An Introduction to Astronomy: Designed as a Textbook for the Students of Yale College, 4th (rev. ed)

Octavo. 4th edition revised. xv, [xvi] 288 pages. The earlier edition that year had 278 pages. The only recorded copy is at the New York Public Library (Hathitrust] With the spectacular Leonid meteor showers of November 1833, Yale professor Denison Olmsted carried out a strenuous and systematic attempt to collect and calibrate observations from all over the United States. He reported his data and analysis in an extensive pair of articles, which culminated in the startling conjecture that some ''nebulous body'' must lie between the Earth and the Sun, with an orbital period of precisely 182 days. Using the Joseph Henry magnet with the refracting telescope, He and tutor Loomis observed Halley's comet in 1835 before words of its reappearance had come to Europe. 2 important plates; The Great Comet of 1843 and Nebulae and Double Stars. Bound in contemporary calf, flat spine ruled in gilt, black label gilt, bottom rear corner chipped, lacking front free endpaper, annotations of mathematical problems on endpapers in pencil.…