Curiosities of the Sky

by Garrett Serviss

Curiosities of the Sky was first published in 1909 and the text is in
the public domain. The transcription was done by William McClain
(info@sattre-press.com), 2002.

A printed version of this book is available from Sattre Press
(http://csky.sattre-press.com). It includes extensive annotations, a
new introduction and all the original photographs and diagrams.
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Preface

What Froude says of history is true also of astronomy: it is the most
impressive where it transcends explanation. It is not the mathematics
of astronomy, but the wonder and the mystery that seize upon the
imagination. The calculation of an eclipse owes all its prestige to
the sublimity of its data; the operation, in itself, requires no more
mental effort than the preparation of a railway time-table.

The dominion which astronomy has always held over the minds of men is
akin to that of poetry; when the former becomes merely instructive and
the latter purely didactic, both lose their power over the
imagination. Astronomy is known as the oldest of the sciences, and it
will be the longest-lived because it will always have arcana that have
not been penetrated.

Some of the things described in this book are little known to the