ASTEONOMICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SOUTHERN 

 HEMISPHERE.^ 



By Hebeb D. Curtis. 



It is a natural result of the more recent development of the civili- 

 zations of the Southern Hemisphere that advances in the science of 

 astrononi}^ should likewise be less extensive than those made by the 

 parent civilizations of the Northern Hemisphere. From the nature 

 of the case, the Southern Hemisphere possesses relatively few astro- 

 nomical records which can compare, in point of time, with those 

 obtained for the northern skies during the last two centuries; and 

 in the past, but to a less extent to-day, no small part of the progress 

 made in mapping and studying the southern skies has been made 

 by expeditions from the older foundations of Europe and America. 



Probably the first observatory south of the equator which can 

 be described as of a permanent character was that founded by Sir 

 Thomas Brisbane in Paramatta, New South Wales, as a private 

 observatory, in 1821 ; its period of activity extended over about 10 

 years, and it was later incorj^orated with the Observatory of Sydney. 

 An observator}^ was founded in Buenos Aires in 1822, but its period 

 of activity was very short. Although the Observatory of the Cape 

 of Good Hope was founded in 1820, its activity did not commence 

 till 1829, the date of its completion; the extremely valuable and 

 extensive work carried on here during the 80 years past give to it 

 the unchallenged rank as the oldest permanent astronomical founda- 

 tion in the Southern Hemisphere. At a later date we find the foun- 

 dation of the Observatory of Santiago in 1856; Melbourne, founded 

 in Williamstown, Victoria, in 1853, and transferred to Melbourne 

 in 1861; Adelaide, established in 1854; Cordoba, 1870; Arequipa 

 in 1891, and others of more recent date. Among the early expedi- 

 tions of a temporary character may be noted the visit of Halley to 

 St. Helena in 1677; later we come to the appearance of the first 

 large systematic catalogue of the southern stars by Lacaille as a 



1 Reprinted by permission, with author's revision from publications of the Astronom- 

 cal Society of the Pacific, vol. 21, No. 129, San Francisco, Cal., Dec. 10, 1909. 



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