Scope and Contents A copy of Porter's script for 'The Night Sky in August' on statistical methods in astronomy; the Plough and the movement of Arcturus over 1,800 years since the time of Ptolemy, which Edmond Halley called attention to in 1718; the proper motions of stars, including Arcturus, Sirius and Procyon, analysed statistically by William Herschel, giving similar results to modern measurements; stellar velocities determined by spectroscopic analysis, the velocities increasing towards the galactic...

Scope and Contents An annotated copy of Porter's script for 'The Night Sky in May' on the Plough overhead, Arcturus in the south, Leo in the west, and Jupiter below Arcturus near Spica in Virgo; the retrograde motion of the planets, the difficulty in observing this motion and the lack of perspective in the sky; the misleading impression of distance given if apparent brightness is relied on, the proper motion of stars, and the importance of their distribution in this galaxy and their movements; the difficulties...

Scope and Contents Two copies of Porter's script for 'The Night Sky in September' on Mercury, Venus and Mars as morning stars and Jupiter; Vega, the Southern stars, Cygnus, Altair and Aquila, Vulpecula and Saturn, Sagitta, Equuleus and Delphinus; the Revd T.W. Webb's solution to the mystery of the names Svalocin and Rotanev for Alpha and Beta Delphinus; the Milky Way, the proper motions of stars and the movement of Sirius, Aldabaran, Betelgeuse and Arcturus listed in Ptolemy's catalogue and noted by Halley;...

Scope and Contents Various observations and calculations, primarily of the stars.1. Tables and equations for the Earth's perturbations by Venus and Jupiter and for the lunar equation.2. Catalogue of the stars for 1690 and 1760, with elements for their aberrations.3. Corrections for the tables of Dalembert, Halley, Mayer and Clairaut.4. To find the aberration in right ascension and declination.5. Comparisons with Nicholas Louis de Lacaille's star catalogue, 1750 and...

Scope and Contents Remarks and tables on proper motion and comparisons of star positions. The volume includes the apparent diameter of the Sun, Moon and primary planets as viewed from the Earth; changes in the obliquity of the ecliptic, 1668-1822, and that observed by the Arab astronomers, 832-1463; unused forms for observational results; proper motion of Arcturus in right ascension from Tycho's observations; rules on aberration of light in calculating the place of a planet; longitude of Cambridge, New...

Scope and Contents Eclipses predicted for 1675 (211r-213v); Halley's nonagesimal tables (216v-217r); equations of the earth's orbit (218v-219r); lunar tables and data (223r-232r); observations of stars omitted by Tycho (233v); 'De motibus stella Jovis Commentaria', with tables of Jupiter from several sources (234v-241r); a table identifying stars by numbers and Greek letters (244r-245r); tables of Saturn (246r-247v); 'An Opticall Essay proveing the truth and accuracy of coelestiall observations made with long...

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Undated tables of Saturn's motion, apparently in Edmond Halley's hand.

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Notes on how to observe the satellites and use the tables are included, together with copied pieces on Ole Rømer, 'Progressive Motion of Light in the Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites', from 'Philosophical Transactions', Vol. 1, p. 409; Edmond Halley's hypothesis of Jupiter's satellites and his counter-arguments, from 'Philosophical Transactions', No. 214, November and December 1694; and James Bradley, 'Observations of Jupiter's Satellites'.

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A set of commemorative envelopes and postcards with Halley’s Comet stamps affixed. Four Halley’s Comet Stamps were issued to commemorate the return of the comet on 18 Feb. 1986, titled: ‘Dr Edmond Halley 1656-1742’ (17p), ‘Giotto’ (22p), ‘Maybe Twice in a Lifetime’ (31p), and [Comet] (34p).

Scope and Contents Theories of the Sun, Moon and planets, including a circular from M. Montagne on solar parallax; notes on Montucla, Pliny, Ptolemy and Halley relating to the saros of solar eclipses; tables by S. Newcomb on the transformation of P.A. Hansen's lunar theory as regards longitudes into modern notations; letters and calculations on the motion of the Moon and other lunar theory; a formula for the heliocentric co-ordinations of a planet; and letters and calculations by A. Hall, M. Souillant, W.A....