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Description

Plate 15, figure 2 showing a simple figure of a circle (all naked eye stars) between two parallel lines (the breadth of the Milky Way). This is Herschel's demonstration that all visible stars are within the plane and therefore belong to our galaxy. The work is inscribed with publication and plate details and a partially visible pencil note 'To be reduced'. Not signed. Royal Society stamp verso.

Subject: Astronomy

Published in Philosophical Transactions as part of paper titled 'Astronomical observations and experiments tending to investigate the local arrangement of the celestial bodies in space, and to determine the extent and condition of the Milky Way' by William Herschel.

Read to the Royal Society on 19 June 1817.

Reference number
PT/73/6/18
Earliest possible date
1817
Physical description
Graphite on paper
Page extent
1 page
Format
Drawing

Creator name

William Herschel

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Citation

William Herschel, Drawing, figure representing stars in the Milky Way by [William Herschel], 1817, PT/73/6/18, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/pt_73_6_18/drawing-figure-representing-stars-in-the-milky-way-by-william-herschel, accessed on 13 February 2025

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  • Philosophical Transactions

    Dates: 1802-1865

    The 'Philosophical Transactions' collection comprises manuscript versions of papers published in The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the world’s first and longest continuously running journal dedicated to science.

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