[meteorite-list] Fwd: The Dark Side.. Oops!

From: Phil Whitmer <prairiecactus_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:10:34 -0400
Message-ID: <995B37293877419E98D499B7AC931049_at_ET>

Bernd cited the great Astronomer William Herschel in 1787:

"April 19, 1787. I perceive three volcanoes in different places of
the d a r k s i d e of the new moon."

Interesting word selection!

In 1780, it was said about people's continuing misconceptions regarding
the lighted portions of the moon:

"It has often been a matter of surprise to me, when viewing the moon
through a good telescope, in the company of persons not accustomed to
such observations, that wilst the cavities and eminences of the moon's
surface appeared to me marked out with the utmost certainty by their
light and shades, my companions generally conceived it to be a plain
surface of various degrees of brightness. The reason I suppose to be
this; the astronomer knows from the moon's situation with respect to
the sun, and even from the figure of its enlightened part, precisely in
what direction the light falls on its surface, and therefore judges
rightly of its hills and vallies [sic], from their different degrees of
light, according to those rules which are imperceptably formed in the
mind, and confirmed by long experience.

But a person unacquainted with astronomy knows nothing of the direction
of the sun's light on the moon, nor does he attend to the moon's
globular figure, an is besides perhaps possessed with a notion of it
being self-luminous; no wonder then that the same object has a very
different effect on his imagination. It seems to be those rules of
judging, which we begin to form in our earliest infancy, which we set
aside, reestablish, alter, correct and confirm, and at length rely on
with the utmost confidence, even without knowing that we do so, or that
we have any such rules: It is these rules, of such infinite general use
to us, that sometimes mislead us on new and extraordinary occasions,
and particularly in the case before us."

Ref:, Transactions APS, David Rittenhouse, of course

Six month's after observing an incredible bolide and two months after
discussing said bolide with Ben Franklin with whom he hatched first the
specific correct cosmic origin of meteors and bolides ... which was
correct.

Kindest wishes
Doug
-------------------------

I once attended an engrossing lecture on the history of telescopes. Sir
William Herschel was the focus (pun intended), an incredible genius with a
very interesting personal life. Besides discovering infrared radiation,
Uranus, moons, binary stars, the structure of the Milky Way, and the fact
that the Solar System is moving through space, he also coined the word
"asteroid." I especially enjoyed the part of the talk about his wacky
theories concerning the race of giant-headed sun-men inhabiting the Sun.
Something about the hot outer layer was a thin coating overtop a narrow
habitable cooler zone protected by a dense layer of clouds. He also thought
all the planets were inhabited by intelligent beings. Very entertaining
stuff!

Phil Whitmer
Joshua Tree Earth & Space Museum
Received on Thu 27 Oct 2011 11:10:34 PM PDT