(meteorobs) Off topic - text books and pluto

drobnock drobnock at penn.com
Thu Aug 31 00:26:45 EDT 2006


This is off topic.

With the change in the order of the solar system and the change of Pluto
to a minor planet,  I thought that it would be of interest to to
recomend to those who are looking for a new book on astronomy.  They may
want to pick up a copy of Elements of Astronomy by Charles Young. The
edition I have is very current when reviewing the current changes in how
we see order in the skies tonight.

The book has eighteen chapters and appendices with star charts. Chapters
10, 11, and 12,  discuss the eight planets. A sub chapter discusses the
minor planets with a footnote giving credit to Sir William Herschel
identifying the minor planets as asteroids or star like bodies, because
when viewed from earth they appear in a telescope as a star and not a
disk as do planets. A brief discussion also states that minor planets
are planets.

Did I mention the book's release date? It is 1889, with a revised
edition in 1923.

George John Drobnock



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