Maboh, 1903.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



71 



OccuLTATiONs. — The followinc; are among the principal 

 occultations visible at Greenwich : — 



The Planets.— Mercurj is visible for the first few- 

 days of the month as a morning star in Capricornus. He 

 is not favoural^ly placed, and rises at the beginning of the 

 month only about one hour in advance of the sun. 



Venus now sliines brilliantly in the western sky, and 

 since the planet can be seen before it is dark she is avail- 

 able for observation for a considerable time. On the 1st 

 she sets about 7.40 p.m., or 2 hours after the sun, and on 

 the 31st at 9.1.5 p.m., or 2| hours after sunset. The 

 apparent diameter of the disc is increasing ; at the middle 

 of the month it is 11"'4, whilst 0'9 of the disc is illuminated. 



Mars is now at its best for easy observation, as the 

 planet is in opposition to the sun on the 29tli. The present 

 opposition is more favourable than that of 1901, in that 

 we apprtvach nearer to the planet by some 3| millions of 

 miles, tlir ajipareat diameter of the planet being 14"'.57 

 as compared with 14"'17 at the last opposition. As will 

 be seen from the appended diagram, the present opposition 

 is not one of the most favourable, since the distance of the 

 planet from the earth is 59 millions of miles, whilst under 

 the best conditions the distance is only 35 million miles. 



Opp.jsitioti i)f .\Iar.^, 1 1)03. 



The latitude of the planet's centre is + 22°, thus the north 

 polar cap is presented to us, and it is winter in the 

 Martian southern hemisphere. On the 1st the planet 

 rises at 8.30 p.m., and on the 31st, at S.t.') p.m. The planet 

 is describing a retrograd(- or westerly jiath in Virgo, and 

 on the 22nd of the month will again p.iss cfose to 

 y Virginis. 



■Tuiiiter and Satui-n 

 sun. 



uiiob.servable, being too near the 

 Uranus is a morning star in Ophiuchus, rising about 



3 A.M. near the beginning of the month. The planet is in 

 quadrature with the sun on the 17th. 



Neptune is on the meridian about sunset near the 

 middle of the montli : he is in quadrature with the sun on 

 the 22nd The planet is praticiUy stationary throughout- 

 the month, and is situated 5 minutes west of i; Gemiuorum 

 and 10' south. 



The Stars. — About the middle of the month at 9 p.m. 

 the positions of the principal constellations are as follow : — 



Zenith 



South 



West 



East 



No bright constellations in the zenith. 



Cancer and Hydra on the meridian ; Gemini 

 high up, Procyon and Sirius, all a little to 

 the west. Orion is to the south-west, and 

 Leo (Eeyuliis) to the south-east high up. 



Taurus, Aries nearly setting, Auriga {Capella) 

 high up. To the north-west Perseus, also 

 Andromeda low down. 



Virgo (Sfica rising), Bootes {Arcturug). To 



the north-east Ursa Major high up. Corona, 



Hercules and Vega low down. 



North . Folarin ; to the right, Ursa Minor, Draco ; 



below, Cygnus, Cephem ; to the left, 



Cassiopeia. 



Minima of Algol occur on March 12th at 2.51 a.m., 



on March 14th at 11.4<t p.m., and March 17th at 8.29 p.m. 



Ctjcss Column. 



By 0. D. LococK, b.a. 



Communications for this column should be addressed 

 to C. D. LococK, Netherfield, Caml:>erley, and be posted 

 by the 10th of each month. 



Solutions of February Problems. 



No. 1. 



(C. C. VV. Sumner.) 



Pour Solutions (R to QB3, ExB, Kt to B3(h, Kt to 



B6ch). I must apologise for inadvertently printing this 



" revised " yersion of a position which appeared last year, 



particularly as the results of the revision have been so 



unsatisfactory. 



No. 2. 



(A. LiUie.) 



Key- move. — 1. B to Ktsc). 



If 1. . . . KxKt, 2. K toB2, etc. 



1 . . . . Iv X P, 2. Kt to BC or 2ch, etc. 



[Two or three solvers have found themselves in the same 

 predicament with regard to this problem as the composer. ] 



Solutions received from "Alplia," 2, 4; W. Nash, 3 4- 

 G. A. Forde (Capt.), 2. 4; " VV. Jay," 3, 4; " Eudirbv,'' 

 3, 4; "Looker-on," 3, 4; A. H. H. (Crovdon), 3. 'O: 

 W. H. S. M.. 3, 4; G. W. Middleton, 3, 0; J. W. Dawson, 

 3,0; "Quidam," 3. 4 ; J. W. Dixon. 3,4; C.Johnston, 

 3, 4 ; H. S. Brandreth, 2, 4 ; H. F. Culmer, 2, 4. 



J. W. Dixon. — Yes, postcards are more convenient. 



IF. Nash. — You are quite right in assuming that three 

 points is the maximum for a two-mover, and six points for 

 a three-mover. I (juite agree with your estimate of Fort 

 Nachanaiid, if oiilv it had been sound. 



