ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PROGRESS. 



41 



" 3. The number of stars decreases rapidly 

 on one side of the gap, and increases on the 

 other side of the gap. 1 ' 



Calling the stars with periods less than 71 

 days Class I, and those on the other side of 

 the gap (that is to say, with periods greater 

 than 135 days) Class II, Mr. Espin has found, 

 from a careful consideration of the phenomena 

 of the variable stars in Class I, that when the 

 variation is small, or when the variable at its 

 maximum is bright, the period is generally 

 short. These facts, he remarks, may be of 

 service in observing stars suspected of varia- 

 tion. 



NEW PLANETARY NEBULJE. The " Observa- 

 tory," for October and November, gives the 

 positions of twelve small planetary nebulas re- 

 cently discovered by Professor Pickering. It 

 is a remarkable fact in regard to these objects 

 that they are all found in or near the Milky 

 Way. 



OBSEKVATORIES. WASIIBURN OBSERVATORY 

 OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. The first 

 volume of the publications of this observatory 

 was issued in October, 1882, by the director, 

 Professor Edward S. Holden. It contains a 

 description of the observatory buildings and 

 instruments ; a catalogue of 195 stars, reduced 

 by Mr. G. C. Comstock, assistant in the Wash- 

 burn Observatory ; reduction tables for the 

 latitude of Madison ; a list of 27 new nebulaa 

 discovered in the zone observations at the 

 Washburn Observatory, from April 23 to Sep- 

 tember 30, 1881 ; a list of 60 new. double stars 

 discovered in the zone observations by Pro- 

 fessor Holden ; a list of 88 new double stars 

 discovered by Mr. S. W. Burnham ; measures 

 by Mr. Burnham of 152 selected double stars ; 

 observations of 84 red stars, and a list of 27 

 new red stars ; and observations and drawings 

 of the great comet of 1881. 



THE LEANDER MoCoRMioK OBSERVATORY OF 

 THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. Professor Or- 

 mond Stone, late of Cincinnati, having been 

 appointed director of this observatory, com- 

 menced the duties of his new position in the 

 summer of 1882. The great refracting tele- 

 scope, made by Messrs. Alvan Clark and Sons, 

 of Cambridge, Mass., for Mr. McCormick a few 

 years since, has been presented by that gentle- 

 man to the University of Virginia. This in- 

 strument, which cost $50,000, is not surpassed 

 in this country, and is equaled only by the 26- 

 inch refractor of the Naval Observatory at 

 Washington. It is understood also that the 

 chair of Astronomy has been liberally endowed 

 by the friends of the university. From the 

 great power of the instrument, its favorable 

 position, and the recognized ability of Professor 

 Stone, astronomers may anticipate important 

 results. 



THE PRINCETON TELESCOPE. This instru- 

 ment, now mounted and ready for use, ranks 

 as the second in magnitude of the great re- 

 fracting telescopes in the United States. Its 

 object-glass is twenty-three inches in diameter 



only three inches less than that of the great 

 equatorial of the Naval Observatory at Wash- 

 ington. This glass is peculiar in its form, con- 

 sisting of two lenses separated by an interval 

 of about seven inches. The free circulation 

 of air through this vacant space will diminish 

 the disturbance resulting from a change of 

 temperature. The instrument, which is pro- 

 vided with all necessary appliances, will be 

 chiefly used by Professor Young, the distin- 

 guished director, in the department of stellar 

 spectroscopy. The spectroscope, the most 

 powerful of its kind ever constructed, was 

 made by Hilger, of London, under the super- 

 vision of the Astronomer Royal. The whole 

 cost of the equatorial and spectroscope was 

 $26,000. 



In the summer of 1882 the Yale College 

 Observatory received its new heliometer, re- 

 garded as the most perfect micrometric appa- 

 ratus in either Europe or America. This in- 

 strument, as well as the equatorial recently 

 purchased, was expected to be in readiness for 

 observing the transit of Venus on December 

 6th. The Lick Observatory, on Mount Hamil- 

 ton, California, has received a sidereal clock 

 from Hohwu, of Amsterdam, and the observ- 

 atory buildings are in the process of erec- 

 tion. The Warner Observatory, Rochester, N. 

 Y., was completed in 1882. Its new telescope, 

 a sixteen-inch refractor, has been received and 

 mounted. In the hands of Dr. Swift, the di- 

 rector, it may be expected to perform good 

 service. 



NEW ASTRONOMICAL JOURNALS. Professor 

 William W. Payne, director of the observatory 

 at Northfield, Minn., has commenced the pub- 

 lication of a new astronomical periodical en- 

 titled "The Sidereal Messenger." The jour- 

 nal is issued monthly, except for July and 

 August. It is popular rather than technical, 

 giving the results of observation and research 

 both in Europe and America. 



M. Flammarion, of Paris, well known for 

 his numerous works on popular astronomy, 

 commenced the publication of a new journal 

 under the title of "L'Astronomie," in March, 

 1882. It is a monthly review of astronomy, 

 meteorology, and physiography, each number 

 containing forty pages, large quarto, with nu- 

 merous woodcuts. The first number contains 

 an interesting account of the Paris Observa- 

 tory. 



ASTRONOMICAL PRIZES. The gold medal of 

 the Royal Astronomical Society of London was 

 awarded in February, 1882, to Dr. David Gill, 

 Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 for his heliometric observations of Mars at 

 ascension, and for his discussion of the re- 

 sults. The president, J. R. Hind, Esq., laid 

 before the society the ground on which this 

 award had been founded. The Lalande prize of 

 the French Academy of Sciences was awarded 

 to Dr. Lewis Swift, Director of the Warner 

 Observatory, Rochester, N. Y., for his dis- 

 covery of seven comets in four years, one of 



