Script for 'The Night Sky in December', 1959-12
Scope and Contents
Two copies of Porter's script for 'The Night Sky in December' on the stars of Christmas, Orion, Sirius, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Taurus and Aldebaran; Betelgeuse and Bayer's star atlas and the atlases of Flamsteed and Bode; Camille Flammarion on the winter constellations, the size and brightness of the various stars and the centenary of spectroscopy in astronomy; the work of Father Secchi and William Huggins; Secchi's division of stellar spectral types into four groups, the development of this classification subsequently by Harvard astronomers, with each classification given a letter according to surface temperature, the range of such temperatures within these groups, and the groups of stars in Orion and the Pleiades; Betelgeuse and Rigel, the dimensions of Rigel, and type A stars (Sirius, Vega, Altair, Castor and Deneb) and metallic elements in their spectra; metallic elements increasing with spectral group; Procyon, the Sun and Capella G type stars; Aldebaran, Arcturus and Pollux, class K; class M, including some supergiants such as Betelgeuse; nuclear fusion being the source of the energy in stars, the age of stars being related to spectral group and the implications of these findings in theories of stellar evolution; and galactic spiral arms being the place where new stars are born. The second copy of the script is annotated.
Dates
- Creation: 1959-12
Creator
- From the Series: Porter, John Guy, 1900 - 1981 (astronomer) (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
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Extent
10 page(s)
Language of Materials
English
Finding aid date
2007-04-13 12:44:24+00:00
Subject
Repository Details
Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository
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