Meteorology. 177 



Long, of Node, - - 171° 12' ll'Ms 



Inclination of her orbit to the ecliptic, - 13 3 18 51 



Long, of half the greater axis of her orbit, . 0.4264129 



METEOROLOGY. 



5. Captain Katers account of the luminous Zone of the Z9th September, 

 — At Chesfield Lodge, near Stevenage, Professor Moll and Captain Kater 

 observed at 8'^ 35' a luminous belt stretching from the eastern to the 

 western horizon. Its light was uniform, and greater than that of the 

 Milky Way, and its breadth throughout was 3° 45'; the stars were distinctly 

 seen through it. It covered the Pleiades, and seemed equidistant from « 

 Arietis and y Andromedse. It passed between a Aquilae and * Lyrae, at 

 the distance from « Aquilae of one- third or two-fifths of the distance be- 

 tween the stars. Its edges were upon /S and y Ophiuchi lower down, near 

 the western horizon. It was remarkably inflected to the N. and was soon 

 lost in the clouds. It seems to have occupied nearly a great circle, meet- 

 ing the horizon about the E. N. E. and W. by S. points. The height of the 

 centre of the most elevated part, appears to have been about 72°, so that it 

 must have been nearly in the plane of the dipping-needle, and nearly at 

 right angles to the magnetic meridian. It had no coruscations. At 8** 42' 

 mean time, the belt began to fade slowly from the E. to the W., and at 

 9h 22' no trace of it was perceptible. There was much wind from the 

 S. E. The barometer was 29.12 inches, and the thermometer 59°. Ches- 

 field Lodge is about 43" of time west of Greenwich, and in lat. 51° 56' 

 15" north. 



6. Observations on the Luminous Arch at Islay-House, Islay. — On Mon- 

 day the 15th of September this interesting phenomenon was seen at Islay- 

 House. It appeared at ten minutes before nine o'clock, and crossed the 

 heavens in the form of a luminous arch, stretching from the south-east to 

 the north-west. It was pointed at each end, and broad at the centre, the 

 south-eastern extremity being rather fainter than that observed to the 

 south-west. Small radiations appeared to issue from it at the south-east ; 

 and the middle of the arch, where it was broadest, had an inclination to 

 the west, and was not so bright as the two ends. The south-eastern part 

 extended about one-third of the horizon beyond the Pleiades. 



The arch remained stationary. When first seen, it was to the westward 

 of the Pleiades. At half-past ten it was much fainter, and the Pleiades 

 were considerably to the westward of the Arch. 



In the south-east part of the horizon, there was seen at the same time a 

 most brilliant Aurora, changing from ro^e-colour to yellow and pale green. 



7. Observations on the Luminous Arch near Edinburgh. — On the even- 

 ing of the 15th September, the Aurora Borealis began about 9** p. m. A 

 ray of light stretched from the western horizon with great brilliancy to- 

 wards the zenith, and formed an arch of great beauty, perhaps not inferior 

 to that of the 19th March 1825. About 9*^ 17' mean time it was in its 

 greatest beauty, and then rose from the constellation Serpens in the west, 



VOL. I. NO. I. JAN. 1829. M 



