44 



NATURE 



[November 9, 19 11 



to violf-nf winds, and that it should afford as clear 



l,<„i/uii ;i-, possible, especially to east, south. ..nd 



west." . 



Cti,,ili)i.l;:<. Ill'- rxlrn-'um ot ( ;mil)|-i(lL;i- in 111' 

 dirciiiciii 111 ilp' sii'- i-- ill! 1 1 .i-^in.L;, ;ind llpr. i- im 

 >uitiiral -ii.u.iiil'-r III pi.-vriii Iniilfliiii;- Iwhicli nir.iii 

 siiiolcc) ln'in luiiiL^ crcclrd on any u{ llic s'ldo nl tin 



(ihsrrv.lli II \ sill . 



I'.Ksirr.h'i^i:. I lir configuration of the site is such 

 tl,;,l il,,. I1..1 i/oii-, will he (i|)i'n and clear for all time. 



Ii ,11:1V Im- iiinli.r siat<-.l ilial whil-- at Cambridge 

 a main Vdid p is-is clos.' to the site of the observa- 

 ior\ and iraHic aloni;" it even now shakes the ground, 

 a I I'oslordown no such road can be constructed, and 

 ihcirlore no such earth tremors need be feared. 



It will therefore be seen that for the work's sake 

 it would l)e much better to place the observatory in 

 the best position at once, even if it may cost a fow 

 luindK d luiundsmore, than to locate it at Cambridge, 



At the same time that this report was presented to 



the commit 



1^ matter, cat 



Di'xrned. T\ 



t s present 



iiiniiit). 

 see what wc 

 ' tmer 



IIousi^ of rarliament the •' ' ' ' ■ "' "f 



.t)i|iM!iii. (i to advise the G<> ' 



th. s,,i.,, riiysics Commiu , -- ' 



..,\.r-, ill. piTiod iSS<)-i<j()9 (two prev 

 in |^.S.• ;ui(l iSK., ij. :dl v. ilh the p' ' 



ll).- ,,l,-.iv;>- 

 A |>i-lU^.i: 



has been done in the past. I li-: r'[K)ri 

 committee deals with proposals for its fu 

 Ih-' situation is as follow 



.\ (.overnment observatu; i'.ui thirty years 



h 1^ r,, he moved from its pi : iiion Ix^r^use the lai 



I'd for the buildings of the new Science Museum. 

 1 the question of the change of site of the observ^ 

 U,i ■rought up a thorough investigation 



m lar Physics Committee. They formula 



th, (,,iu]ii).i! which had to be secured, and proceeded 

 s. an h fur a suiialil. sit. . The conditions which they 

 ill.- (If-parfmental committee's 



down are ^iv<n iii 

 (p. 4) — roughlv , ill. 



hiijh a>; possibly ; 



Via. a. — Kosterdown. The selected site, 800 feet above sea-level, is at the centre of the half-mile and mile circles, and lies 100 feet above all tii 

 neighbouring country with the exception of the small 800-foot area to the north of east, which is on the same level as the site. The lines S.s 

 and WS are the directions of sunrise at the summer and winter solstices. The figure shows the open and clear nature of the horizon in al'. 

 directions. 



where at the present time the observing- conditions 

 are not good ; where year by year they will be getting 

 worse ; and where in a short period they w-ill become 

 intolerable for similar reasons which make the present 

 site at Kensington undesirable. The cost of such a 

 removal from Cambridge would entail an additional 

 and unnecessar}'^ expense. 



"The Times" on the Snu.nio.v. 



We gave last week two articles from the daily 

 Press — The Morning Post and The Daily Graphic- 

 giving views .IS to the committee's report. We now 

 add a Utier which appeared in Tuesday's Times from 

 an occasional correspondent : — - 



In your issue of October 27 you published the recom- 

 mendations of the departmental committee on the Solar 

 Physics Observatory. 



NO. 2193, VOL. 88] 



secure the least thickness and disturbance of air, and ^ 

 clear horizon, especially to the east, south, and west; 

 town smoke or glare at nit;ht ; proximity to London 

 facilitate communication with libraries, societies, and rr 

 of science. 



In choosing a site for a future observatory it \ 

 natural that the position should be so selected that 

 years to come the observing conditions would not 

 hampered or rendered less efficient by changes in the c! 

 surrounding area. WTien the Solar Physics Commi: 

 selected the Fosterdown site they evidently kept this con- 

 dition well in mind, for an e.xamination of it shows that 

 it is practically impossible for any buildings or road< 

 be constructed in any direction which will take away fr 

 the present efficient observing conditions. Thus the »!..<- 

 will probably be as good in 100 years' time as it is now. 



Some time ago the Solar Physics Committee was in- 

 formed that Cambridge had Iven proposed as an alternative 

 site ; the committee hisiiated to accept this, pointed out 



