ASTRONOMY. 



185 



remarked in tlie bright part a condensation wliicli bad previously es- 

 caped notice. 



By "diametre equatorial" we presume M. Perrotin refers to the di- 

 ameter in the plane of the orbits of the satellites. 



Uranus. — In a note communicated to the Academy of Sciences, Paris, 

 on June 9, MM. Henry stated that, observing on very line nights with 

 the ISinch refractor, they have satisfied themselves of the existence of 

 two gray belts, straight and parallel, and placed almost symmetrically 

 with respect to the center of the disk of Uranus, and that, hy measures 

 of their direction, they have found an inclination of about 41^ to the 

 orbits of the satellites ; they assume that the planet's equator is in the 

 direction of the belts. *" 



THE MINOR PLANETS. 



That part of the Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbueh for 1887 containing 

 its specialty, the ephemerides of the small planets for 1885, has been 

 issued in advance of the publication of the volume. There are approxi- 

 mate places for every twentieth day of 237 out of the 244 now known, 

 with accurately calculated opposition ephemerides of 19. The most re- 

 liable elements of the orbits of these bodies to ISTo. 237, inclusive, are 

 appended. Aethra continues at a distance of less than 1.0 from the 

 earth until February 11, and if the orbit had been moie closely deter- 

 mined, would have aftbrded a favorable opportunity of applying the 

 method of finding the solar parallax suggested by Professor Galle, as 

 the planet has been a 9th magnitude at this apposition. JEva, Stcphenia, 

 and Agathe also approach the earth during the present year, within her 

 mean distance from the sun ; on August 10 Stephenia will be at a dis- 

 tance of only 0.7G, magnitude 11^. 



^tlira has the least perihelion distance of the group, 1.C04, while 

 A^idromache, with considerable eccentricity, has the greatest aphelion 

 distance, 4.726 ; so that the orbits of 244 planets extend over a space of 

 3.122, the earth's mean distance from the being taken as unity. The 

 longest period of revolution occurs in the case of Hilda; it is yet doubt- 

 ful which has the shortest period ; No. 149, Medusa, is credited with it at 

 present, but until his member of the group has been reobserved the 

 point is perhaps doubtful. The most recently detected planet appears 

 to have the shortest revolution next to Medusa judging from the ele- 

 ments in the last circular of the Berliner Jahrbueh. (Nature.) 



Asteroids discovered in 1884. 



