1. Catalogue of Spectra of Bright Stars.--This is a continuation of the work undertaken with the aid of an appropriation from the Bache fund, and described in the Memoirs of the American Academy, vol. xi., p. 210. The 8 inch telescope is used, each photograph covering a region of 10° square. The exposures for equatorial stars last for five minutes, and the rate of the clock is such that the spectra have a width of about 0.1 cm. The length of the spectra is about 1.2 cm. for the brighter, and 0.6 cm. for the fainter stars. The dispersion of the scale proposed above is 0.1.
The spectra of all stars of the sixth magnitude and brighter will generally be found upon these plates, except in the case of red stars. Many fainter blue stars also appear. Three or four exposures are made upon a single plate. The entire sky north of -24° would be covered twice, according to this plan, with 180 plates and 690 exposures. It is found preferable in some cases to make only two exposures; and when the plate appears to be a poor one, the work is repeated. The number of plates is therefore increased. Last summer the plates appeared to be giving poor results. Dust on the prisms seemed to be the explanation of this difficulty. Many regions were reobserved on this account. The first cycle, covering the entire sky from zero to twenty-four hours of right ascension, has been completed.
The work will be finished during the coming year by a second cycle of observations, which has already been begun. The first cycle contains 257 plates, all of which have been measured, and a large part of the reduction completed. 8,313 spectra have been measured on them, nearly all of which have been identified, and the places of a greater portion of the stars brought forward to the year 1900, and entered in catalogue form. In the second cycle, 64 plates have been taken, and about as many more will be required. 51 plates have been measured and identified, including 2,974 spectra. A study of the photographic brightness and distribution of the light in the spectra will also be made.
The results will be published in the form of a catalogue resembling the Photometric Catalogue given in volume xiv. of the Annals of Harvard College Observatory. It will contain the approximate place of each star for 1900, its designation, the character of the spectrum as derived from each of the plates in which it was photographed, the references to these plates, and the photographic brightness of the star.
2. Catalogue of Spectra of Faint Stars.--This work resembles the preceding, but is much more extensive. The same instrument is used, but each region has an exposure of an hour, the rate of the clock being such that the width of the spectrum will be as before 0.1 cm. Many stars of the ninth magnitude will thus be included, and nearly all brighter than the eighth. In one case, over three hundred spectra are shown on a single plate. This work has been carried on only in the intervals when the telescope was not needed for other purposes. 99 plates have, however, been obtained, and on these 4,442 spectra have been measured. It is proposed to complete the equatorial zones first, gradually extending the work northward. In all, 15,729 spectra of bright and faint stars have been measured.
3. Detailed Study of the Spectra of the Brighter Stars.--This work has been carried on with the 11 inch photographic telescope used by Dr. Draper in his later researches. A wooden observatory was constructed about 20 feet square. This was surmounted by a dome having a clear diameter of 18 feet on the inside. The dome had a wooden frame, sheathed and covered with canvas. It rested on eight cast iron wheels, and was easily moved by hand, the power being directly applied. Work was begun upon it in June, and the first observations were made with the telescope in October.
Two prisms were formed by splitting a thick plate of glass diagonally. These gave such good results that two others were made in the same way, and the entire battery of four prisms is ordinarily used. The safety and convenience of handling the prisms is greatly increased by placing them in square brass boxes, each of which slides into place like a drawer. Any combination of the prisms may thus be employed. As is usual in such an investigation, a great variety of difficulties have been encountered, and the most important of them have now been overcome.
4. Faint Stellar Spectra.--The 28 inch reflector will be used for the study of the spectra of the faint stars, and also for the fainter portions near the ends of the spectra of the brighter stars. The form of spectroscope mentioned above, in which the collimator and slit are replaced by a concave lens, will be tried. The objects to be examined are, first, the stars known to be variable, with the expectation that some evidence may be afforded of the cause of the variation. The stars whose spectrum is known to be banded, to contain bright lines, or to be peculiar in other respects, will also be examined systematically. Experiments will also be tried with orthochromatic plates and the use of a colored absorbing medium, in order to photograph the red portions of the spectra of the bright stars. Quartz will also be tried to extend the images toward the ultra-violet.
5. Absorption Spectra.--The ordinary form of comparison spectrum cannot be employed on account of the absence of a slit. The most promising method of determining the wave lengths of the stellar spectra is to interpose some absorbent medium. Experiments are in progress with hyponitric fumes and other substances. A tank containing one of these materials is interposed and the spectra photographed through it. The stellar spectra will then be traversed by lines resulting from the absorption of the media thus interposed, and, after their wave lengths are once determined, they serve as a precise standard to which the stellar lines may be referred. The absorption lines of the terrestrial atmosphere would form the best standard for this purpose if those which are sufficiently fine can be photographed.
6. Wave Lengths.--The determination of the wave lengths of the lines in the stellar spectra will form an important part of the work which has not yet been begun. The approximate wave lengths can readily be found from a comparison with the solar spectrum, a sufficient number of solar lines being present in most stellar spectra. If, then, satisfactory results are obtained in the preceding investigation, the motion of the stars can probably be determined with a high degree of precision. The identification of the lines with those of terrestrial substances will of course form a part of the work, but the details will be considered subsequently.