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Planetary Observations by Angelo Secchi

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Angelo Secchi and Nineteenth Century Science

Part of the book series: Historical & Cultural Astronomy ((HCA))

Abstract

Secchi’s observations of Mars in 1858 reveal the observer’s keen eye for detail in addition to providing an early example of the obscuration of surface markings due to a dust storm. He was responsible for adding the term ‘canal’ to the vocabulary of the Red Planet. He made physical observations of the clouds of Jupiter and of the structure of the rings of Saturn, while his observation of the absorption bands in the spectra of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus remains an important contribution to planetary science.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    P.A. Secchi; quoted in Flammarion, The Planet Mars, p. 117.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Dr. Marco Faccini (Astronomical Observatory of Rome) for supplying photographic copies of the original drawings, reproduced in Figs. 6.1a, b, 6.2 and 6.5.

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McKim, R., Sheehan, W. (2021). Planetary Observations by Angelo Secchi. In: Chinnici, I., Consolmagno, G. (eds) Angelo Secchi and Nineteenth Century Science. Historical & Cultural Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58384-2_6

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