JournalTOCs

Journal for the History of Astronomy
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.233

Number of Followers: 21

Full-text available via subscription

Subscription journal
ISSN (Print) 0021-8286 - ISSN (Online) 1753-8556
Published by Sage Publications

[1174 journals]

Johannes Kepler. The Sun as the Heart of the World
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: Miguel Á. Granada
  Pages: 133 - 140
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 133-140, May 2022.
  In two early unpublished texts (a Disputation in favor of Copernicus of 1593 and the Apologia pro Tychone against Ursus of 1600), Kepler argued with the Pythagoreans that, contrary to Aristotle (De caelo, ii, 13), the geometrical center of the cosmos coincides with its natural center. Since the Sun is the body that occupies this central position, Kepler conceives it as the heart of the world and the principle of planetary motion. In the following study, we examine how Kepler further develops this pivotal theme in a letter to Herwart von Hohenburg of 25 March 1605 and later in the Dissertatio cum nuncio sidereo (Prague, 1610) as well as in a German translation and critical commentary of the Aristotelian chapter, which ultimately remained unpublished as well.
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:33Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221082044
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
Early application of kinetic theory of gases to star clusters
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: Bruce D. Popp
  Pages: 141 - 162
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 141-162, May 2022.
  This is a case of working by analogy to apply successful work from one field, the kinetic theory of gases, to another field, the distribution of stars in globular clusters. The origin of the analogy lies in Henri Poincaré reading a vague suggestion by Lord Kelvin and recognizing the interest and potential value of this suggestion. The result is the application of mechanics to the dynamics of clusters with very many stars. A good idea, even a very clever good idea, still takes significant work to elaborate in all its implications. Here we see assumptions that lead to partial success in providing a relation between the density of stars in a cluster and the distance from the center. Partial success motivated work using assumptions that were less restrictive. We follow the assumptions and work through 1916, when work paused for many years.
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:34Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221078338
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
An analysis of Ibn al-Shāṭir’s star table
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: S. Mohammad Mozaffari
  Pages: 163 - 196
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 163-196, May 2022.
  Ibn al-Shāṭir’s (1306–1375/1376 AD) star table in his Jadīd zīj, comprising of the equatorial coordinates and magnitudes of 89 stars, is edited and analyzed in this paper on the basis of the extant manuscripts going back to the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It established a new tradition of arranging the celestial coordinates in the star tables in Egypt and Syria after him. The right ascensions (mean absolute error MAE = 20.0′, mean error μ = –2.8′, standard deviation σ = 29.1′) and the declinations (MAE = 21.1′, μ = –3.2′, σ = 29.3′) are nearly of the same degree of precision. The stars in the region RA ~ 120°–180° generally have the least errors in both declination and right ascension. The declinations of the southern stars were measured more precisely than those of the northern ones. The values for the declinations of the stars in the region δ ~ –30°–0° (the middle of the sky towards the south of the horizon of Damascus) are significantly the most accurate. A systematic northward shift can be seen in the declinations of the southern stars. The declinations of 15 of 18 stars spreading out in RA ~ 67°–121° show a southerly, downward shift. More than 65% of the stars have the errors in both the declination and right ascension less than 32′. No outlier in the tabular coordinates exceeds ±98′. Also, Ibn al-Shāṭir measured the magnitudes of, at least, a few stars: he assigned a correct magnitude of +4 to λ Ori, a component of the star cluster in the Orion that was considered a nebulous object in the Almagest star catalogue, and presented more precise values for the magnitudes of α Sco, α Oph, β Cas, κ Ori, γ Gem, and β CMi than Ptolemy and al-Ṣūfi.
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:32Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221090918
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
Observational astronomy and the mapping of Brazil at the turn of the 20th
century
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: Moema de Rezende Vergara
  Pages: 197 - 208
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 197-208, May 2022.
  When, in 1822, Brazil declared its independence from Portugal, its vast territory was little known by the central government in Rio de Janeiro. There was a great need to create reliable maps that would delineate the new country’s boundaries. This paper aims to show how a practical application of astronomy, specifically geodesy, was vital in the efforts to build the nation. We follow the professional life of an astronomer, Luis Cruls, director of the National Observatory, professor at the Military School and chief researcher of several expeditions, to discuss the strength of geodesic and cartographic activities in Brazil at the end of the 19th century.
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:34Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221095143
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
Accuracy of eclipse records in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: Leslie V. Morrison, F. Richard Stephenson, Catherine Y. Hohenkerk
  Pages: 209 - 216
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 209-216, May 2022.
  From a comparison with calculation of the dates and descriptions of the allusions to lunar and solar eclipses recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, we confirm the identifications of the eclipses given by Swanton in his 1996 translation and annotation. The details of the analysis on which this is based are given in the supplementary material published as an appendix in the on-line edition of the Journal.
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:31Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221097111
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
Completing the Copernicus Gesamtausgabe
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: Michael H. Shank
  Pages: 217 - 222
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 217-222, May 2022.
  
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:35Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221079824
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
The Long Legacy of Ptolemy
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: J. Lennart Berggren
  Pages: 223 - 229
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 223-229, May 2022.
  
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:31Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221081975
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
A Muñoz Biography
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: Luís Tirapicos
  Pages: 230 - 231
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 230-231, May 2022.
  
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:33Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221092362
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
Gauging the Herschels’ star gauging programme
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: Barbara J. Becker
  Pages: 231 - 233
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 231-233, May 2022.
  
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:36Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221080454
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
Myth and meteorology
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: Juan Antonio Belmonte
  Pages: 233 - 234
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 233-234, May 2022.
  
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:35Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221080452
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)
Celebrating the Centenary of the IAU
- Free pre-print version: Loading...
  Rate this result: What is this?
  
  Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
  A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
  
  Authors: Helge Kragh
  Pages: 235 - 236
  Abstract: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 53, Issue 2, Page 235-236, May 2022.
  
  Citation: Journal for the History of Astronomy
  PubDate: 2022-05-20T09:28:32Z
  DOI: 10.1177/00218286221081971
  Issue No: Vol. 53, No. 2 (2022)