546 



NATURE 



{April 6,, 1889 



Messrs. Schaeberle and Burckhalter Secretaries, and Mr. 

 Molira Treasurer, until March 30, when a general meeting 

 was to be held for the election of officers and Council, and 

 other necessary business. The s:at of the Society is to be 

 "in San Francisco, but only half the meetings are to be held 

 there, the other half being proposed to be held at the Lick 

 Observatory during the fine weather of the summer months. 

 A circular setting forth the objects and regulations of the new 

 Society has been widely circulated amongst those most likely to 

 be desirous of joining it. 



The late W. E. Tempel. — We greatly regret to have to 

 record the death, on March 16, of the Arcetri observer, William 

 Ernest Tempel, so well known as one of the most keen-sighted 

 and careful observers of comets and nebulae. Herr Tempel, 

 though his astronomical reputation was entirely associated with 

 Marseilles or Italy, was of German extraction, having been 

 born on December 4, 1821, at Nieder-Cunersdorf. His parents 

 were poor, and when he grew up he followed the profession of 

 lithographic artist. He settled down at Venice in 1859, after 

 several wanderings, and here first began his astronomical obser- 

 vations with a 4-inch Steinheil, which he had purchased for 

 himself. Here he discovered his first comet, and the famous 

 Merope nebula. The following year he went to Marseilles, 

 where he acted for some time as assistant at the Observatory, 

 then under the direction of M. Valz. Here he discovered six 

 minor planets, and ten comets, two of which proved to be of 

 short period, and a third was rendered not less important from 

 its being the comet connected with the Leonid meteors. The 

 outbreak of the Franco-German war obliged him to leave 

 France, and he returned to Italy. Giving up his litho- 

 graphy, and devoting himself wholly to astronomy, he acted 

 for four years as Assistant at the Brera Observatory, Milan, and 

 in 1875 he became Astronomer, and practically Director, of the 

 new Observatory at Arcetri, Florence. Five more comets were 

 discovered by him either at Brera or Arcetri, and at this latter 

 place he took up the study of nebulae, of which he made a great 

 number of exceedingly fine drawings. In latter years his health 

 obliged him to give up the work of observing, but he had already 

 won for himself a distinct and honourable position in the history 

 of the science. He was elected Foreign Associate of the Royal 

 Astronomical Society in i88x, and received the Astronomical 

 Prize of the Lyncean Academy in 1879, besides several from 

 the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna. 



The Companion of Sirius.— Mr. Burnham, observing 

 Sirius with the 36-inch telescope ■ of the Lick Observatory 

 during the past winter, finds the place of the companion as 

 under : — 



Date of Observation. Distance. Position Angle. 



1888-97 5"-27 - i3°-9- 



He was not able to see any other near companion. 



Comet 1888 e (Barnard, i83S September 2).— Herr A. 

 Berberich gives in the Astr. Nachr., No. 28S3, the results of a 

 more detailed computation of the orbit of thii comat. He has 

 formed nine normal places from observations extending from 

 1888 September 5 to 1889 February 17, and made at different 

 Observatories, and deduces the following elemsnts : — 

 T = 1889 January 31 -256389. 



a> = 340 2'9 22-71 ] 

 a = 357 25 35-00 \ Mean Eq. 1889-0. 

 J = 166 22 12-20 ) 



log<7 = 02587773. 



The ephemeris sho»vs that tha theoretical brightness of the 

 comet will undergo very little change for several months to 

 come, and it will be almost of the same brightness as it was on 

 the night of discovery by the time the anniversary of that date is 

 reached. 



Ephe7tiei'is for Berlin Midnight. 

 1889. R.A. Decl. Log r. Log A. Bright- 



h. m. .s. o , ness. 



April 6 ... 23 33 55 ... o 6-7 S. ... 0-2997 •■• 0-4582 ... 1-7 



10 ... 23 33 4 ... o IO-3N. ... 0-3043 ... 0-4548 ... 1-7 



14 ... 23 32 4 ... o 27-0 N. ... 0-3090 ... 0-4508 ... 1-7 



18 ... 23 30 53 ... o 43-2 N. ... 0-3139 ... 0-4459 ... 1-7 



22 ... 23 29 28 ... o 58-8 N. ... 0-3189 ... 0-4402 ... 1-7 



26 ... 23 27 48 ... I 13-8 N. ... 0-3240 ... 0-4337 .. 1-8 



30 ... 23 25 51 ... I 28-1 N. ... 0-3292 ... 0-4264 ... 1-8 



The brightness at discovery is taken as unity. 



Comet 1888/ (Barnard, 1888 October 30).— The follow- 

 ing ephemeris for Berlin midnight for this comet is by Dr. R. 

 Spitaler, Astr. Nachr., No. 2875 :— 



1889. R.A. Decl. Log r. Log A. Bright- 



h. m. s. o , ness. 



April6 ... 9 21 22 ... 37 I4-3N. ... 0-4830 ... 0-4015 ... 0-15 



10 ... 9 22 II ... 37 25-5 N 0-4886 ... 0-4171 ... 0-14 



14 ... 9 23 22 ... 37 33'4N. ... 0-4941 ... 0-4323 ... 0-12 

 18 ... 9 24 52 ... 37 38-5 N. ... 0-4995 ••• 0-4472 ... o-ii 

 22 ... 9 26 42 ... 37 41'oN. ... 0-5049 ... 0-4616 ... o-io 



The brightness at discovery is taken as unity. 



Saturn's Ring. — Mr. Keeler, writing to Gould's Astro- 

 nomical yournal under date March 4, states that the very fine 

 division on the outer ring of Saturn, detected with the 36-inch 

 refractor early in 1888, has been recently seen again under 

 specially favourable circumstances. The new division was 

 about one-sixth of the breadth of ring A from its outer edge, 

 and appeared as a distinct dark line of exceeding fineness. A 

 dark shading extended inwards from the new division almost to 

 the inner edge of the ring. The brightest part of the ring was 

 the narrow strip lying outside the new division, and between it 

 and the outer edge. The Lick observers consider this marking 

 a permanent feature of the planet, but one which can only be 

 observed with exceptional instrumental and atmospheric ad- 

 vantages. The shadow of the planet on the ring was carefully 

 watched, but no deformation was detected. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 



WEEK 1889 APRIL 7-13, 



/T7OR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 



^ ■*■ Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 



is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on April 7 

 Sun rises, 5h. 23m. ; souths, I2h. 2m. 47s.; sets. l8h. 41m. : 

 right asc. on meridian, ih. 5'9aa. ; decl. 7° i' N. Sidereal 

 Time at Sunset, 7h. 46m. 

 Moon (at First Quarter on April 8, I4h.) rises, gh. 17m. ; 

 souths, I7h. 34m.; sets, ih. 53m.*: right asc. on meridian, 

 6h. 38-5m. ; decl. 22° 30' N. 



Right asc. and declination 

 Planet. Rises. Souths. Sets. on meridian. 



h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. © / 



Mercury.. 5 8 ... 11 2 ... 16 56 ... o 5-5 ... I 57 S. 

 Venus ... 5 35 ... 13 54 ... 22 13 ... 2 58-6 ... 23 43 N. 

 Mars ... 5 58 ... 13 14 ... 20 30 ... 2 18-0 ... 13 49 N. 

 Jupiter ... I 35 ... 5 31 ... 9 27 ... 18 33-8 ... 22 56 S. 

 Saturn ... 12 20 ... 20 o ... 3 40*... 9 5-1 ... 17 55 N. 

 Uranus... 18 46*... o 13 ... 5 40 ... 13 15-1 ... 7 15 S. 

 Neptune.. 7 5 .. 14 50 ... 22 35 ... 3 54-5 ... 18 40 N. 

 * Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening and the setting 

 that of the following morning. 

 April. h. 



9 ... 13 ... Venus stationary. 



10 ... 13 ... Saturn in conjunction with and 1° 9' south 

 of the Moon. 



Saturn, April 7. — Outer major axis of outer ring = 43"'i : 

 outer minor axis of outer ring = 12" -3 : southern surface visible. 



Star. 



Variable Stars. 

 Decl. 



R.A. 



h, m. o / h. m, 



U Cephei o 52-5 ... 81 17 N. ... Apr. 11, 3 34 »» 



R Lyncis 6 52-2 ... 55 29 N. ... ,,9, M ■ 



U Bootis 14 49-2 ... 18 9 N. ... „ 10, M 



5 Librae 14 55-1 ... 858. ... ,, 9> i 34 »' 



U Coronse 15 137 ... 32 3 N. ... ,, 11, 2 13 w 



W Scorpii 16 5-3 ... 19 51 S. ... ,, 10, M 



R Ursoe Minoris ... 16 31-5 ... 72 30 N. ... ,, 11, m 



U Ophiuchi 17 10-9 ... i 20 N. ... „ 10, 2 32 m 



and at intervals of 20 8 



R Scuti 1841-6... 5 50 S. ...Apr. 8, w 



S Delphini 20 38-0 ... 16 41 N. ... ,, 13, m 



T Vulpeculse ... 20 46-8 ... 27 50 N. ... ,, 10, 22 o in 



,, 12, o o M 



W Cygni 21 31-9 ... 44 53 N , 8, m 



5 Cephei 22 25*1 ... 57 51 N. ... ,, 12, i o m 



M signi fies maximum ; m minimum. 



