It is not generally understood in what way greatness of size in a telescope increases its powers; and it conveys but an imperfect idea of the excellence of a telescope, to tell how much it magnifies. In the same instrument, an increase of magnifying power is always attended with a diminution of the light and of the field of view. Hence, the lower powers generally afford the most agreeable views, because they give the clearest light, and take in the largest space. The several circumstances which influence the qualities of a telescope are, illuminating power, distinctness, field of view, and magnifying power. Large mirrors and large objectglasses are superior to smaller ones, because they collect a larger beam of light, and transmit it to the eye. Stars which are invisible to the naked eye are rendered visible by the telescope, because this instrument collects and conveys to the eye a large beam of the few rays which emanate from the stars; whereas a beam of these rays of only the diameter of the pupil of the eye, would afford too little light for distinct vision. In this particular, large telescopes have great advantages over small ones. The great mirror of Herschel's forty-feet reflector collects and conveys to the eye a beam more than four feet in diameter. The Dorpat telescope also transmits to the eye a beam nine and one half inches in diameter. This seems small, in comparison with the reflector; but much less of the light is lost on passing through the glass than is absorbed by the mirror, and the mirror is very liable to be clouded or tarnished; so that there is not so great a difference in the two instruments, in regard to illuminating power, as might be supposed from the difference of size.

Distinctness of view is all-important to the performance of an instrument. The object may be sufficiently bright, yet, if the image is distorted, or ill-defined, the illumination is of little consequence. This property depends mainly on the skill with which all the imper fections of figure and color in the glass or mirror are corrected, and can exist in perfection only when the

image is rendered completely achromatic, and when all the rays that proceed from each point in the object are collected into corresponding points of the image, unaccompanied by any other rays. Distinctness is very much affected by the steadiness of the instrument. Every one knows how indistinct a page becomes, when a book is passed rapidly backwards and forwards before the eyes, and how difficult it is to read in a carriage in rapid motion on a rough road.

Field of view is another important consideration. The finest instruments exhibit the moon, for example, not only bright and distinct, in all its parts, but they take in the whole disk at once; whereas, the inferior instruments, when the higher powers, especially, are applied, permit us to see only a small part of the moon at

once.

I hope, my friend, that, when you have perused these Letters, or rather, while you are perusing them, you will have frequent opportunities of looking through a good telescope. I even anticipate that you will acquire such a taste for viewing the heavenly bodies with the aid of a good glass, that you will deem a telescope a most suitable appendage to your library, and as certainly not less an ornament to it than the more expensive statues with which some people of fortune adorn theirs. I will therefore, before concluding this letter, offer you a few directions for using the telescope.

Some states of weather, even when the sky is clear, are far more favorable for astronomical observation than others. After sudden changes of temperature in the atmosphere, the medium is usually very unsteady. If the sun shines out warm after a cloudy season, the ground first becomes heated, and the air that is nearest to it is expanded, and rises, while the colder air descends, and thus ascending and descending currents of air, mingling together, create a confused and wavy medium. The same cause operates when a current of hot air rises from a chimney; and hence the state of the atmosphere in cities and large towns is very unfavora

ble to the astronomer, on this account, as well as on account of the smoky condition in which it is usually found. After a long season of dry weather, also, the air becomes smoky, and unfit for observation. Indeed, foggy, misty, or smoky, air is so prevalent in some countries, that only a very few times in the whole year can be found, which are entirely suited to observation, especially with the higher powers; for we must recollect, that these inequalities and imperfections are magnified by telescopes, as well as the objects themselves. Thus, as I have already mentioned, not more than one hundred good hours in a year could be obtained for observation with Herschel's great telescope. By good hours, Herschel means that the sky must be very clear, the moon absent, no twilight, no haziness, no violent wind, and no sudden change of temperature. As a general fact, the warmer climates enjoy a much finer sky for the astronomer than the colder, having many more clear evenings, a short twilight, and less change of temperature. The watery vapor of the atmosphere, also, is more perfectly dissolved in hot than in cold air, and the more water air contains, provided it is in a state of perfect solution, the clearer it is.

A certain preparation of the observer himself is also requisite for the nicest observations with the telescope. He must be free from all agitation, and the eye must not recently have been exposed to a strong light, which contracts the pupil of the eye. Indeed, for delicate observations, the observer should remain for some time beforehand in a dark room, to let the pupil of the eye dilate. By this means, it will be enabled to admit a larger number of the rays of light. In ascending the stairs of an observatory, visiters frequently get out of breath, and having perhaps recently emerged from a strongly-lighted apartment, the eye is not in a favorable state for observation. Under these disadvantages, they take a hasty look into the telescope, and it is no wonder that disappointment usually follows.

Want of steadiness is a great difficulty attending the

use of the highest magnifiers; for the motions of the instrument are magnified as well as the object. Hence, in the structure of observatories, the greatest pains is requisite, to avoid all tremor, and to give to the instruments all possible steadiness; and the same care is to be exercised by observers. In the more refined observations, only one or two persons ought to be near the instrument.

In general, low powers afford better views of the heavenly bodies than very high magnifiers. It may be thought absurd, to recommend the use of low powers, in respect to large instruments especially, since it is commonly supposed that the advantage of large instruments is, that they will bear high magnifying powers. But this is not their only, nor even their principal, advantage. A good light and large field are qualities, for most purposes, more important than great magnifying power; and it must be borne in mind, that, as we increase the magnifying power in a given instrument, we diminish both the illumination and the field of view. Still, different objects require different magnifying powers; and a telescope is usually furnished with several varieties of powers, one of which is best fitted for viewing the moon, another for Jupiter, and a still higher

power for Saturn. Comets require only the lowest magnifiers; for here, our object is to command as much light, and as large a field, as possible, while it avails. little to increase the dimensions of the object. On the other hand, for certain double stars, (stars which ap pear single to the naked eye, but double to the telescope,) we require very high magnifiers, in order to separate these minute objects so far from each other, *that the interval can be distinctly seen. Whenever we exhibit celestial objects to inexperienced observers, it is useful to precede the view with good drawings of the objects, accompanied by an explanation of what each appearance, exhibited in the telescope, indicates. The novice is told, that mountains and valleys can be seen in the moon by the aid of the telescope; but, on

looking, he sees a confused mass of light and shade, and nothing which looks to him like either mountains or valleys. Had his attention been previously directed. to a plain drawing of the moon, and each particular appearance interpreted to him, he would then have looked through the telescope with intelligence and satisfaction.

LETTER V.

OBSERVATORIES.

"We, though from heaven remote, to heaven will move,
With strength of mind, and tread the abyss above;

And penetrate, with an interior light,

Those upper depths which Nature hid from sight.
Pleased we will be, to walk along the sphere

Of shining stars, and travel with the year."-Ovid.

An observatory is a structure fitted up expressly for astronomical observations, and furnished with suitable instruments for that purpose.

The two most celebrated observatories, hitherto built, are that of Tycho Brahe, and that of Greenwich, near London. The observatory of Tycho Brahe, Fig. 5, was constructed at the expense of the King of Denmark, in a style of royal magnificence, and cost no less than two hundred thousand crowns. It was situated on the island of Huenna, at the entrance of the Baltic, and was called Uraniburg, or the palace of the skies.

Before I give you an account of Tycho's observatory, I will recite a few particulars respecting this great astronomer himself.

Tycho Brahe was of Swedish descent, and of noble family; but having received his education at the University of Copenhagen, and spent a large part of his life in Denmark, he is usually considered as a Dane, and quoted as a Danish astronomer. He was born in the year 1546. When he was about fourteen years old, there happened a great eclipse of the sun, which awakened in him a high interest, especially when he saw how