December 3, 1914] 



NATURE 



\ll 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Comet News. — A postcard from the Central Bureau 

 at Copenhagen gives the elements and ephemeris of 

 comet 19146 (Campbell), or comet 1914^ (Lunt). The 

 comet is faint, being of about the eleventh magni- 

 tude, but the following ephemeris, taken from the 

 above, may be useful for those observers equipped 

 with large telescopes : — 



Dec, .-, 



9 

 II 



Mag. 



109 



1 1-4 



Delavan's comet (19 13/), now to be observed before 

 dawn, has the following positions continued from the 

 same source as stated last week : — 



Dec. :; 



A Centr.al Bureau for Transmission of Astro- 

 nomical News. — In this column for October 15 atten- 

 tion was directed to the fact that in consequence of 

 the war there was no central bureau for transmission 

 of astronomical news. A circular has now come to 

 hand to the effect that Prof. Elis Stromgren, of the 

 Copenhagen Observatory, has taken over the manage- 

 ment of the bureau. The circular, dated November 3, 

 reads as follows : — " I have the honour herewith to 

 inform you that according to an agreement made 

 between Prof. Kobold, of Kiel, as the publisher of the 

 Astronomische Nachrichten, and myself, the manage- 

 ment of the ' Zentralst^lle fiir Astronomische Tele- 

 gramme ' during the present war has been passed 

 over to me. Consequently, I ask you to let communi- 

 cations for the Zentralstelle be addressed to me until 

 further notice." 



The Recent Eclipse Expedition from Meudon. — 

 M. Deslandres records in the Comptes rendus for 

 November 16 (vol. clix.. No. 20), a brief account of 

 the expedition sent by the Meudon Observatory to 

 observe the late total solar eclipse at Stromsund, in 

 Sweden, the observers being M. Bosler, of the 

 Meudon Observatory, and M. Block, of the Lund 

 Observatory. They were equipped with an equatorial 

 of 8-in. aperture, carrying two spectrographs and a 

 photographic camera with coloured screens ; the 

 spectrographs were so arranged to record the regions 

 A780 to 500 and A500 to 360 separately. While the 

 results given are considered only as preliminary, it is 

 mentioned that the first spectrograph has recorded 

 the existence of a new, intense, and sharp radiation 

 superposed on the continuous spectrum of the corona. 

 The wave-length is given as A637-5. This red ray, 

 which, as is stated, is not chromospheric or has not 

 been recorded as such, is attributed to the corona. 

 On the other hand, the ordinary coronal radiation, 

 the green radiation at A530, is stated to be absent 

 from the plate. M. Deslandres is inclined to con- 

 clude that this new radiation is special to epochs of 

 minimum of solar activity. 



Spectra of Nov^e at a Very Late Stage. — In this 

 column for June of last year (vol. xci., p. 382) a brief 

 account was given of Prof. Barnard's observations in 



NO. 2353, VOL. 94] 



that year of the magnitudes of the new stars which 

 had been discovered from time to time. These stars 

 had passed outside the reach of spectroscopic observa- 

 tion, so little was known about their physical condi- 

 tion. The general observed routine of the sequence of 

 spectra of nova indicated that they, in their last 

 stages, presented a nebular spectrum, the most pro- 

 minent line being that at A5007. Hartmann, how- 

 ever, in 1907 directed attention to the case of Nova 

 Persei (1901) the spectrum of which in its later stages 

 no longer exhibited the chief nebular lines, but pre- 

 sented a spectrum identical with that of the Wolf- 

 Rayet star B.D. + 35° 4001. The question whether all 

 novae behave in a manner like Nova Persei becomes 

 of great importance, because it may help to elucidate 

 any explanation of the origin of novae generally. 

 In this connection the 6o-in. reflector of the Mount 

 Wilson Observatory, combined with a slit spectroscope 

 carrying a 60° prism, and collimator and camera 

 lenses of about 16 cm. focal length, has been put to 

 a useful purpose by investigating the spectra of faint 

 novae. In the Astronomical Journal for October 

 (vol xl.. No. 3, p. 294) Messrs. W. S. Adams and 

 F, G. Pease describe the results of their photographic 

 research, which they carried out at the end of last 

 and the beginning of this year, in connection with 

 four faint novae. The following table gives the names 

 of the new stars in question, their magnitude, the 

 durations of exposure, and the date : — 



Nova AurigK of 1891 .., 

 Nova Persei of 1901 ... 

 Nova Lacertse of 1910.. 

 Nova Geminorum No. 2 

 of 1912 



Magni- 

 tuae 



14 



12-4 

 125 



ID 



Duration of 



exposure 



Hours 



16 



8 



Date 



II-5 



1914 March 18-22 

 191 3 November 27 

 1 913 October 29-31 



1914 February 22 



The results of the investigation may be summed up 

 as follows : — The authors find that the spectra of 

 Nova Aurigas and Nova Persei are essentially identical 

 with the spectra of some of the Wolf-Rayet stars, as 

 Hartmann noted in the case of Nova Persei. Nova 

 Lacertae and Nova Geminorum are not yet old enough 

 to have reached the stage when the chief nebular lines 

 disappear, so that they cannot yet exhibit the per- 

 manent spectrum of spent novae. It is suggested that 

 the permanent spectrum of novae, taken in connection 

 with their agreement with some of the Wolf Rayet 

 stars, and the well-known agreement of distribution 

 relative to the Milky Way of both novae and Wolf- 

 Rayet stars, point to a close connection between some 

 of the latter and temporary stars in the later stages 

 of their history. The hypothesis that the phenomenon 

 of a temporary star is due to a star entering a nebula 

 is deserving of some attention, since the disappearance 

 of the chief nebula lines is coincident with the emerg- 

 ence of the stars from the nebula. 



The Antwerp " G.azette Astronomique." — It is pro- 

 posed to recommence the publication of the Gazette 

 Astronomique formerly issued by the Astronomical 

 Society of Antwerp. The occupation of that town bv 

 the Germans occasioned the temporary suspension of 

 the Gazette, and many of its supporters have now 

 found hospitable homes in this country'. A number 

 of English astronomers, on the initiative of Mrs. 

 Fiammetta Wilson, of Bexley Heath, are interesting 

 themselves in the matter by financial assistance and 

 the promise of literary contributions. It is intended 

 to restart the Gazette Astronomique early in January 

 in the French and English languages. The minimum 

 subscription will be five shillings annually, but 

 English astronomers who are able and willing to sub- 

 scribe more liberally may send half-a-guinea or a 

 guinea as a means of more effectively aiding their 



