Note: Images of the original pages are available through
Internet Archive. See
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Transcriber's note:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully
as possible, including non-standard spelling and punctuation.
Some apparent typographical errors in the indices and names of
asteroids in Tables I and II have been corrected.
THE ASTEROIDS,
Or Minor Planets Between Mars and Jupiter.
by
DANIEL KIRKWOOD, LL.D.,
Professor Emeritus in the University of Indiana; Author of "Comets
and Meteors," "Meteoric Astronomy," etc.
Philadelphia:
J. B. Lippincott Company.
1888.
Copyright, 1887, by Daniel Kirkwood.
[Illustration]
PREFACE.
The rapid progress of discovery in the zone of minor planets, the
anomalous forms and positions of their orbits, the small size as well as
the great number of these telescopic bodies, and their peculiar
relations to Jupiter, the massive planet next exterior,--all entitle
this part of the system to more particular consideration than it has
hitherto received. The following essay is designed, therefore, to supply
an obvious want. Its results are given in some detail up to the date of
publication. Part I. presents in a popular form the leading historical
facts as to the discovery of Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, and Astræa; a
tabular statement of the dates and places of discovery for the entire
group; a list of the names of discoverers, with the number of minor
planets detected by each; and a table of the principal elements so far
as computed.
In Part II. this descriptive summary is followed by questions relating
to the origin of the cluster; the elimination of members from particular
parts; the eccentricities and inclinations of the orbits; and the
relation of the zone to comets of short period. The elements are those
given in the Paris _Annuaire_ for 1887, or in recent numbers of the
_Circular zum Berliner Astronomischen Jahrbuch_.
DANIEL KIRKWOOD.
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, November, 1887.
CONTENTS.
PART I. PAGE
PLANETARY DISCOVERIES BEFORE THE ASTEROIDS WERE KNOWN 9
DISCOVERY OF THE FIRST ASTEROIDS 11
TABLE I.--ASTEROIDS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR DISCOVERY 17
NUMBERS FOUND BY THE RESPECTIVE DISCOVERERS 23
NUMBERS DISCOVERED IN THE DIFFERENT MONTHS 25
MODE OF DISCOVERY 25
NAMES AND SYMBOLS 25
MAGNITUDES OF THE ASTEROIDS 26
ORBITS OF THE ASTEROIDS 28
TABLE II.--ELEMENTS OF THE ASTEROIDS 29