In an old book - Easy Guide to the Constellations by Gall, published
1900, Gall and Inglis, London - is the statement, "It is in the
direction of Hercules that the Sun is at present slowly travelling in
his great orbit, probably round the Pleiades." Considering the apex of
the Sun's way and that the Pleiades are in the vicinity of the galactic
anti-center and that our true position in the galaxy as determined by
Shapley was still 17 years in the future, this conjecture from 1900 is
not as outlandish as it may first seem to the present-day reader. My
question for the group: Has anyone come across this idea of the Sun
orbiting the Pleiades in other books from that era or from readings in
astronomical history? The idea must have been fairly common-place at the
time as to appear in a popular astronomy book, but this is the first
time I've come across it. Thanks, in advance, for your input.