June, 1903.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



143 



W. on tlie 28tli, wlien he rises about 1| hours before tlie 

 sun ; tlie l)right morning twilight will, however, interfere 

 with easy o])servation. 



Venus continues to be the most conspicuous object in 

 the evening sky looking rather north of west. The planet 

 is increasing in brilliancy, and is so bright that it can 

 easily be picked up in twilight, and observation may be 

 continued until quite late, as she does not set until 11 p.m. 

 The best time for observing is, however, soon after sunset, 

 while it is still moderately light, as then the disc appears 

 more sharply defined, and any outstanding colour of the 

 telescope is less obtrusive. About the middle of the 

 mouth the planet is on the meridian at 3.9 p.m., having 

 an altitude of 59° ; a little searching with a pair of 

 field-glasses should enable one to detect this bright object 

 in broad daylight. The diameter of the planet mcreases 

 from lt)"t; at the beginning of the month to 21"'6 at the 

 end. Near the middle of the month, 0'61 of the disc is 

 illuminated, or the planet exhibits a phase similar to the 

 half moon. On the 28th Venus is near the moon, and on 

 the 23rd near the 6th magnitude star 83 Cancri. 



Mars is still available for observation throughout the 

 month until near midnight, setting on the 1st at 1.35 a.m., 

 and on the 30th at 11.49 p.m. The planet is diminishing 

 in l)rightness, also the diameter decreases from 10""4 at 

 the beginning of the month to 8"'4 at the end. The disc 

 presents a gibbous appearance, 0'89 being illumioated. 

 The latitude of the centre is + 25°, so that the north polar 

 cap is presented to us, and therefore the snow cap appears 

 at the bottom in the ordinary inverting telescope. The 

 planet is describing a direct or easterly path in Virgo in 

 the direction of Spica ; he is near the moon on the morning 

 of the 4th. 



Jupiter is iu Aquarius, but does not rise before midnight 

 until near the end of the month. 



Saturn is in Capricornus, rising about 11.30 p.m. near 

 the middle of the month, but on account of his great 

 southerly declination he is not well placed for observation. 



Uranus is on the confines of Ophiuchus and Sagittarius, 

 and is in opposition on the 15th ; the extreme southerly 

 declination of the planet is such that he only attains the 

 altitude of the mid-winter sun. The accompanying chart 

 will enable the planet to be found, when it appears as a star 

 of about the 6th magnitude, and can be seen occasionally 

 with the naked eye, but readily with slight optical aid. 



Path of Uramis iu Optiiuclui.'*. 



Neptune is no longer available for observation, being in 

 conjunction with the sun on the 26th. 



The Stars. — Position of the stars about 10 p.m. : — • 

 ZnNiTii . Great Bear, Cor Caroli. 

 North . Ursa Minor, Cepheus, Cassiopeia,. 

 East . Cygnus, Ljra, Aquila, Sagittarius. 



South . Hercules, 0|)biucliiis, Corona, Libra, Scorpio. 

 Wust . Li'o. Cancer. — S AV. : V^irgo and Bootis. — 

 N.W. : Capella. 



Ctjcss Column. 



By C. D. LococK, b.a. 



Communications for this column should be addressed 

 to C. D. LococK, Netherfield, Camberley, and be posted 

 by the 10th of each month. 



Solutions of May Problems. 



No. 1.— (W. Geary). 



1. P to Q4, and mates next move. 



No. 2.— (T. Geary). 



Key-move — 1. K to Qsq. 



1. . . . K to K5, 2. Q to Q3ch. 



Solutions received from "Alpha," 2, 4; W. Nash, 2, 4; 

 G. A. Forde (Major), 2, 4 ; "Looker-on." 2, 4; A. H. H. 

 (Croydon), 2, 4 ; W. H. S. M., 2, ; G. W. Middleton, 2, 4 ; 

 J. W. Dixon, 2, 4; C. Johnston, 2, 4 ; H. S. Brandreth, 

 2, 4; H. F. Culmer, 2, 4; T. Dale, 2, 4; A. C. Challenger, 

 2, 4; W. J. Lawson, 2, 0; H. H. Bowdler, 0, 0; J. L. 

 McLaren, 2, 4. 



/. C. Candy. — Thanks for the problem. 



/. W. Dixon. — Thanks for your appreciation. 



A. G. Challenger and F. H. WorsJey-Beniiyon . — Solutions 

 last month too late to acknowledge. 



E. A. Servaute. — Thanks for the problems. The three- 

 mover cannot be used iu a solution tourney as it has 

 appeared before. The others will be printed ultimately if 

 found up to the mark, but will have, I fear, to wait some 

 time. 



W. J. Lau'soti. — Is not 1. ... K to E5 a sufiicient 

 answer to 1. Kt to Q4 ? 



W. H. 8. If.— You appear to have overlooked that after 

 1. Kt to Kt7 the King has an available square at QB4. 



Hamilton White. — I can only suggest that you should 

 send the end-game elsewhere. You are in error in 

 supposing that the solution was " not obvious " to me. 

 But I imagined the solution I found to be a " cook," and 

 asked accordingly for the author's solution. 



W. S. Branch. — Many thanks for your letters and 

 cuttings. I inaiutain the silence which you request as to 

 the other matter. 



3Irs. W. J. Baird. — Many thanks ; I give it in this 

 number. 



W. Nash. —I fancy that I have seen it before. Never- 

 theless it is very pretty and instructive, aud may be new to 

 most of our readers. 



PEOBLEMS. 



By J. C. Candy. 



N" 1 



BlACH (1 ) 



Whiti nil! -. n i\\onio\K 



