MDMD(1): Notes

[j minnich]

>Do you, or does anyone else know, the capabilities of astronomical science
>at the time (1786)? I'm especially curious about the ..."the Times are as
>impossible to calculate, this Advent, as the Distance to a Star." line from
>page six.
>
>Thanks,
>
>jody
>

Maskelyne's attempts to observe the parallax of Sirius (Sirius business
indeed) from St. Helena would have been undertaken in order to determine the
distance of Sirius from the solar system.  

-j minnich