… It seeks to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space— what they are, rather than where they are | |
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Far from being bodies with physical properties to be investigated, the stars were seen as markers measured in order to construct an accurate, detailed and precise background against which solar, lunar and planetary motions could be charted, primarily for terrestrial applications | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
"On the radiative equilibrium of the stars".
10.