/8 3-1/4 inches, encoded up to 80 characters over its 80 columns, × each represented by rectangular holes in each of 12 punch locations

– 265 – Notes

3959th Meeting of ESA’s Science Programme Committee, 26–27 February 1991 40Quoted in The Observer, 24 March 1991 41Sir George Darwin, astronomer and mathematician, was a son of Charles Darwin 42Andrew Derrington, ‘The Ruler Strikes Back’, Financial Times, 29 March 1997 43The ‘Messier’ objects are nebulae and star clusters catalogued by French astronomer Charles Messier (1730–1817). Viewed with the scale and resolution of modern telescopes, many are seen to be like our own, but at enormous distances. The designations M1 to M110 are still in use by astronomers today 44Details are given in A Short Biography of Jan Hendrik Oort by J. Katgert–Merkelijn (Leiden Observatory, 2000). The obituary quote was by Chandrasekhar 45Stars on the are referred to as dwarfs. Such a label is confusing because it implies that they are smaller than ‘normal’ stars, while they are normal for stars on the main sequence. Giants are, in contrast, very large compared to the main sequence stars of the same temperature or spectral type. White dwarfs and dwarfs are much smaller than normal stars on the main sequence 46In science, the more fundamental scale of temperature is generally used. The dif- ference between them is 273 degrees, and in this context can be ignored 47A history of attempts to date the Earth is told in Ancient Earth, Ancient Skies by G. Brent Dalrymple (Stanford University Press, 2004) 48Asteroid identification is conventionally specified by its discovery sequence number, fol- lowed by a name authorised by the International Astronomical Union. The first few were named after figures from Graeco–Roman mythology, but as available names ran out the names of famous people, literary characters, and others were used. More recently, discov- erers have often bestowed the names of other astronomers, from which practice I have my own name carved upon the otherwise unremarkable 10969 Perryman, discovered by the prolific asteroid hunters from Leiden University, Ingrid and Kees van Houten, sandwiched alphabetically between 5529 Perry on the one side, and 9637 Perryrose on the other 49‘Tropic’ comes from the Greek for turning, indicating that the Sun appears to ‘turn back’ in its path at the solstices. When they were named, the Sun was in the direction of the constellations Cancer and Capricorn; this is no longer true due to the precessional (wob- bling) motion of the Earth 50The International Latitude Service was renamed the International Polar Motion Service in 1962, in turn replaced by the International Earth Rotation Service in 1988 51The cold period coincided with the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715). It seems somewhat perverse in the current context that he was referred to as the Sun King. Yet just as the revolved around the Sun, so the story goes, so too should France and the court revolve around him 52wikipedia/SETI, cited on 30 November 2009 53Malcolm Longair in ‘Facing the Millennium’, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, January 2001, Vol. 113, pp1–5

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HEFOLLOWINGTWOPAGES are reconstructions of details from the T Hipparcos catalogue allowing regions of sky to be viewed in stereo, with the distance of the stars visible. The areas of the sky covered are eight by six degrees for each. In both cases, the stars shown are those observed by the satellite. Sizes are shown according to the star brightnesses, and the colours reflect their temperatures, with white corresponding to hotter stars, and red to cooler. The left and right pairs are reconstructed from the satellite mea- surements so that the resulting stereo effect reflects the true distance of the stars, showing how the stars are really distributed in space. The first pair shows the region of the , at a distance of about 40 or about 130 light-years. The brightest star, just to the above left of centre, is the foreground star ; it lies at about 20 parsecs distance, and is not a member of the Hyades cluster. The cluster has an age of about 625 million years. The second pair shows the region of the Pleiades star cluster, at a dis- tance of about 125 parsecs or about 400 light-years. The cluster has an age of about 100 million years. To view the stereo pairs, concentrate on the images from a distance of around arm’s length, although a little closer or further might work better. The idea is to focus the eyes on the page, but to ‘cross’ the eyes so that the right eye looks at the left image, and vice versa. Give some time for the two images to merge into one, and bear in mind that the bright stars in both fields are in the foreground, such that they will be seen ‘hanging’ in front of the paper. Once you have figured out the effect, which may take some minutes the first time, it can usually be repeated again rather easily.

267 Stereo Views Stereo image pair of the Hyades star cluster Jos de Bruijne and Michael Perryman

– 268 – Stereo Views Stereo image pair of the Pleiades star cluster Jos de Bruijne and Michael Perryman

– 269 –

Acknowledgments

UNDREDSOFPEOPLE played their part in making Hipparcos a success. H Many engineers and managers in ESA and industry spent a decade or more engaged in their own crucial contributions. The scientific ele- ments demanded even lengthier commitment down the years—numerous astronomers in Europe dedicated the best part of two decades to their parts in the complex story, the Hipparcos project occupying by far the largest part of their professional lives. This popular account is not the place to list these detailed contributions, and I can only ask for their understanding in not mentioning most by name; more than three hundred essential scientific and technical contributions are credited in the published catalogue. But as heads of their respective teams, I acknowledge the leadership of project managers Franco Emiliani and Hamid Hassan in ESA, Dietmar Heger at ESOC and, in industry, Michel Bouffard and Bruno Strim who managed the leading industrial teams of Matra Marconi Space and Alenia Spazio respectively. Astronomers Catherine Turon, from the in Meudon, Lennart Lindegren from Lund University in Sweden, Erik Høg from Copen- hagen University, and Jean Kovalevsky from Grasse in France, played major parts in the early studies, led the four scientific consortia during the 1980s and 1990s, and gained both international recognition for their achievements, and my gratitude for their stimulating collaboration, support, and advice. The other members of the Hipparcos Science Team for many years— Ulrich Bastian, Pier Luigi Bernacca, Michel Crézé, Francesco Donati, Michel Grenon, Michael Grewing, Floor van Leeuwen, Hans van der Marel, François Mignard, Andrew Murray, Rudolf Le Poole and Hans Schrijver—all played key parts in steering the project to success, as did the many other scientists across Europe within their teams.

271 Acknowledgments

In preparing this account, my text on the early history of astrome- try draws on the cited works of David Goodman & Colin Russell, Michael Hoskin, and Allan Chapman. The decision-making process for Hipparcos through to 1980 pre-dates my involvement in the project, and is largely based on the authorised history of the European Space Agency by J. Krige, A. Russo & L. Sebesta, supplemented by the more recent perspectives of those refer- enced. For sharing their specific recollections to add to this account, I am grateful to ESA project team members Kai Clausen, Franco Emiliani, and Oscar Pace, and to Dietmar Heger at ESOC. I also thank all who kindly responded to my requests for the pictures that illustrate the text. Every effort has been made to obtain appropriate permissions in the case of copyright material. Sources and credits are given alongside the images. Portrait photographs are either from my own collec- tion and used with due permissions, or provided by the individuals. Other unattributed figures were prepared for this work by the author. Various people kindly read parts of earlier drafts, and have been gen- erous with their time and advice. Specifically I would like to thank Adriaan Blaauw, Giacomo Cavallo, Graham Dolan, Ute Eberle, Vincent Higgs, Jean- Claude Pecker, Daniel Reydellet, William van Altena, and Wolfendale. I am grateful to Erik Høg, Jean Kovalevsky, Lennart Lindegren, and Catherine Turon for their detailed comments on the full text. François Mignard shared his considerable knowledge of the history of science by pro- viding numerous detailed suggestions on the historical chapters. Roger– Maurice Bonnet generously looked over the entire manuscript, providing some valuable commentary and also some much-appreciated encourage- ment in pursuing this chronicle through to completion. I owe a debt of gratitude to my first head of division in ESA, Brian Fitton, for entrusting me with the scientific leadership of Hipparcos at the relatively tender and unproven age of twenty six, while Brian Taylor in ESA provided me with valued support over many years thereafter. Where I have failed to properly reflect the events or contributions of these and other participants in the making of history’s greatest star map, I offer my sincerest apologies, and trust that for all there is some satisfaction in seeing the story related in print, however inadequately. In this context it is a pleasure to thank my editor at Springer, Ramon Khanna, for his assistance in turning it into reality, and his numerous comments along the way. I leave my most important debt of gratitude until last. Over many years my wife Julia has been a staunch supporter of Hipparcos, or at least my in- volvement in it. I thank her for her comments and help on this book also, but more profusely for her tireless inspiration and encouragement over the best part of three decades.

– 272 – Index

of starlight, 57, 109, 155, Arenou, Frédéric, 165 182, 238 , Friedrich, 71, 83, 199 , John Couch, 80 Ariane, 1, 5–7, 9, 10, 12, 131 Al Battani, 47 Arianespace, 1, 7, 9, 13, 104, 124, 133, Allen telescope array, 252 134 Allen, Paul, 252 of Samos, 45, 48, 50 Allen, R.H., 55, 264 asteroids, 231–236 Almagest, 35, 45 Astraea, 233 Alpher, Ralph, 208 Ceres, 233, 235 Amaldi, Edoardo, 93–95 Juno, 233 Amateur Association of Massalia, 235 Observers, 159 Nysa, 235 Andromeda galaxy, 74, 185, 187 Pallas, 233 angles Perryman, 266 defining a circle, 29 Vesta, 233 asteroseismology, 213 measurement of, 53–59 Astrographic Catalogue, 75–78, 169, millisecond of arc, 33 170 scientific importance, 34 astrolabe, 51, 69 second of arc, 31 astrometry antennae definition, 43 Goldstone, 139 early history, 43–62 Kourou, 139 history 1850–1980, 63–84 Malindi, 135 Atkinson, Harry, 258 Odenwald, 126, 135, 138, 139 atmosphere, effects on measure- Perth, 135, 139 ments, 31 Villafranca, 139 Auwers, Arthur von, 68, 69, 76 anthropic principle, 27 , François, 58, 79 Bacchus, Pierre, 87 , 229 Balega, Yuri, 221

273 Index

Barbieri, Cesare, 164 Briggs, Henry, 153 , E.E., 199 Brinkley, John, 58 meteor crater, 245 British Aerospace, 122 Bastian, Ulrich, 151, 271 Bruno, Giordano, 49 Battrick, , 166 Bureau des Longitudes, 155 Bayer, Johan, 170, 263 Bureau International de l’Heure, 239 beam combining mirror, 111–115, 262 Calandrelli, Giuseppe, 58 Bernacca, Pier Luigi, 94, 178, 271 Calder, Nigel, 183 Bernard of Chartres, 18 Cape of Good Hope, see observato- , Friedrich, 60, 62–64, 68, 88, ries 215 Carl Zeiss GmbH, 115, 122 Bethe, Hans, 208 Carlyle, Thomas, 15 Big Bang, 24–27, 187, 208, 209, 217, , 75–78 229, 232 CASA, 122 nucleosynthesis, 208 Cassegrain, Laurent, 113 Bigot, Charles, 9, 262 Cassini, Giovanni, 51, 80 billion, definition, 21 Cavallo, Giacomo, 260 binary stars, see double stars CCD, 70, 79, 121, 180, 221, 257 Bird, John, 55 celestial atlases, 170 Blaauw, Adriaan, 149–151, 179, 183, Cepheid stars, see star types 223, 265 Ceres, 233, 235 black hole, 215, 224, 253, 259 CERGA, 111 in Galaxy centre, 189 CERN, 94 Bleeker, Johan, 165 Chandler wobble, 238–240 Board of Longitude, 52, 55, 61 Chandler, Seth, 238 , Johann, 170 Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan, 216, , Niels, 153 266 Bond, William Cranch, 64 Christie, William, 76 Bondi, Hermann, 99, 108, 111 Churchill, Winston, 27 Bonnefoy, René, 112 Clark, Alvan, 215 Bonnet, Roger–Maurice, 13, 92, 124, Clarke, Arthur C., 125 129, 132, 137, 139, 143, 152, Clausen, Kai, 120, 123, 127, 129, 136, 164, 178, 261, 272 137, 141, 272 , Benjamin, 68 climate Boss, Lewis, 227 Dalton minimum, 241 Bouchet, Jacques, 7–11 ice ages, 242–244 Bouffard, Michel, 105, 122, 178, 271 Maunder minimum, 241–242 Bradley, James, 57, 63, 68, 69, 155, medieval maximum, 241 238 Milankovitch cycles, 237 Brado, Wilhelm, 129 Spörer minimum, 241

– 274 – Index

clusters, see open clusters, globular dark energy, 26 clusters dark matter, 26, 187, 192, 196, 197, CNES, 7, 89, 113, 158, 180 208, 209 comets Davidson, Charles, 82 Grigg–Skjellerup, 96 de Bruijne, Jos, 174 Halley, 92, 96, 232 De la Rue, Warren, 64 McNaught, 232 de Lacaille, Nicolas, 61, 264 Shoemaker–Levy, 175, 233 de Selding, Peter B., 265 Comte de , 218 de Sitter, Willem, 191 Confucius, 43 Death Star, see Nemesis constellation Deimos, 220 definition, 37 Delhaye, Jean, 147 Andromeda, 185 Delporte, Eugène, 264 Auriga, 223 Derrington, Andrew, 177, 266 Cancer, 266 Descartes, René, 50 Capricorn, 266 disk (Galaxy), see Galaxy, disk Centaurus, 203 distances Columba, 223 analogies for stars, 38 Draco, 55 examples, 41–42 Lepus, 223 light-year, definition, 40 Orion, 223, 225 measurement of, 38–40 Sagittarius, 187, 189 parsec, definition, 40 Taurus, 223, 226 standard candles, 74, 188, 213, , 218 227 Copernicus, Nicholas, 39, 48–50 Donati, Francesco, 271 Corbet, Robin, 253 double stars, 21, 58, 218–221 Corot satellite, 247 Dudley, Geoff, 138 Cottingham, Edwin, 82 Couteau, Paul, 86 Bonn, 71, 199 Crabb, Roy, 138 Córdoba, 71 Crézé, Michel, 271 Cape, 72, 73 Crommelin, Andrew, 82 Dyson, Frank, 66, 81, 155 CSEM, 122 Dyson, Freeman, 125 Curien, Hubert, 13 Curtis, Heber, 73–74 Earth, age, 218 eclipse, see solar/lunar eclipse d’Arrest, Heinrich, 80 , 226, 234, 237 Dactyl, 175 Eddington, Arthur, 26, 82, 155, 205, Daimler–Benz Aerospace, 122 215 Dale, David, 11 Einstein, , 80–82 Darius, Jon, 130 –energy equivalence, 20

– 275 – Index

photoelectric effect, 121 Fricke, Walter, 69, 70, 151 ELDO, 89, 104 Froeschlé, Michel, 158 Elkin, W.Lewis, 64 Fuhrmann, Klaus, 250 Elliott, Harry, 93 Emiliani, Franco, 103, 104, 107, 116, satellite, 153, 257–260 261, 271, 272 Galaxy epicyclic theory, 26, 45, 46, 48, 234 disk, 196 Eratosthenes, 32, 45 escape velocity, 224 ESA halo, 193, 198–202 advisory committees, 91–92 mass, 224 creation of, 89 rotation, 189–194 escape velocity size, 73–74 from Earth, 10 spiral arms, 189–190 from Galaxy, 224 spiral density waves, 225 ESOC, 12, 104, 133, 176, 182, 271 structure, 73–74, 188 ESRO, 89, 94, 97, 108, 147 Galileo, 49, 51, 71, 241, 263 ESRO II satellite, 129 Galilean , 51 Euler, Leonhard, 238 global navigation system, 53 European Southern Observatory Sidereus Nuncius, 49 (ESO), 74, 115, 149, 175, 250 spacecraft, 175 Evans, Dafydd Wyn, 159 Galle, Johann, 80 EXOSAT satellite, 95, 97 gamma ray bursts, see star types expansion of the Universe, 23 Gamow, George, 208 extra-solar planets, 246–247 García Sanchez, Joan, 245 search for life, 249–254 Gaspra, 175 SETI, 252–254 general relativity, 53, 80, 82, 155, 182, EXUV satellite, 92, 94 193 Eyer, Laurent, 159 George Darwin lecture, 173 geostationary orbit, 126 Fallows, Fearon, 61 Gill, David, 63, 64, 69, 72, 73, 75 Feast, Michael, 176 Giotto satellite, 92–94, 96 Fiebrich, Horst, 138 Gliese, Wilhelm, 151, 246 Fienberg, Rick, 171 globular clusters, 172, 202–203 FK catalogues, 69, 70, 151 Omega Centauri, 203 Flamsteed, John, 51, 63, 68, 83, 170, Goumy, Claude, 129, 131 263 GPS, 53, 82, 88, 125 Fowler, William, 209, 216 Great Debate, 74, 189 Frascati symposium, 90 Greenwich Observatory, see observa- Fraunhofer, Joseph, 59, 60, 64 tories Fredga, Kerstin, 6 Grenon, Michel, 159, 271 French Guiana, 1–13 Grewing, Michael, 271

– 276 – Index

Groombridge, Stephen, 69, 199 failure of booster, 125–132 input catalogue, 146–152 Hale, George Ellery, 81 launch, 1–13 Hall, Asaph, 220 modulating grid, 121, 262 Halley, Edmond, 35, 56, 58, 73, 75, 78, observing preparations, 145– 203 152 halo (Galaxy), see Galaxy, halo principles, 100–103 Harrison, John, 52, 262 proposal by Lacroute, 86–89 Hassan, Hamid, 2, 3, 11, 13, 107, 116, satellite operations, 133–144 120, 124, 129, 130, 133, 137, satellite testing, 123 152, 178, 261, 271 science team, 110 Heath, Thomas, 48 solar arrays, 117, 142 Heger, Dietmar, 134, 137, 139, 141, telescope design, 111–115 144, 271, 272 transport from Europe, 2 Heisenberg, Werner, 194 visible in space, 262 heliocentric concept, 41, 44–46, 48– Høg, Erik, 90, 97, 111, 120, 152–154, 50 157–160, 169, 170, 178, 183, Helmi, Amina, 202 259, 261, 271, 272 Henderson, Thomas, 60 , 147, 250, Hollier, Pierre, 113 263 Hoogerwerf, Ronnie, 223 Heraclides, 45 Hooke, Robert, 55, 56 Hering, Roland, 151 Hoyle, Fred, 1, 208, 209 Herschel, John, 38, 62, 203 Hubble , 17, 32, 75, Herschel, William, 58, 71, 218, 240, 95, 125, 233, 247 241, 262 Hubble, Edwin, 23, 74 Hertzsprung, Ejnar, 191, 210, 214 Hutchinson, John, 50 Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, 210– Hyades, see open clusters 212, 229 hypervelocity stars, see star types Hevelius, Johannes, 53, 170 Highfield, Roger, 176, 254 Iapetus, 235 Hills, Jack, 224 Ibn Yunus, 47 Hipparchus, 45, 47, 55, 56, 68, 78, ice ages, see climate 238, 264 impact craters, 244 Hipparcos International Astronomical Union, acceptance by ESA, 85–98 18, 88, 149, 173, 178, 238, attitude control, 118–120 264, 266 beam combining mirror, 111– International Earth Rotation Service, 115, 262 266 catalogue publication, 167 International Latitude Service, 239 data processing, 152–167 International Year of Astronomy, 263 design and construction, 99–124 ITER fusion reactor, 207

– 277 – Index

Jefferson, Thomas, 85 light-year, see distances Jenkins, Louise Freeland, 67 Liller, William, 172 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 155, 175, Lindblad, Bertil, 189–191 245 Lindegren, Lennart, 111, 113, 114, Jupiter 154, 157, 159, 160, 166, 178, extra-solar like planets, 246 183, 261, 262, 271, 272 Galileo spacecraft, 175 logarithms, 153 moons, 49, 51, 57, 235 Longair, Malcolm, 259 , 234 Longitude Act of 1714, 52 Shoemaker–Levy comet impact, longitude, determination, 50–52 175, 233 Louis XIV, 51, 266 Lüst, Reimar, 12, 152 Kaliningrad, see Königsberg Luyten, Willem, 214 Kant, Immanuel, 71 Kapteyn, Jacobus, 65, 69, 70, 72, 73, M31, see Andromeda galaxy 76, 189, 191, 199, 265 Magellanic Clouds, 22, 42, 148, 214, Kepler, Johannes, 49, 50, 54, 153 229 laws of motion, 49, 54, 220 magnitude, definition, 264 Kepler satellite, 247 Maskelyne, Nevil, 58, 69 Königsberg, 60, 68 Mattei, Janet, 159 Kopff, August, 69 Maunder minimum, see climate Kovalevsky, Jean, 89, 93, 111, 129, Maunder, Edward, 241 147, 152, 157, 178, 179, 183, McDonald, Alastair, 141, 144 261, 271, 272 Meeus, Jean, 248 Kuiper belt objects, 232, 235, 245 Mercury Kuzmin, Andrei, 169 craters, 233 Lacroute, Pierre, 6, 86–88, 90, 98, 129, orbit, 44, 80 151, 152, 261 precession, 80–81 Lagardère, Jean-Luc, 132 transit, 248 Lalande, Jérôme, 58, 63, 80, 83 meridian circle, 54, 68–71, 79, 161 Landgrave of Hesse, 54 Mersenne, Marin, 113 Lantos, Pierre, 138 Messier, Charles, 266 Large Magellanic Cloud, see Magel- Michell, John, 218 lanic Clouds Mignard, François, 159, 271, 272 Lascaux caves, 226 Milankovitch cycles, 237 Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, 218 Millennium Star Atlas, 166, 170–172, Lescarbault, Edmond, 80 199 Le Poole, Rudolf, 120, 271 minor planets, see asteroids Le Verrier, Urbain, 79–81 Mitchell, Joni, 209 light bending by Sun, 81, 82, 155, 156, Moon 182 angular size, 30

– 278 – Index

eclipses, 44, 47 Greenwich, 51, 52, 56, 63, 66, 69, first distance estimates, 45 77, 82, 141, 157, 163, 165, observations by Galileo, 49 239, 262 origin, 233 Kuffner, 64 Moore, Patrick, 176 La Silla, 74, 250 Mouchez, Amédée, 75 McCormick, 65 mural circle, 54, 61 Palomar, 74, 221 Murray, Andrew, 129, 165, 271 Paris, 51, 77, 262 Perth, 77 Napier, John, 153 Pulkovo, 64, 65, 221, 239 NASA, 93, 131, 132, 139, 175, 247, Special Astrophysical, 221 252, 261 Strasbourg, 87 National Maritime Museum, 262 Uccle, 77 Naur, Peter, 153, 159 US Naval, 52, 79, 220 Nemesis hypothesis, 222 Van Vleck, 65 Neptune, 79, 80, 232, 234, 235 Vatican, 77 discovery, 79–80 Yale, 64, 66, 67, 191 Newcomb, Simon, 47, 68, 69, 239 Yerkes, 65, 69 Newgrange, 44 occultations, 235 Newton, Isaac, 18, 49, 50, 59, 79, 218 Olthof, Henk, 111, 149 Newtonian gravity, 37, 49, 79, 80, 193 Omega Centauri, 203 Newtonianism, 50 Oort, Jan, 191 Nicolet, Bernard, 150 Oort cloud, 222, 232–234, 244, Nietzsche, Friedrich, 257 245 Nobel prize, 99, 121, 209, 216 Oort constants, 191 nuclear fission, 207 Oort–Lindblad model, 191 , 19, 21, 206, 207, 209 open clusters, 172, 225–229 nutation, 68, 237, 238 Hyades, 21, 42, 81, 216, 225–229, Nye, Howard, 127, 134, 137 267, 268 Pleiades, 21, 42, 226, 229, 267, O’Brien, Flann, 186 269 O’Flaherty, Karen, 167, 173 Öpik, Ernst, 215 O’Mullane, William, 167 O’Sullivan, Dermot, 136 Pace, Oscar, 3, 272 observatories parallax Allegheny, 65, 74 definition, 39 Cape of Good Hope, 60, 64, 66, early attempts, 53–61 72, 75, 77 first measurements, 59–61 European Southern Observa- General Catalogue, 66, 67 tory (ESO), 74, 115, 149, ground measurements, 63–67 175, 250 Paris Observatory, see observatories

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parsec, see distances Riccioli, Giovanni, 218 Pecker, Jean-Claude, 86, 147 Robinson, Leif, 171 Perth Observatory, see antennae; ob- Rømer, Ole, 57 servatories Röser, Siegfried, 151 Peters, Christian, 215 Royal Astronomical Society, 62, 66, Phobos, 220, 233 112, 173, 177 photographic surveys, 72–78 Royal Greenwich Observatory, see Piazzi, Giuseppe, 58, 233 observatories Pinkau, Klaus, 94 RR Lyrae stars, see star types Plato, 44, 234 runaway stars, see star types Pleiades, see open clusters Russell, Bertrand, 22 Pluto, 38, 231, 233–235 Russell, Henry Norris, 210 polar motion, 68, 237, 238 Rutherford, Lewis Morris, 65 POLO satellite, 92 Ryle, Martin, 99 precession Earth axis, 46, 48, 55, 68, 69, 237, Saab–Ericsson Space, 122 238, 266 Sagan, Carl, 185 perihelion, 81 Sagittarius (constellation), 187, 189 Preston, Bob, 245 Sainsbury, David, 258 Pritchard, Charles, 64 Saint Helena, 58, 61 Project Daedalus, 200 Saturn, moons, 235 Project Orion, 200 Savary, Félix, 219 Schönfeld, Eduard, 71 definition, 36 Schiller, Julius, 170 first detection, 35 Schlesinger, Frank, 65–67, 239 prosthaphaeresis, 153 Schmidt, Bernhard, 74, 114 Provencal, Judith, 217 Schmidt telescope, 74, 83 Ptolemy, 35, 37, 45–48, 203, 264 Schrijver, Hans, 160, 166, 271 Pulkovo, see observatories Schröter, Johan, 58 Pythagorean school, 44 Schutz, Alain, 137, 141 Schuyer, Maurice, 108 quadrant, 51, 54, 79 Schweickart, Rusty, 258 quantum mechanics, 23 of Seleucia, 45 SEP,122, 131 Ramsden, Jesse, 55 Sepkoski, Jack, 221 Raup, David, 221 SETI, see extra-solar planets Rees, Martin, 263 , 47, 51, 52, 54, 79 reference frame, 67–70 Shapley, Harlow, 73–74 relativity, see special, general Sinnott, Roger, 166, 171 REOSC Optique, 114, 115, 122 Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 79, 224 Réquième, Yves, 161 Small Magellanic Cloud, see Magel- Reydellet, Daniel, 131 lanic Clouds

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Söderhjelm, Staffan, 159 , 55, 57 , 17, 30, 81, 82, 155 , 246 effect on Hipparcos, 141 , 199–201, 222 encounters with other stars, HD 63433, 250 245–246 HD 189733, 249 formation, 231–236 HD 217107, 246 structure, 231–236 HIP 71813, 251 special relativity, 53 Kapteyn’s star, 199 Spencer Jones, Harold, 66 Megrez, 37 spiral arms, 42, 83, 185, 187, 189–190, Merak, 37 192, 195, 214, 242, 243 /, 37, 218 Spörer, Gustav, 241 µ Columbae, 222–224 SRON, 122 Phad, 37 star atlases, 170 Polaris, 263 star types Procyon, 147, 217, 263 Cepheid variables, 74, 148, 176, Proxima Centauri, 38, 40, 61, 245 189, 214 Sirius, 35, 56, 58, 68, 215–218, gamma-ray bursts, 253–254 264 hypervelocity stars, 224 van Maanen’s star, 214 RR Lyrae variables, 148, 189, 214 , 59, 62, 64 runaway stars, 222–224 stellar aberration, see aberration subdwarfs, 146, 201, 210, 211 stereo images, 267–269 white dwarfs, 197, 210, 212, 214– Stonehenge, 44 218 Strim, Bruno, 105, 122, 178, 271 stars Strömgren, Bengt, 159 energy source, 20, 206–210 , Wilhelm, 59, 61, 62, 76 evolution, 211–213 subdwarfs, see star types stars, individual Sun , 250 age, 206 , 250 angular size, 30 , 60, 199 companion star, 221 AE Aurigae, 222–224 height above Galaxy plane, 196, Aldebaran, 35, 56, 225, 267 244 Alioth, 37 light bending, see light bending Alkaid, 37 mass, 205 , 38, 40, 60, 61 motion through space, 195–197, , 35, 56 242–244 Barnard’s star, 199, 200, 246 passage through spiral arms, , 251 242, 243 Dubhe, 37 radius, 205

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rotation around Galaxy, 22 US Naval Observatory, see observato- seismology, 213 ries sunspots, 240–242 surface temperature, 205 Van Allen radiation belts, 126, 128, Swings, Jean–Pierre, 164 138, 142 van Altena, William, 67 Tammann, Gustav, 93 van der Ha, Jozef, 137 telescopes van der Kamp, Piet, 200 Bessel’s heliometer, 60, 62, 68 van der Marel, Hans, 271 Greenwich astrograph, 77 van Houten, Ingrid & Kees, 266 Kuffner heliometer, 64 van Leeuwen, Floor, 141, 159, 170, Struve’s refractor, 59, 62 271 Yerkes refractor, 66 van Maanen, Adriaan, 214 Thome, John, 71 van Rhijn, Pieter, 265 Thomson, William, 207, 218 Vatican, see observatories Tickell, Crispin, 258 Venice symposium, 177–179 Tirion, Wil, 172 Venus, 44, 81 Titan, 235, 261 transit, 56, 58, 247, 248 transit circle, 199 Vitagliano, Aldo, 248 Trendelenburg, Ernst, 92–96, 103 von Lindenau, Bernhard, 58 Tropic of Cancer, 237 Vondrák, Jan, 240 Tropic of Capricorn, 237 Vulcan, 81 troposphere, 31 Troughton, Edward, 55 Walter, Hans, 151 Turner, H.H., 76, 77, 265 Wapstra, Henk, 166 Turon, Catherine, 111, 147, 150, 152, Weissman, Paul, 245 178, 183, 261, 262, 271, 272 West, Richard, 175 , 47, 49, 54, 68, 83, 153, Whipple, J.A., 64 159, 178 white dwarfs, see star types Tycho catalogue, 159, 167, 169, 170, Wicks, Malcolm, 254 172, 177 Wielen, Roland, 151 Wilkins, David, 129 Uccle Observatory, see observatories Williams, David, 258 Ulugh Beg, 47, 68 Wolf, Max, 233 Universe Wolfendale, Arnold, 163, 164 age, 229 Woltjer, Lo, 178 origin, see Big Bang Wright, Jason, 242 Uraniborg, 54 Wright, Thomas, 71 , 58, 79, 217, 232, 235 Wynne, Charles, 112, 114, 260 Urban, Sean, 170 Ursa Major, 37, 218 Yerkes Observatory, see observato- Ussher, Archbishop, 26 ries

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