Huggins, Maxwell, 1868 //Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 158 (1868)

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§ IV. Observations .of Stars.

The chief difficulties which I have had to encounter have arisen from the unsteadiness of our atmosphere. There is sufficient light from stars of the first and second magnitude for the large spectroscope described in this paper, and so far as the adjustments of the instrument are concerned, the lines in the spectra of the stars would be well defined. Unless, however, the air is very steady, the lines are seen too fitfully to permit of any certainty in the determination of coincidences of the degree of delicacy which is attempted in the present investigation. I have passed hours in the attempt to determine the position of a single line, and have then not considered that the numerous observations which I had obtained were possessed, even collectively, of sufficient weight to establish with any certainty the coincidence of the line with the one compared with it.

I prefer, therefore, to reject a large number of observations which appear unsatisfactory from this cause, and to give in this place a very few of the most trustworthy of the observations which I have made.

Sirius.—The brilliant light of this star and the great intensity of the four strong lines of its spectrum, make it especially suitable for such an examination. The low altitude of this star in our latitude limits the period in which it can be successfully observed to about one hour on each side of the meridian.

I have confined myself to comparisons of the strong line in the position of F, with the corresponding line of the spectrum of hydrogen. My first trials were made with hydrogen at the ordinary atmospheric pressure; the width of the band of hydrogen, under these circumstances, was greater than the line of Sirius. This line in Sirius, from some cause, is narrower relatively to the length of the spectrum, when considerable dispersion and a narrow slit are employed, than when the image of the star, rendered linear by a cylindrical lens, is observed with a single prism*.

When the large spectroscope was employed I estimated the breadth of the line to be about equal to that of the double line D. In Kirchhoff’s map the line F of the solar spectrum is represented as a little more than one-fourth of the interval separating the lines D. When the spectroscope attached to the telescope was directed to the moon, the line F appeared even narrower than it is represented in Kirchhoff’s map; I estimated it at about one-sixth of the apparent breadth of the corresponding line in the spectrum of Sirius. The character of the line agrees precisely with Kirchhoff’s representation of the solar line F. It appears, as in the diagram, to be equally nebulous at both edges, and agrees in this respect precisely with the line of hydrogen under certain conditions of tension and temperature.

As it was obviously impossible to determine with the required accuracy the coincidence of the line of Sirius when the much broader band of hydrogen at the ordinary pressure was compared with it, I employed a vacuum-tube fixed before the object-glass. In all these observations the slit used was as narrow as possible. The air at the time of the present observations was more favourable than usual, and the line in Sirius was seen with

* See Philosophical Transactions, 1864, p. 42.

great distinctness. The line from the spark appeared, in comparison, very narrow, not more than about one-fifth of the width of the line of Sirius. When the battery circuit was completed, the line of hydrogen could be seen distinctly upon the dark line of Sirius, and extending to some distance on both sides of the spectrum of Sirius. The observation of the comparison of the lines was made many times, and I am certain that the narrow line of hydrogen, though it appeared projected upon the dark line in Sirius, did not coincide with the middle of the line, but crossed it at a distance from the middle, which may be represented by saying that the want of coincidence was apparently equal to about one-tbird or one-fourth of the interval separating the components of the double line D. I was unable to measure directly the distance between the centre of the line of hydrogen and that of the line in the spectrum of Sirius, but several very <?areful estimations by means of the micrometer give a value for that distance of 0‘040 of the micrometer-head. This value is probably not in error by so much as its eighth part.

Comparisons on many other nights were also made, sometimes with the vacuum-tube before the object-glass, and sometimes with the vacuum-tube placed over the small hole in the gutta-percha plate. On all these occasions the numerous comparisons which were made, gave for the line in Sirius a very slightly lower refrangibility than that of the line of hydrogen, but on no one occasion was the air steady enough for a satisfactory determination of the amount of difference of refrangibility.

I have not been able to detect any probable source of error in this result, and it may therefore, I believe, be received as representing a relative motion of recession between Sirius and the earth.

The probability that the substance in Sirius by which this line is produced is really hydrogen, is strengthened almost to certainty by the consideration that there is a strong line in the red part of the spectrum which is also coincident with a strong line of hydrogen. There is a third line more refrangible than F, which appears to coincide with the line of hydrogen in that part of the spectrum.

As the line in Sirius is more expanded than that of the vacuum-tube, it seemed of importance to have proof from experiment that this line of hydrogen, when, it becomes broad, expands equally in both directions. I made the comparison of the narrow line of the vacuum-tube with the more expanded band which appears when denser hydrogen is employed. For this purpose the intersection of the wires of the eyepiece was brought, as nearly as could be estimated, upon the middle of the expanded line which is produced by dense hydrogen. The vacuum-tube was then arranged before the slit, when the narrow line which it gives was observed to fall exactly upon the point of intersection of the wire. Under these terrestrial conditions the expansion of the line may be considered to take place to an equal amount in both directions. There is very great probability that a similar equal expansion takes place under the conditions which determine the absorption of light by this gas in the atmosphere of Sirius, for the reason that the nebulosity at the edges of the line in the spectrum of that star is sensibly equal on both sides.



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