1910pasp 22 165e

Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 165
five of these societies (in addition, of course, to his own na-

tional society, the Royal Academy of the Lincei), our own
country being the only one that failed to recognize him in this
manner. Four national societies (those of Russia, Prussia,
Austria, and France) "confer a special honor on a few of their
foreign associates by granting them the privileges of resident
members, or by placing them in a special class of honorary
members/' No scientific man has been thus honored by all four
societies, and only two, Sueas and Schiaparelli, by three of
them.
Thus it appears that, like his great contemporary, Newcomb,
his worth was fully recognized by his own generation, and that,
like Newcomb again, he had the privilege of continuing his
chosen work to the very end of a long life.
AN EXPEDITION TO PHOTOGRAPH A COMET.
By Ferdinand Ellerman.
The Comet Committee of the Astronomical and Astrophysical

Society of America, having secured a grant from the Rumford
Fund of the National Academy of Sciences in the fall of 1909,
decided to send an expedition to the mid-Pacific for photo-
graphing Halley's Comet, provided suitable apparatus and an
observer could be borrowed, as the funds were not sufficient
to pay for much more than the expenses of the expedition.
The location decided on by the committee was the island
of Oahu of the Hawaiian group, and it fell to my lot to be
chosen to carry out the program. A leave of absence covering
the time required for the expedition was granted by the presi-
dent of the Carnegie Institution.
*
The various parts of the instrumental equipment were assem-
bled at the work-shops of the Mt. Wilson Solar Observatory
in Pasadena, and put into working condition. They were just
ready when Comet a igio made its appearance, and were sent
to Mt. Wilson and given a try-out. Everything worked satis-
© Astronomical Society of the Pacific · Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System
Publications of the
factorily ; the instruments were sent to Pasadena, repacked, and

shipped on to Honolulu.
The equipment consisted of the following:
. A 6.4-inch Warner and Swasey equatorial mounting with
driving clock complete and 6.4-inch Clark objective were loaned
by the Lick Observatory. (Thé iron column of the mounting
was not used, but in place of it two cement piers, fastened
together with planks and iron plates, supported the head of
the mounting.)
A 6-inch portrait lens of thirty-two inches focus was loaned
by the John A. Brashear Company and mounted in a metal
camera built for the society. The camera was fastened to
the telescope tube by wooden blocks and iron straps.
A Tessar lens of 2¾ inches aperture and 9¾ inches focus,
loaned by the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, was mounted
on a wooden camera and used-on 8 χ ίο plates. This wooden
box was mounted on top of the metal camera in such a manner
that it could be pointed in any direction, and in photographing
the comet was pointed so that the entire tail would fall on
the plate except when the tail exceeded fifty degrees.
An eyepiece with cross-hairs and electric illumination for
guiding completed the outfit.
Leaving San Francisco on March 22d, we arrived at Hono-
lulu on the 28th, with the sky looking very bad. Heavy clouds
hung over the mountains, while the upper sky was covered with
a thick haze. Several days were spent in investigating local
weather conditions and looking up probable sites. In this I
was assisted by the local Weather Bureau and some of the
staff of the College of Hawaii.
Thé climatic conditions vary a great deal on the islands, and
one can find almost any climate to suit the work required. The
region near the ocean on the lee or southwest side of the island
is dry and the percentage of clear sky high, but as one goes
nearer the mountains and into higher land one encounters more
and more
m cloudiness and rain. A distance of four or five miles
makes a great difference in the conditions.
The coral plain lying southwest from Péarl Harbor has a
large percentage of clear skies 'and little'rainfall and seemed a
favorable location, but for thé work on Halley's Comet, where
a clear eastern sky reaching down to the horizon was desirable,
OBSERVING STATION, NEAR HONOLULU.
Astronomical Society of the Pacific · Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System
1 ■»
HALLEY S COMET, HONOLULU STATION.

6-mch Brashear portrait lens.
May 8, ,1910. May 10, 1910.
2h 2m to 2h 54m G. M. T. 2h jym to 2h 58111 G. M. T.
Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 167
it was found that the clouds which continually hung over the
mountains north of Honolulu would greatly interfere, as they
came right in line of the comet. A site south and east of
Honolulu was therefore considered, and it was found that at
Diamond Head a clear eastern horizon was obtainable, and a
site was selected on the south slope about 150 feet above the
ocean and 300 feet back from it. A splendid road circles
Diamond Head and made the site easily accessible from Hono-
lulu. The electric cars run to the base of the slopes of the
¿rater and within about a mile of the shelter, but as the cars
stop running at midnight I made the trips from Honolulu at
night on a motorcycle, which I found very practical, as the
roads around the city in general were splendid.
There was no running water to be had, however, so the
plates were taken to the cottage I had rented, and all the dark-
room and laboratory work was done in the bathroom, which
was transformed for this purpose. The water supply of Hon-
olulu comes from the streams in the mountains and answers
very well for all photographic purposes.
The shelter, whose co-ordinates were λ =1570 48'.5, ψ =
21° 15'.5, was constructed of a frame-work of pine, well
braced to withstand the wind, and covered with canvas. A
partition divided the observing-room, which was about nine
feet square, from the darkened room for changing plates. The
roof was mounted on castors and rolled back to the north,
giving a free sweep of the sky.
The weather during the greater portion of April was very
unfavorable. While very little rain fell at Diamond Head,
the clouds were dense. The comet was first sighted on April
14th and 15th, but only a few minutes' exposure obtained.
There were no observations till the 25th on account of clouds.
From about the 25th, to the 17th of May, the sky was good
most of the mornings and a good set of photographs was
obtained. There were, however, some clouds, especially low
. down, which interfered every morning and covered the head
of the comet until it was from 50 to 120 high.
On May 18th the sky was cloudy till about 3 p. m., when
the clouds began to disperse, and by 3:30 was perfectly clear
until 6 o'clock (G. M. T. 1411 to ι6113θιη). The definition of
the Sun most of the time was good and the granulation came
Publications of the
out very distinct, but no trace of the comet in transit was

detected or suspected. Clouds on the nights of May 17th,
18th, and 19th prevented visual observations of the tail.
From May 21st to June ist few photographs were obtained,
but in June, up to the nth, a fairly complete series was secured.
At the latter date observations were discontinued.
The comet was observed photographically on thirty-six dif-
ferent dates, and fifty-nine exposures were made with the
6-inch Brashear lens and eleven exposures with the Tessar.
More exposures would have been made with the short camera
had it not been for the violent gusts of the trade wind which
was blowing strong most of the time, and the position of the
camera-box gave great purchase and caused much shaking
of the telescope.
While the weather was far from ideal for astronomical
photography, it seems to have been a great deal better than
in the eastern part of the United States, and as a good collec-
tion of photographs of the comet was obtained the result of
the expedition must be considered very satisfactory.

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Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 165

five of these societies (in addition, of course, to his own na-

AN EXPEDITION TO PHOTOGRAPH A COMET.

The Comet Committee of the Astronomical and Astrophysical

factorily ; the instruments were sent to Pasadena, repacked, and

HALLEY S COMET, HONOLULU STATION.

out very distinct, but no trace of the comet in transit was

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