November 16, 2010 #118 – Observations of Newly Discovered Ceres and Pallas by William Herschel

William Herschel began systematic observations of Piazzi’s Ceres Ferdinandea and Dr. Olber’s Pallas in early 1802. Herschel had constructed some of the best optical systems in existence at the time. These he used to characterize the new planets. This included observing the orbs for color and visible characteristics, searching for moons, and determining the size with as much accuracy as possible.

These observations were published in the 1802, “Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London – Part II” In the same year he also released a catalog of “500 New Nebula” that he had discovered. If you have a chance to read about his life and accomplishments you will be absolutely amazed. The man lived for telescope time and the grinding of giant mirrors with legendary figure!

The following is a bit long but it gives you a sense of his observational and scientific skills. You can find this and the paper presenting the new nebulas on Google Books. (Click to Enlarge)


Clear Sky - Rich

November 14, 2010 #116 – Ceres Ferdinandea

While reading the  DAWN web site about the 2015 rendezvous with Ceres, I became curious about the discovery of the first minor planet.  With a little searching I found that Bode had in 1772, “calculated from his theory of the harmonic ratio of intervals between planets, that such a planet might be discovered” in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter, that we today designate the "Asteroid Belt".

The Italian astronomer Piazzi, of the Observatory at Palermo, using this information, searched and found the moving star on the first day of 1801 in the constellation Taurus. He named the object (Ceres Ferdinandea). Piazzi became ill and the star was lost. Based on Piazzi’s observations, Gauss calculated where it should be and relocated it.



I have included two articles, located from Google Books, which document these events. (Click to Enlarge)

(The Monthly Mirror, Vol. XIII – 1802)

(The Philosophical Magazine Vol. XV – 1803)

Clear Sky - Rich