460 



NATURE 



[December 24, 1914 



lines. The variable is best situated for observation in 

 the earlier part of the evening, and the following is 

 its position : — 



R.A. 



2h. i^m. 



Dec. 



3° 21' 



The Antwkkp Astronomical Society. ^ — In this 

 column references have been taken from time to time 

 from the Gazette Astroiwmiqiie, which was a monthly 

 bulletin of the Antwerp Astronomical Societ}-. The 

 last issue (No. 8i) appeared in the beginning of 

 September, when the investment of Antwerp had 

 alread)' commenced. A certain number of the mem- 

 bers of this society have taken refuge in this country, 

 and many of their British friends have suggested the 

 idea of continuing the publication of this bulletin in 

 London. Many of the latter have already made an 

 •effort to solve the financial part of the scheme, and 

 it is due to their initiative that (ieneral J. Lerissen- 

 ^president) and M. Felix de Roy (hon. sec), on behalf 

 •of the societv, have issued a circular asking others 

 .to contribute. If sufficient support is forthcoming it 

 it proposed to issue the bulletin in both French and 

 English. It will contain, besides notes of observa- 

 tions and of scientific articles, ephemeral notes, re- 

 views of publications likely to interest amateurs, and 

 place at their disposal the working data provided by 

 professional astronomers. 1 hose wishing to help 

 may obtain further information from the hon. secre- 

 tary at 29 Stamford Street, London, S.E. 



So.ME Results of the Recent Eclipse Expeditions. 

 — Last week reference was made to the results of the 

 Spanish eclipse expedition to the Crimea during 

 August last, and attention was directed to a red 

 coronal radiation at A 637387, which was discovered 

 by M. Carrasco on his photographic plates. This 

 radiation is a new addition to the spectrum of the 

 corona, and, like some other coronal radiations, seems 

 to vary in intensity with the state of solar, activity at 

 the time of eclipses. M. Iniguez, the director of the 

 Madrid Observatory, has just forwarded an enlarge- 

 ment (paper) of the region, between Ha and D3, the 

 original of which was taken 13 sec. after second con- 

 tact, and exposed for 10 sec. This print shows in the 

 first place the sharpness of the images of the arcs, 

 and in the second the clear and prominent arc due 

 to the new coronal radiation. The wave-length is 

 given as 637387 ±004 A. units. In the Cotnptes 

 rendus (vol. clix.. No. 23) for December 7 M. Des- 

 landres presents a communication by MM. J. Bosler 

 and H. G. Block with reference to the results of the 

 Meudon eclipse expedition to Stromsund (Sweden). 

 The note is restricted to the results of one part of 

 their programme, namely, the spectrum of the corona. 

 The continuous spectrum of the corona was perfectly 

 regular, and indicated no signs of flutings or Fraun- 

 hofer lines, but only gradations due to the sensitive- 

 ness of the photographic plate. The w-ell-known 

 green radiation at A 53037 was entirely absent. In 

 the red part of the spectrum a brilliant and intense 

 new radiation appeared. The wave-length is given 

 as 63745 A. units (to 02 A.L^ nearly), and agrees 

 well with that determined by the Spanish observers. 



Geminid Meteoric Shower, 1914. — Mr. Denning 

 writes : — " The weather greatly interfered with observa- 

 tions this vear. The sky was, however, favourable 

 on December 8, and a watch was kept at Bristol, but 

 there were few Geminids. These exhibited a well- 

 defined radiant at 106° + 31°. The following nights 

 were cloudy and wet, but on December 12 the sky 

 cleared for a few minutes about 10.35, '''"<i ^'^" 

 NO. 2356, VOL. 94] 



Geminids were noticed. Later, through openings in 

 the clouds, further meteors were recorded, all from 

 the same shower. There were two very distinct 

 radiants, viz., at 109° -I- 33° and 119° + 32° They 

 appeared to be about equally active. In 1885 and 

 1892 the same pair of radiants were very rich, and 

 seemed to prove that the shower is a double one. 

 From a comparison of all my observations of the chief 

 system near a Geminorum I conclude the radiant i> 

 distinctly a moving one like the Perseids. It seems 

 visible during three weeks from November 25 tci 

 December '16, with a maximum on about December 

 12. This year I believe the display to have been a 

 very rich one on that date, giving nearly forty meteors 

 an hour, and I await observations from places where 

 atmospheric conditions were more favourable than at 

 Bristol. My positions for the radiant are as follow 

 near the maximum : — 



" From my observations in 1885 there is strong" 

 evidence that the companion shower at about 119° + 32° 

 also moves eastwards, but more data are required. 

 Our weather is rarely suitable at this period of the 

 year." 



Kash.mir as a Site for a Solar Observatory. — Bul- 

 letin No. 42 of the Kodaikanal Observatory contain> 

 a very interesting report by Mr. J. Evershed on the 

 seeing condition as studied by him in the valley of 

 Kashmir. It may be remembered that last year he 

 reported very favourably about this vallej" for solar 

 observations during the months of August and 

 October, and, contrary to all previous experience in 

 other localities, he noticed that the definition of the 

 sun was found to be of the best quality throughout 

 the day and on all days that observations were made, 

 there being apparently no marked variations depend- 

 ing on the height of the sun above the horizon, nor 

 upon the tj-pe of weather prevailing. In order to 

 test the conditions in this locality during other months 

 of the year, and to inake more critical observations 

 both photographic and visual with larger instruments, 

 an expedition was sanctioned by Government in 

 April of the present year, and this report sums up 

 the results obtained during the months of May, 

 June, and July. A scheme of operations was ar- 

 ranged so that comparisons at Kashmir could be 

 made with the experiences at Kodaikanal. For a 

 detailed account of the results the reader must be 

 referred to Mr. Evershed's report, but the following 

 brief statement of the main result is as follows : — 

 Taking a scale of seeing as very bad definition i, 

 bad 2, fairly good 3, good 4, and so perfect that no 

 tremors can be perceived in the 8-in. solar image 

 projected on a screen attached to a portable instru- 

 ment as 5, then it may be stated approximately that 

 the mean seeing at Kodaikanal for the whole year 

 would hardly reach 2, whilst that in Kashmir valley 

 would probably exceed 39. The number of days when 

 the seeing ranged between 4 and 5 would be very 

 much larger in Kashmir than in Kodaikanal. The 

 photographic work was found entirely to confirm the 

 visual observation, and, as he states, " indicates the 

 enormous possibilities of progress in the studv of 

 solar phvsics which an observing station in Kashmir 

 Vallev would present." As the chief factor in solar 

 research is the quality of the "seeing," the import- 

 ance of the above conclusion cannot be put aside. 



