Theoretical stellar structures and a ring nebula Soane in the 18th century

in the 18th century

Church of St Vedast Foster Lane

Plate 2 from the monograph Zoologische studien auf Capri

East window in St Margaret

'The Eve of St Agnes'

Theoretical stellar structures and a ring nebula Soane in the 18th centuryPlate 8 figures 1, 2, 3 and 5 from the paper 'On the construction of the heavens', by William Herschel, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol. 75 (1785), pp. 213 266. Illustrations to support Herschel's speculations on the larger structures formed by stars. Figure 1 shows an ideal arrangement of four sections of cones of stars, the stars filling the space most evenly. Figure 2 shows an alternative arrangement with one star at the apex