292 



NATURE 



[Apjul 27, 191 1 



>i mitrr'M 



will. 



l-liiii; pr.xliii.s let* WMtC of 



compared 



coupIit)(4s. 



stock 



OVR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



M . with ihf Miioii 



I cDnjiincli'in with the Sun. 

 conjunciifin with the Moon 



11. i6h. 5> 



(Jupi; . 



12. I7h. S7m M<iiin eclipsed, partly visible at (<reen- 



wich. 

 18. oh. l6m. Uranus in conjunction witli tlie Moon 



( L'r.iniis .\ .\]' N. •. 

 22. ijh. 54ni. .\!:us in conjunction with tin- Moon 



(Mars 2" 19' N.). 

 26. 7h. iSin. Saturn in conjunction with the Moon 



(Saturn 2° 38' S.). 

 2S. i.jh. 2801. Mercury in conjunction with Saturn 



{Mercury l° 35' S.). 



29. I4h. 51111. \ ( iius in conjunction with Neptune 



(\'ciiu^ 2 5«; N ). 



30. I4h. 57m. Nrpiunc in conjunction with the Moon 



(Nep une 5' 32' S.). 

 30. i6h. 50U1. Venu« in conjunction with the Moon 

 (Venus 2" 35' S ). 



I ! », \s Mil' I I ' \l. l'lii:NOMEN.\. — Oil .1 pl.ltc 



iviiiL; Ni>, if Astrt'iiomische Nuclnuitlru 



t:i. I. .i]ij)i-,u 11 i)r<xiiunons ot fifteen photographs, f.irli of 

 whii h br.us a striking resemblance to one or other of thf 

 various cuniutary forms mado familiar to us by photo- 

 graphs of comets. But each of tin -,. images was produced 

 by passing luminous rays fhmui^li various lenses in 

 abnormal positions, and thi- author, Sit^nor I.ui^i ArinrJliMi, 

 of Tarcento, throws ^nn ihc .sui4i;i stion tliat. < oiii'.;ts may 

 oiilv !)'> optical plunoiiirni jiroducfd by the distortion of 

 solar lays passing throui^h lenticular cosmical masses of 

 meteorites. The author do^s not discuss the spectroscopic 

 side of the question, and tli' id-.i is not novel, but the 

 photographs reproduced ;ii. -o realistic as to make the 

 note of inii-ri'st. 



1 111: " .\srK(iN()Mis( in;N Jaiiki.suerichts." — Owing to ill- 

 hialih. Prof. Hi'ihcrich has been forced to hand over the 

 i(!iioi-,hi|> of till' rxti'inely useful Astronomischen Jahres- 

 Iwrithts, founded liy the late Dr. Wislicenus in 1900, to 

 ih'' .\-<trononiisrhe Rechen-Institut of Berlin. In order 

 that ilie ye.u-liook may not suffer by the change, Dr. 

 l-'rii/ Colin, difeiiiir of the Rechen-Institut, asks for the 

 ( (lopei .ilion of astronomers who publish any papers during 

 the \,-,\r. 'Ihe section on vririahli- and new stars has lieen 

 undeii,d<en by Dr. IVarlva, Observatorium Ni/'or. 

 Hoh. mia, to whom extracts coming under that he.-uiing 

 -'i.niM he sent. 



1 111 Inikinsic l.ic.iir \m> Mi 1 i;(ti\-i: 1 iMri'K a hkis or 

 All. Ml ANo IIS Satkii.i Ti;. - In a jiap. r r'lriuly puhlivh,-d 

 lii the Bulletin Astronomiqiie, Dr. Nordmann discusses the 

 intrinsic brightness and temperatures of Algol and its 

 satellite by a method depending upon a knowledge of these 

 quantities for the sun, and quite independent of his hetero- 

 chrome photometer method. In the result, he finds that 

 the surface brightness of Algol is about twenty-six times 

 that of the sun per unit area, and that the efTective 

 temperature of the star is about 13800° ; by the independent 

 photometric method he found 13300° as the temperature. 



While the general failure to detect a secondnrv minimum 

 in the light-curve of Algol siicS' sfs that t' onlv 



emits a negligible quantity of light, Di . x inn's 



results indicate that the satellite is not the obscure, cool 

 both- it is generally supposed to be, but has an effective 

 temperature and a surface brightness of the same order 



NO. 2165, VOL. 861 



• ■•• vt the sun, to which it is about equal in diamei 

 mperature found it equal to, or lest than, ^7- 

 uiid the magnitude it not greater than 5-5. I 

 he obtained a temperature of 5320**, and f- 

 which Lockyer places in the Polarian class, a i 



than the Arcturian class which includes the su .d 



5670° by his ph""""'"-- "" 'hod, but he coi ..jat 



Algol's satellite iture not very .superior to 



that of y Cygni. hows that, alone, the radia- 



tion from Algol obably suffice to maintain tlw 



surfaro of the > rned tow.nrd* the primary in a 



.si. andescnc 



! Comet.- I 



4(4, .Xpnii Mr. Keeling <liie(is .i!i>iuiuu lo an apparent 

 brightening of Halley's comet early in March. From 

 \o\.iiibr, Olio, to l-ebruary 5, the convt was becoming 

 (ainier, from ni.i^. 14J to mag. 15J, but on March 4 both 

 the visual and the photographic obs<'rvations ■' '*>" 

 ll<lwan Observatory showed it to be much I 

 sm.iller, and more sharplv defined than during the ]> 

 four mont! ' de, determined from two plai- 



i t.ikeii on li, 4-14^, but it was half a magi.! 



tude fainter again on .March X. The Helwan observations 

 show that throughout the long w-riod it has now ber-n 

 observed during this apparition it has been about a magni- 

 tude brighter visually than photographically. 



.At the last me. tin L' of the Royal .Astronomical Society 

 • d attention to the distinct type 

 comet on different dates. The 

 ' ry long, connected series, 

 suggests that the type of 

 t.ii! presented depends upon the distance from the sun 

 rather than upon the size of the comet ; when near the 

 sun the fail appears as a prolongation of the envelope* 

 armiiHl the nucleus, but when distant it takes the form 

 of si reamers radiating from a point directly behind the 

 nucleus. Investigations by Mr. aw indicate that 



at distances from 04 to 07 tli of the extended 



envelope type, from 07 to 08 they are of an intermediate 

 type, and above 08 they are of the radiating type, such as 

 seen in the case of Morehouse's comet. 



A continued ephemeris for the comet is published by Dr. 

 Ebell in No. 4492 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. 



Observations ok Jupiter. — In the April number of 

 U Astronomic M. Antoniadi describes his observations of 

 Jupiter made at the Barbier, the Meudon, and the Juvisy 

 observatories during 1910. Numerous spots, clouds, and 

 disturbances were seen and are described, and it is re- 

 marked that the suggestion, made in 1902, that the Red 

 Spot is pushed forward by the great disturbance which 

 overtakes it periodically, was confirmed by the observa- 

 tions made in July ; on July 2.1; the longitude of the Red 

 Spot was 356° instead of 358°. A splendid drawing in 

 colours is reproduced on a plate accompanying the article. 



Mr. J. II. r 

 of tail em, I 

 Helwan photograplis 

 .and from them Mr. 



GFOLOCICAL WORK IX BRITISH I.AXDSJ 



II. — In Australasia. 

 "TTIE Geological Survey of Western .Australia suffers, 

 like that of India, from the pecuniary attractions 

 offered by mining companies. It thus lost Mr. Brooking at 

 the end of 1909, but hopes to retain other efficient officers. 

 In the -Annual Progress Report for that year (issued in 

 1910), -Mr. H. P. Woodward describes an association of 

 albite and tantalite in pegmatite dykes (p. 17) which 

 recalls the famous dyke with rare black minerals at 

 Ytterby. The albite has been removed in one reef and 

 replaced by quartz, furnishing another point of similarity 

 between the Australian example and those of Swedish 

 isles. The Bulletins recently issued rightly devote much 

 attention to mining interests. We are glad to note that 

 Mr. J. Allan Thomson, lately one of the Rhodes scholars 

 from New Zealand, contributes the petrographical matter 

 to No. 33. He provides, among other points, an interest- 

 ing discussion on uralitic hornbiende (p. 132). The mining 

 memoirs, such as this on the Gascovne and Pilbara Gold- 

 fields, and No. 38 (1910), on the Irwin River Coalfield, 



' Tfie first article appealed in Natcke of Februarj- '21, 1911 (vol. 

 Ixxxv., p. 553). 



