Elger, 1895
Contents
Elger: The Moon (1895)
(glossary entry)
Description
Thomas Gwyn Elger's The Moon: A Full Description And Map Of Its Principal Physical Features is one of the little known classics from the golden age of visual lunar observing. Because it is in the public domain, and freely available through the kind services of Project Gutenberg and Steve Ridgway (who transcribed it electronically), Chuck has chosen to use it to add a historical perspective to the descriptions of lunar features on the-Moon Wiki. Elger was a careful observer, and if nothing else it gives a good impression of what can be observed by eye, through a small telescope, from Earth. In recognition of his accomplishments, a 21-km diameter crater on the Moon's nearside is named after him.
Additional Information
- Two copies of Elger can also be viewed as a searchable on-line "flip-book" or PDF download at the Internet Archive: Copy 1 or Copy 2.
In many cases Elger's terminology differs from that in modern use. In particular, Elger wrote his book in an era when the convention for what should be regarded as east and west on the Moon was the reverse of the IAU directions used today. For the-Moon Wiki, the Easts and Wests in most of the entries from Elger have been converted to the modern IAU usage. So if a passage is marked IAU Directions it will be consistent with E being on the Crisium side of the Moon. A few older entries may be in Elger's original reversed E-W format.
Antiquated Spellings
You will also encounter a number of terms that are not in common use today. For example:
| ELGER'S TERM |
Modern Term |
| walled plain or ring plain |
crater |
| cleft |
rille |
(list to be expanded...)
Also, Elger used what are now antiquated names for a number of the lunar features. Some of these have been replaced by newer names, others have been dropped.
| ELGER'S SPELLING |
|
| ALPS |
Montes Alpes |
| ANAXIMINES |
Anaximenes |
| APENNINES |
Montes Apenninus |
| AZOUT |
Auzout |
| BACON |
Baco |
| BERNOUILLI |
Bernoulli |
| BOND, G.P |
G. Bond |
| BOUVARD |
Vallis Bouvard |
| BURG |
Bürg |
| BUSCHING |
Büsching |
| CAPE AGARUM |
Promontorium Agarum |
| CAROLINE HERSCHEL |
C. Herschel |
| CARPATHIANS |
Montes Carpatus |
| CATHERINA |
Catharina |
| CAUCASUS |
Montes Caucasus |
| CONDAMINE |
La Condamine |
| CRUGER |
Crüger |
| FONTINELLE |
Fontenelle |
| GALILEO |
Galilaei |
| GARTNER |
Gärtner |
| GRUITHUISEN DELTA |
Mons Gruithuisen Delta |
| GRUITHUISEN GAMMA |
Mons Gruithuisen Gamma |
| GUERIKE |
Guericke |
| GUTTEMBERG |
Gutenberg |
| HAEMUS MOUNTAINS |
Montes Haemus |
| HARBINGER MOUNTAINS |
Montes Harbinger |
| HEVEL |
Hevelius |
| ISODORUS |
Isidorus |
| J.F.W. HERSCHEL |
J. Herschel |
| KASTNER |
Kästner |
| LA PEYROUSE |
La Pérouse |
| LACAILLE |
La Caille |
| LAHIRE |
Mons La Hire |
| LANDSBERG |
Lansberg |
| LEGENTIL |
Le Gentil |
| LEVERRIER |
Le Verrier |
| LINNE |
Linné |
| LUBIENIEZKY |
Lubiniezky |
| MACCLURE |
McClure |
| MADLER |
Mädler |
| MOSTING |
Mösting |
| MOUNT ARGAEUS |
Mons Argaeus |
| MOUNT BRADLEY |
Mons Bradley |
| MOUNT HADLEY |
Mons Hadley |
| MOUNT HUYGENS |
Mons Huygens |
| MOUNT WOLF |
Mons Wolff |
| OTTO STRUVE |
Struve |
| OTTO STRUVE A |
reference to the crater Eddington? |
| PICO |
Mons Pico |
| PINGRE |
Pingré |
| PITON |
Mons Piton |
| PONTECOULANT |
Pontécoulant |
| PROMONTORY ACHERUSIA |
Promontorium Archerusia |
| REAUMUR |
Réaumur |
| ROMER |
Römer |
| SCHROTER |
Schröter |
| SOMMERING |
Sömmering |
| STOFLER |
Stöfler |
| TAQUET |
Tacquet |
| TAURUS MOUNTAINS |
Montes Taurus |
| THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS |
Rupes Altai |
| THE HERACLIDES PROMONTORY |
Promontorium Heraclides |
| THE LAPLACE PROMONTORY |
Promontorium Laplace |
| THE STRAIGHT RANGE |
Montes Recti |
| THE STRAIGHT WALL |
Rupes Recta |
| THE TENERIFFE MOUNTAINS |
Montes Teneriffe |
| TOBIAS MAYER |
T. Mayer |
| VASCO DE GAMA |
Vasco da Gama |
| W. HUMBOLDT |
Humboldt |
| W.C. BOND |
W. Bond |
| WALTER |
Walther |
| WILHELM I |
Wilhelm |
| ZUCHIUS |
Zucchius |
Discontinued Names
Several names Elger used do not match any currently approved name in the IAU Nomenclature. Those features, of course, still exist, they are just no longer named:
D'ALEMBERT MOUNTAINS
DORFEL MOUNTAINS
LEIBNITZ MOUNTAINS
ORIANI
PROM. AENARIUM
THE HERCYNIAN MOUNTAINS
THE HUMBOLDT MOUNTAINS
THE NORTH POLAR RANGE
THE PERCY MOUNTAINS
THE SILBERSCHLAG RANGE
THE SINUS IRIDUM HIGHLANDS
THE STAG'S-HORN MOUNTAINS
Finally, it appears that Elger did not stick strictly to the convention of referring to satellite craters with Roman letters and elevations (peaks) with Greek letters -- a practice that was used by many of his contemporaries. Although he frequently did use Greek letters in this way, his references to something like Fontinelle A may still be to a peak near Fontenelle rather than to the modern lettered crater of that name.
- Jim Mosher
Description: Wikipedia
LPOD Articles
Elger Reborn? A Quadrant of Elger Who Named that Crater? Ray Systems
Bibliography
- Full Elger text with E-W directions in modern style:
- [[file/view/Elger_17712-converted_to_IAU_directions.txt/30779487/Elger_17712-converted_to_IAU_directions.txt|Elger_17712-converted_to_IAU_directions.txt]]
