Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal (1849 Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal edinburghnewphil48edin Year: 1849 - 1850 306 Professor Piazzi Smyth on a Centauri. Orbit of a^ a7id a? Centauri, Position of perihelion, =r = 26° 24' Inclination to the plane of projection, y = 47 56 Position of ascending node, XI = 86 07 Angular distance of perihelion from node on the plane of the orbit. K = 291 22 Excentricity, £ = 0-950 Epoch of perihelion passage, T =1851-50 year Periodic time, p = 77'0 years Mean motion. » = 4°-675 Semiaxis major, « = 15-50' Mass = J of the Solar Apparent Orbit. Maximum distanc
Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal (1849 Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal edinburghnewphil48edin Year: 1849 - 1850 306 Professor Piazzi Smyth on a Centauri. Orbit of a^ a7id a? Centauri, Position of perihelion, =r = 26° 24' Inclination to the plane of projection, y = 47 56 Position of ascending node, XI = 86 07 Angular distance of perihelion from node on the plane of the orbit. K = 291 22 Excentricity, £ = 0-950 Epoch of perihelion passage, T =1851-50 year Periodic time, p = 77'0 years Mean motion. » = 4°-675 Semiaxis major, « = 15-50' Mass = J of the Solar Apparent Orbit. Maximum distance, = 21-85' at 207-5° Minimum, = 0-50 ... 5-0 Greatest daily motion, = 2° 40' We have thus here altogether one of the most, if not the most, interesting and important sidereal system in the heavens ; the only one which can compare with it is 'y Virginis, and that has been looked upon as being amongst the double stars what Halley's comet is amongst comets ; but though so well and frequently observed of late years, it was not instrumentally measured so early as a Cen- tauri, and it is a much smaller star, with an orbit of only one-fourth the apparent , and a period of time double the length of its southern rival; so that, while the actual observation for the pur- pose of comparing theory with fact would be eight times more difficult in the case of 'y Virginis, and loaded with eight times the probable error of observation, there is the further objection, that on account of the greater length of the period, but a small portion of the orbit could be determined by one observer, or even by one instrument. But the crowning importance of the binary system of CL Centuari, is the accurate determination of the parallax or distance from us, by the late Professor Henderson, as we are thereby enabled to speak,
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