Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 74.djvu/503

Rh station by Dr. Curtis, made no contribution because of the severe storm conditions prevailing at the time of totality. The Egyptian cameras, mounted by Professor Hussey, recorded a considerable number of stars, but the sky, though clear in the usual sense, was full of dust, and the sun and the surrounding region covered by the search were at a low altitude. The Spanish cameras, photographing through clouds which permitted only 20 or 30 per cent, of the light to pass, recorded 55 stars down to about the seventh and eighth magnitudes. All suspected images not occupying the positions of known stars were proved to be defects in the films.

The eclipse of 1908 in the South Seas was utilized by the Crocker Expedition to cover a region extending east and west along the sun's equator with duplicate exposures. Notwithstanding interference from rain and clouds at the beginning of totality, clear sky prevailed during the last two thirds of the four critical minutes. Dr. Perrine finds more than 500 images of well-known stars on the plates, and no images of unknown bodies. Stars are recorded down to nearly the ninth visual magnitude.

It is not absolutely certain that intramercurial planets, revolving around the sun in elliptical orbits would be seen in projection entirely within the area 9° 29° lying along the solar equator and equally east and west of the sun's center, yet there are exceedingly strong reasons to believe such would be the case. The eight large planets and the 650 ± minor planets in our system revolve around the sun in the same direction and, excepting a small proportion of the asteroids, so nearly in the sun's equatorial plane that the parts of their orbit planes lying within the limits for intramercurial planets would be projected upon the photographed area. The central plane of the zodiacal light differs little from the sun's equatorial plane. It is certain, also, that any intramercurial planets originally moving in planes inclined at large angles to Mercury's orbit plane would gradually be compelled by the attractions of Mercury and the other major planets to move in planes inclined at small angles to the ecliptic. The coincidence of the satellite planes in the systems of Jupiter and Saturn, and no doubt of Uranus and Neptune also, with the equatorial planes of these planets is another analogy of some weight. Admitting, for completeness, the hypothesis of an extensive system of small planets moving in planes making a variety of angles with the ecliptic and sun's equator, some would certainly have been caught in the region photographed. A single planet, or a half dozen planets, massive enough to meet the requirements, moving in any orbit planes would no doubt have been discovered a generation ago. In view of these facts, there is little reason to fear that any planets effective in disturbing Mercury's motions were north or south of the regions covered by photography.