( 314) 



12'40'". They now appear as one elongated satellite. At times a 

 trace of flie notches is apparent. 



12^'20"\ The elongation is now very nearly at right angles to the 

 direction of the motion of the satellites, and is so slight as to be 

 scarcely noticeable in this bad and unsteady definition. I think from 

 the sraallness of the elongation that nearly half satellite I must be 

 concealed behind III. In this bad definition it is not possible to say 

 which satellite is in front of the other from the appearance alone. 



In his letter Mr. Stani^ey Williams mentions the remarkable fact 

 that he too observed on 15 July 1902 the same conjunction which 

 has been described by Nijland. His instrument was a reflector of 

 GYa inch, with a power of 225. The following are the particulars 

 as communicated : 



1902 July 15, 13H5m-2. Satellites II and III are in contact. The 

 one will occult the other. See diagram uiQ-,., • 



13''52"\ The satellites form one disc, which has the slightest 

 possible elongation in a north and south direction. Owing to con- 

 fused seeing this disc always appeared more or less fuzzy, and it is 

 impossible from the appearance alone to say, which satellite is occult- 

 ing the other. 



13''56™. The combined disc is considerably elongated now. 



14''02'"-2. Satellites II and III in contact as in diagram adjoining 



14''04"\ Satellites clearly separated. The occultation must have 

 been nearly central. II is a little more south now relative to III, 

 than it was before occultation. Possibly the slight elongation noted 

 at 13'i52"^ was not real. 



The above times are Greenwich mean times. Satellite 111 was on 

 the farther side of its orbit moving east, 11 on the near side moving 

 west. As the disc of 111 is larger than that of II, the phenomenon 

 should be described as a transit of 11 over or across 111, rather than 

 an occultation of one satellite by the other. 



The arithmetical mean of 13'45"i-2 and 1412^-2 is 13i'53"i-7, which 

 16 1"-1 earlier than Nuland's observation. 



(5) For tlie numbers which follow we refer to K.mskk's "Stemm- 

 hemeT\ 4th Edition, \). 707 and following. 



In the 4'''> Vol. of his J/tr(«n«</zo<^ 6Wd.v^é^, p. 62, Tisser and, following 

 SouiLLAUT, adopts inclinations for the orbits of III and IV, which 



