132
7 Star Streams
With data for a different set of stars, British astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944) found that Kapteyn’s conclusions were correct (Fig. 7.7).
Where Kapteyn used bright stars over the entire sky, the data available to
Eddington concerned fainter stars over smaller areas of sky. Eddington had
just obtained his PhD at the University of Cambridge and would become one
of the most influential theoretical astronomers of the twentieth century.
However, quickly another interpretation was given, which would only convincingly turn out to be the right one much later on. The German astronomer
Karl Schwarzschild (1873–1916), director of the Sternwarte in Göttingen
(Fig. 7.8), suggested that these were not two physically separate, opposite
streams, but that this apparent streaming effect was in fact caused by an asymFig. 7.7 Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944). Eddington is probably best known for
his theories about the structure of stars. This picture comes from the Album Amicorum,
presented to H.G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen on the occasion of his retirement as professor
of astronomy and director of the Sterrewacht Leiden in 1908 [47]
7 Star Streams
With data for a different set of stars, British astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944) found that Kapteyn’s conclusions were correct (Fig. 7.7).
Where Kapteyn used bright stars over the entire sky, the data available to
Eddington concerned fainter stars over smaller areas of sky. Eddington had
just obtained his PhD at the University of Cambridge and would become one
of the most influential theoretical astronomers of the twentieth century.
However, quickly another interpretation was given, which would only convincingly turn out to be the right one much later on. The German astronomer
Karl Schwarzschild (1873–1916), director of the Sternwarte in Göttingen
(Fig. 7.8), suggested that these were not two physically separate, opposite
streams, but that this apparent streaming effect was in fact caused by an asymFig. 7.7 Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944). Eddington is probably best known for
his theories about the structure of stars. This picture comes from the Album Amicorum,
presented to H.G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen on the occasion of his retirement as professor
of astronomy and director of the Sterrewacht Leiden in 1908 [47]