ASTRONOMY. 
from his theory ; and, in short, most of the 
observations he made furnished new proofs 
Of the, truth of the Copernican system. In 
publishing the discoveries which he had 
made with this new instrument, Galileo 
shewed in the most incontestible manner, 
the annual and diurnal motion of the earth; 
which doctrine, however, was thought so 
alarming, that it was immediately declared 
heretical, by a congregation of cardinals, 
who were assembled upon the occasion ; and 
its venerable author, one of the most vir- 
tuous and enlightened men of his age, was 
obliged to abjure, upon his knees, and in the 
most solemn manner, a truth, which nature 
and his own understanding had shewn him 
to be incontrovertible. Afterthis, he was con- 
demned to perpetual imprisonment ; from 
which, however, at the end of a year, he was 
enlarged, by the solicitations of the grand 
duke ; but, that he might not withdraw him- 
self from the power of the inquisition, lie 
was forbid to quit the territory of Florence, 
where he died in 1642 ; carrying with him 
the regrets of Europe, enlightened by his 
labours, and their indignation against the 
odious tribunal which had treated him so 
unworthily. See Galileo. 
The discoveries of Huygens succeeded 
those of Kepler and Galileo ; and few men 
have, perhaps, merited more of the sciences, 
by the importance and sublimity of his re- 
searches. Among other things, his happy 
application of the pendulum to clocks, is 
one of the most advantageous presents that 
was ever made to astronomy. He was also 
the first who found that the singular ap- 
pearances of Saturn are produced by a ring, 
by which the planet is surrounded ; and his 
assiduity in observing it led him to the dis- 
covery of one of its satellites. 
About this epoch, astronomy began to he 
more generally cultivated and improved, in 
consequence of the establishment of several 
learned societies, which, by exciting a spirit 
of emulation and enterprise among their 
members, greatly contributed to the ad- 
vancement of every branch of the mathe- 
matical and physical sciences. 
The chief of these were the Royal Society 
of London, and that of the Academy of 
Sciences of Paris; both of which have ren- 
dered great services to astronomy, as well 
by the eminent men they have produced, as 
by the zeal and ardour with which the 
science has been constancy promoted by 
them. Towards the latter part of the se- 
venteenth century, and the beginning of the 
eighteenth, practical astronomy seems ra- 
ther to have languished; but at the same 
time, the theoretical part was carried to the 
highest degree of perfection, by the immor- 
tal Newton, in his “ Principia,’’ and by the 
astronomy of -David Gregory. About this 
time also clock and watch-work was greatly 
improved by Mr. Graham, who likewise 
constructed the old eight feet mural arch at 
the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and 
the zenith sector of 24 feet radius, with 
which Dr. Bradley discovered the aberra- 
tion of the fixed stars. The astronomical 
improvements in the last century have 
been chiefly owing to the greater perfection 
of instruments, and to the establishment of 
regular observatories in various parts of Eu- 
rope. Romer, a celebrated Danish astro- 
nomer, first made use of a meridian tele- 
scope; and by observing the eclipses of Ju- 
piter’s satellites, was led to his discovery of 
the motion of light, which he communicated 
to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, in 
1675. 
Mr. Flamsteed was also appointed the 
first astronomer royal at Greenwich, about 
the same time, where he observed all the 
celestial pluenomena for more than 44 years ; 
and, as the fruits of his labours, published a 
catalogue of 3000 stars, with their places, 
to the year 1688, as also new solar tables, 
and a theory of the moon, according to 
Horrox. Cassini, also, the first French as- 
tronomer royal, greatly distinguished him- 
self by his numerous observations on the 
sun, moon, and planets, and by the im- 
provements he made in the elements of 
their motions. 
In 1719, Mr. Flamsteed was succeeded 
by Dr. Halley, the friend of Newton, and 
a man of the first eminence in all the classes 
of literature and science; who had been 
sent at the early age of 21, to the island of 
St. Helena, to observe the southern stars, a 
catalogue of which he published in 1679 ; 
and a few years afterwards, he gave to the 
public his “ Synopsis Astronomise Comeli- 
c;e,” in which he ventured to predict the 
return of a comet in 1758, or 1759. 
On the death of Dr. Halley, in 1742, he 
was succeeded by Dr. Bradley, who has 
rendered himself highly celebrated by two 
of the finest discoveries that have ever been 
made in astronomy, the aberration of light, 
and the nutation of the earth’s axis. Among 
other things, he also formed new and accu- 
rate tables of the motions of Jupiter’s satel- 
lites, as well as the most correct table of re- 
fractions yet extant. Also, with a large 
transit instrument, and a new mural qua- 
