| RefNo | MS/603/6/52 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from William Huggins and Margaret Huggins, 90 Upper Tulse Hill, S W [South West] London, to the Secretary [Joseph Larmor] |
| Creator | Huggins; Sir William (1824-1910); British astronomer |
| Huggins; Margaret Lindsay (1848 - 1915); Née; Murray; wife of William Huggins FRS; Irish-English astronomer; spectroscopist |
| Recipient | Larmor; Sir Joseph (1857-1942); Irish theoretical physicist |
| Date | 3 August 1904 |
| Description | William Huggins agrees with Larmor's hypothesis regarding the repulsion of rays. He expands on this, before questioning 'Am I right in supposing that the boundary of the solid sodium would not be an impenetrable wall of radium molecules, but that there would be a very narrow neutral zone into which the atmospheric molecules would penetrate?'. He mentions the work of [Ernest] Rutherford, and then Huggins states his belief that, now he has luminous hydrogen, that there is a 'spectrum in which the bands of N are absent, and are replaced by lines of H.'. Some of his plates were too faint for conclusive results, but he has another photograph which he will develop next week. He then suggests to Larmor that if he would like to advertise 'Trans' ['Philosophical Transactions'] that he do so in 3 months, as many people are currently away. He asks if it will be possible to include not just Fellows of the Royal Society but of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, or of the Geophysical, Chemical, and Astronomical Societies. Huggins notes that, as Larmor is a member of the 'S.P.C', 'some responsibility rests upon you to see that the public money is usefully expended'. He notes that a large portion of the grant will go to the salaries of Lockyer and his assistants. He invites Larmor to town to view the radium photographs. Margaret Huggins reiterates the invite to Larmor. She is pleased with the H [hydrogen] result. She agrees that it is correct to be cautious, but feels sure that with 'suitable care' the hydrogen spectrum can be made out. She believes she can see it, and notes that she has had 'long experience in dealing with faint spectra'. She ends with excitement that the small stars 'in what is known as the trapezium in the Great Neb. in Orion' have been identified at the Yerkes Observatory. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA7376 | Huggins; Sir; William (1824 - 1910); astronomer | 1824 - 1910 |
| NA7894 | Larmor; Sir; Joseph (1857 - 1942); physicist | 1857 - 1942 |