NOTICE RELATING TO THE ASTRONOMICAL DEPARTMENT. THE arrangement of the Astronomical Department, by Mr. Paine, has appeared to me so judicious and so well adapted to the wants of the community, that I have ventured upon no important alterations. The mode of calculation has, in almost every case, been that, which was proposed by him, and the only changes have been to introduce a table exhibiting the darkness of night, as far as it depends upon the absence of the moon, and of twilight; to omit the ephemeris of the Sun; and to put into a different form the table of occultations. The equation of time, which was intended to be retained, was accidentally omitted. But it will be given in future volumes. Not thinking it would add to the value of the Almanac, I shall not give the sources from which the calculations have been derived; and I can only hope that, from the great pains which I have bestowed upon them, they will not fall far short of the accuracy for which they have been hitherto distinguished. I may also be allowed to take this opportunity to thank my friend Lieut. Charles Henry Davis, of the Navy, for his valuable assistance in calculating those occultations which were not contained in the Nautical Almanac, but were derived from the Astronomical Society's Catalogue of Stars. Harvard College, October 29, 1841. BENJAMIN PEIRCE. |