ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PBOGRESS. 



47 



should m.ik" application to the Government 



le lining out of the expediti tin- ex- 



of which would amount to 35,000 llurins 

 "I francs). Tliis has been granted, and 

 \l>cdltion will sail equipped for physical 

 iiini natural history observations. Nature. 



I Veto Cornet. Professor Winnecke, on the 



nights of the 29th and 30th of May, at Carlsruho, 



vered a new telescopic comet. Its posi- 



\;ts us follows: M. T., at Carlsruhe, 



14" 13" 1 34'. R. A., 0" 5 9.55'. Dccl. + 28 52' 



18". Nogd found for the same comet at the 



Leipslct Miservatory.M. T. atLepsic, 13 h 2 ra 28.5*. 



K. A., O h 50 n 4.09'. 'Decl. + 28 63' 17.4". 



Dr. Peters, director of the Litchfield As- 

 tronomical Observatory, at Clinton, N. Y, 

 Writes under date of June 30th: 



"The comet discovered by Professor TVin- 

 necko was observed here last night, now pass- 

 ing, with a southerly motion, through the 

 constellation of Pisces. It is a bright object, 

 and may bo seen even in smaller telescopes. 

 Approaching both sun and earth, it is still on 



the increase, though remaining low above the 

 eastern horizon in the morning hour. <>n tin- 

 whole, globular in shape, there is a dilation or 

 expansion on the side from the sun, which 

 inakrx t!u- form more like that of an egg. But 

 IIHI--I remarkable appears the internal structure 

 of the cornet. Without a distinct stellar centre, 

 thciv is a concentration of light exacfly as in 

 certain nebulas, that have been found to con- 

 sist of numberless small stars. The comet 

 made upon my eye precisely the same impres- 

 sion as one of those nebulas, when on the 

 point of resolvability a sort of twinkling of 

 countless bright dots. Its low altitude, how- 

 ever, at the break of day, forbade to use with 

 advantage a higher power for separating the 

 components. Since wo know now the con- 

 nection of comets with meteoric uhowers, the 

 observation made seems interesting." 



Asteroids. Dr. C. II. F. Peters, of Hamilton 

 College, Clinton, N. Y., discovered the lllth 

 planet, August 14th. His first observation was 

 as follows : 



1870. August 14. 

 ' ? 15. 



h. in. 8. 



12 58 31 H. C. m. t. 

 9 5 40 " " 



A. E. - 



h. m. g. 

 21 25 20.21 

 21 24 32.88 



Dccl. 13 10 5.4 



13 12 29.G 



10 comp. 

 5 " 



The planet is of about 11$ magnitude. It 

 has received the name of Ate. 

 September 19th Dr. Peters discovered an- 



1S70. 



September 19. 



" 20. 



21. 



other asteroid (planet, 112), his observations 

 upon which are thus communicated to the 

 American Journal of Science: 



l[:iin. ColL m. t. 

 h. m. B. 

 15 80 

 14 57 28 

 10 48 22 



App. A. E. 

 h. in. R. 

 1 2 35 

 1 1 51.54 

 1 1 12.24 



App. Docl. 



+ 10 16 

 + 10 13 30.8 

 + 10 10 58.9 



It is of the llth magnitude, and designated 

 Iphigenia. 



The planet Lydia (No. 110), discovered by 

 M. Borelly at the Marseilles Observatory on 

 the 19th of April, had, at 10 h 33". 13' mean Mar- 

 seilles time, the following position : Right as- 

 cension 12 k 2 m 39'.22 ; north declination 6 50' 

 88".8. Its horary motion has been deter- 

 mined as follows : In right ascension 1'.77, 

 in declination +2".20; its magnitude is be- 

 tween 12 and 13. M. Borelly had previously 

 discovered two planets, bearing the numbers 

 91 and 99 in the system of asteroids revolving 

 between Mars and Jupiter. These two planets 

 had long been nameless, in consequence of the 

 persistent refusal of M. Le Verrier to permit 

 the astronomers under his jurisdiction to be- 

 stow any name upon them. The 91st has now 

 received the name of Egina, the 99th that of 



Dike. 



The planet which bears the number 109 in 

 the scries of asteroids, and which was dis- 

 covered at Clinton by Dr. C. II. F. Peters, 

 October 9, 1869, has received the name of 

 Felicitas. 



Spectra of Uranus and Neptune. Father 

 Secchi, in the course of his spectroscopic ob- 

 servations on Uranus, has found absorption 

 bands different from those met with in the solar 

 atmosphere. In the spectrum of Neptune he 

 discovers three principal bands ; one is inter- 



(approx. bv estimation). 

 10 comp. W. Oh 1079. 

 10 coinp. Sohj. 374. 



S3cted between the green and the yellow, and 

 another in the blue. The spectrum accords 

 with the green color of the planet. 



The Period of Algol. Mr. Penrose, of Eng- 

 land, has lately observed the epochs when the 

 star Algol has been at the minimum of bright- 

 ness. He concludes that the period of 

 2.86727 degs., which has been assigned to the 

 variation of this remarkable star, should bo 

 corrected to read 2.867234 degs. The first- 

 named period was estimated from an epoch 

 of the star for January 3, 1844, in connection 

 with which Sir John Herschel remarked that a 

 change of period was in progress, and that 

 observed discrepancy may thus be accounted 

 for. 



The Star Eta Argils. Spectroscopic obser- 

 vations upon this variable with the aid of the 

 great Grubb reflector, at the Melbourne Ob- 

 servatory, show that a large part of its light 

 i# due to hydrogen flames. This star, now 

 scarcely visible to the naked eye, was of the 

 first magnitude when studied by Sir John 

 Herschel, and was then surrounded by light 

 belonging to the great nebula in Argo. At 

 present the space around it is dark. A scien- 

 tific writer in the London Daily Netcs, com- 

 menting on the discovery at Melbourne, re- 

 marks : 



" Is it not conceivable that the brightness of 

 the star may be intimately associated with the 



