[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
exceeded 6,000 times in round numbers;
consequently, the moon was brought within no nearer an apparent distance than
thirty-nine miles; and objects of less than sixty feet in diameter, unless
they were of very considerable length, were still imperceptible.
In the present case, dealing with a projectile nine feet in diameter and
fifteen feet long, it became necessary to bring the moon within an apparent
distance of five miles at most; and for that purpose to establish a magnifying
power of 48,000 times.
Such was the question proposed to the Observatory of Cambridge, There was no
Page 80
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
lack of funds; the difficulty was purely one of construction.
After considerable discussion as to the best form and principle of the
proposed instrument the work was finally commenced.
According to the calculations of the Observatory of Cambridge, the tube of the
new reflector would require to be 280 feet in length, and the object-glass
sixteen feet in diameter.
Colossal as these dimensions may appear, they were diminutive in comparison
with the 10,000 foot telescope proposed by the astronomer Hooke only a few
years ago!
Regarding the choice of locality, that matter was promptly determined. The
object was to select some lofty mountain, and there are not many of these in
the United States.
In fact there are but two chains of moderate elevation, between which runs the
magnificent Mississippi, the "king of rivers"
as these Republican Yankees delight to call it.
Eastwards rise the Appalachians, the very highest point of which, in New
Hampshire, does not exceed the very moderate altitude of 5,600 feet.
On the west, however, rise the Rocky Mountains, that immense range which,
commencing at the Straights of Magellan, follows the western coast of Southern
America under the name of the
FROM EARTH TO THE MOON
Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com
86
Andes or the Cordilleras, until it crosses the Isthmus of
Panama, and runs up the whole of North America to the very borders of the
Polar Sea. The highest elevation of this range still does not exceed 10,700
feet. With this elevation, nevertheless, the Gun Club were compelled to be
content, inasmuch as they had determined that both telescope and
Columbiad should be erected within the limits of the Union.
All the necessary apparatus was consequently sent on to the summit of Long's
Peak, in the territory of Missouri.
Neither pen nor language can describe the difficulties of all kinds which the
American engineers had to surmount, of the prodigies of daring and skill which
they accomplished. They had to raise enormous stones, massive pieces of
wrought iron, heavy corner-clamps and huge portions of cylinder, with an
object-glass weighing nearly 30,000 pounds, above the line of perpetual snow
for more than 10,000 feet in height, after crossing desert prairies,
impenetrable forests, fearful rapids, far from all centers of population, and
in the midst of savage regions, in which every detail of life becomes an
almost insoluble problem. And yet, notwithstanding these innumerable
obstacles, American genius triumphed. In less than a year after the
commencement of the works, toward the close of September, the gigantic
reflector rose into the air to a height of 280 feet.
It was raised by means of an enormous iron crane; an ingenious mechanism
allowed it to be easily worked toward all the points of the heavens, and to
follow the stars from the one horizon to the other during their journey
through the heavens.
It had cost $400,000. The first time it was directed toward the moon the
observers evinced both curiosity and anxiety. What were they about to
discover in the field of this telescope which magnified objects 48,000 times?
Would they perceive peoples, herds of lunar animals, towns, lakes, seas? No!
there was nothing which science had not already discovered! and on all the
Page 81
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
points of its disc the volcanic nature of the moon became determinable with
the utmost precision.
But the telescope of the Rocky Mountains, before doing its duty to the Gun
Club, rendered immense services to astronomy. Thanks to its penetrative
power, the depths of the heavens were sounded to the utmost extent; the
apparent diameter of a great number of stars was accurately measured; and Mr.
Clark, of the Cambridge staff, resolved the Crab nebula in Taurus, which the
reflector of Lord
Rosse had never been able to decompose.
CHAPTER XXV
FINAL DETAILS
It was the 22nd of November; the departure was to take place in
FROM EARTH TO THE MOON
Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com
87
ten days. One operation alone remained to be accomplished to bring all to a
happy termination; an operation delicate and perilous, requiring infinite
precautions, and against the success of which Captain Nicholl had laid his
third bet. It was, in fact, nothing less than the loading of the Columbiad,
and the introduction into it of 400,000 pounds of gun-cotton. Nicholl had
thought, not perhaps without reason, that the handling of such formidable
quantities of pyroxyle would, in all probability, involve a grave catastrophe;
and at any rate, that this immense mass of eminently inflammable matter would
inevitably ignite when submitted to the pressure of the projectile.
There were indeed dangers accruing as before from the carelessness of the
Americans, but Barbicane had set his heart on success, and took all possible
precautions. In the first place, he was very careful as to the transportation
of the gun-cotton to Stones Hill. He had it conveyed in small quantities,
carefully packed in sealed cases. These were brought by rail from Tampa Town
to the camp, and from thence were taken to the Columbiad by barefooted
workmen, who deposited them in their places by means of cranes placed at the
orifice of the cannon. No steam-engine was permitted to work, and every fire
was extinguished within two miles of the works.
Even in November they feared to work by day, lest the sun's rays acting on the
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]