The transcript of this letter is not available online on Ɛpsilon.
Please cite as “Herschel4439,” in Ɛpsilon: The Sir John Herschel Collection accessed on 8 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/herschel/letters/Herschel4439
Describes voyage to Cape as being uneventful. 20-ft. reflector operating since late February; has already examined much of the southern sky. Believes the Milky Way is not equidistant from the earth at all points; and that the earth is between Canopus and Alpha Centauri. Amazed at clusters such as Omega Centauri. Describes richness of Magellanic Clouds. Details progress in erecting instruments. Sends observations of Alpha Crucis, which he believes is a double star.
Record created for the Calendar of the Correspondence of Sir John Herschel (CUP: Cambridge), 1998 by Michael J. Crowe ed., David R. Dyck and James J. Kevin assoc. eds
Digital record created by Dr Marvin Bolt and Steven Lucy at the Webster Institute of the Adler Planetarium
Converted to TEI by Michael Hawkins, Epsilon Project, Cambridge University Library
John Herschel Project[View Ɛpsilon collection]