Abstract
II. AN attempt was made in a preceding paper to point out the most remarkable features of the planets that are at present so attractive for telescopic inquiry. We will now proceed to pass in review a few of the more interesting sidereal objects in that part of the heavens that is well placed for the observer. It is needless to say that within our limits nothing more can be expected than a very scanty selection, for the use of inexperienced students, of some of the most conspicuous of the many hundreds of double stars and nebulae that are within the reach of ordinary instruments. We begin with the constellation Hercules, because it is rapidly gliding away from us, and the search for our first object should be undertaken as early as possible in the evening, especially if we are unacquainted with its position. The possessors, of course, of equatorial mountings and divided circles will readily find anything in our selection from its assigned place; but we propose to give such instructions as may be serviceable with altazimuth stands, aided by any common map, which will be occasionally supplemented by small diagrams. These, it must be borne in mind, correspond with a meridian position, and must be inclined one way or other to represent objects lying east or west of it.
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WEBB, T. The Autumn Sky 1 . Nature 25, 36–39 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/025036a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/025036a0