Angström A. J. On a new determination of the lengths of waves of light, and on a method of determining, by optics, the translatory motion of the Solar system. // Phil. Mag., 1865, 29(4)

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Table II. (continued).

Line.	Wave length.	Spectra in which corresponding lines are observed.	Remarks.
6	2060·1	Iron.
7	2016·9	„
8	2013·6	„
8	2013·1	„
9	2007·3	„
10	2005·3	„
11	1998·4	„
11	1997·9	„
12	1985·8	„ ...........................	Strong line.
	1985·3	„ ...........................	Weak.
	1984·2
	1983·5
13	1974·2	„ ...........................	Double line, like E.
14	1969·6	„
15	1968·1	„
16	1965·3	„
17	1953·2	„
E	1948·44	Iron and calcium.
E	1948·04	Iron and calcium.
	1946·8	„ ...........................	Double line, like E.
	1934·6	Iron.
	1936·4	,,
	1919·6	„ ..........................	Double line, like E.
b	1916·50	Magnesium.
b_I	1912·39
b_II	1911·10	Iron and magnesium.
b_II	1910·49	Iron.
	1903·4	„
c	1832·70	„
	1819·1	„ ...............	Iron when weakly incandescent gave but one of these lines; when strongly incandescent, however, a third was visible.
	1818·4	„ ...............
	1808·3	„ ......................	Double.
	1801·1	„
F	1797·27	Hydrogen.
f	1632·2	Iron.
	1628·5	„
	1620·4	„
	1604·3	Hydrogen.
	1598·8	Iron.
G	1592·34	„
	1579·1	„
	1574·7	„
	1571·2	„
g	1562·4	Calcium.............	Double line.
	1532·0	Iron.....................	Double line; several weak lines were also visible between g and A.
h	1515·9	Unknown.	Very strong line.
	1505·3	Iron.....................	Strong line.
	1502·0	„	„
	1495·2	„	„
	1480·4	Unknown ..	„
H	1467·2	Calcium.
H	1454·0	„

III.

In a lecture given on October 6, 1860, to the Royal Scientific Society of Upsala, I explained a method of determining the motion of the solar system by observations on the interference-bands of a glass grating. I then showed that if we assume the propagation of the undiffracted rays, passing through the openings of the grating, to be uninfluenced by the motion of the instrument, the same must be true of the formation of the interference-bands on both sides; consequently, also, that when a telescope is used in the observations the customary aberration must ensue, and be proportional to the ratio between the motion of the telescope, in a direction perpendicular to its axis, and the velocity of light along this axis.

Hence, the velocity of light being taken as the unit, if h be the velocity of the instrument in the direction of the incident light, then for an angle Θ, under which, e. g., the D line in an interference–spectrum is observed, the velocity of the telescope perpendicular to this direction will be

h sin Θ,

which accordingly must be the expression for the aberration.

If the angle Θ were observed for two positions of the instrument in which the velocities in the path of the incident rays were h and h', we should then have

ΔΘ = (h – h') sin Θ,.....(1)

or, since 2Θ is the angle immediately given by observation,

Δ.2Θ=2(h–h') sinΘ.

Putting h(= –h') equal to the velocity of the earth in its orbit, this equation gives

Δ.2Θ = 81″·6 sin Θ;

and since, for the double line D in the fourth spectrum,

2Θ=62° 55′ 44″·2,

we deduce

Δ.2Δ=42″·6,

a magnitude capable of being readily observed.

Two questions have here to be answered by observation. The one has reference to the actual existence of the phenomenon, and may be most readily answered by applying the method to the known orbital motion of the earth; the other has reference to the employment of the method, when proved to be accurate, to the determination of the translatory motion of the solar system.

The experiments hitherto made cannot in any respect be con