NOTES. 



ASTRONOMY. 



By F. A. Bellamy. M..\., F.R..A.S. 



F.WE'S COMET (or 1910c' Cerulli). — The comet 

 announced as a discovery by Cerulli at Teranio Observatory, 

 on November 8th, by means of photo,t;raphy, proves to be a 

 re-discovery of the unexpected, or forgotten, return of the comet 

 discovered by Faye in 1S43. This comet is interesting as 

 having a short periodic orbit of seven and a half years, or 

 slightly less ; so that, since 1843, this is the ninth return, and it 

 happens to be a favourable one ; it is not always so, as at 

 some returns it could not be observed, notably in 1903. When 

 discovered on November Sth it was of the 9'5 magnitude. 

 After a few observations had been made, it was ascertained 

 by \V. F. Meyer and Miss S, H. Levy, of the Berkeley 

 Astronomical Department. U.S..-^.. that the elements of the 

 orbit which they computed resembled those of Faye"s Comet, 

 and they afterwards computed elliptic elements from observa- 

 tions of November 9th, 11th. and 13th ; they give the date of 

 perihelion passage as 1910, November 12"413, G.M.T., but 

 M. Ebell {Ast. Nach. 4456), deducing the time from 

 Professor Stromgren's elements for 1903. finds the date to be 

 October 23-747 Berlin M.T. In Ast. Nach. 4461, G. Fayet 

 has discussed the question both with new observations and 

 old elements, and he obtains November 2'2S3 Paris M.T. as 

 the date of passage, and the other elements are \ery close to 

 those which he deduces from Stromgren's work. Favet's 



Thej' should, however, be regarded only as provisional. 

 Plenty of obser\ations are being obtained and they will pro\e 

 of use in the computation of a definiti\'e orbit. 



Fayet has also deduced an ephemeris for Paris mean 

 midnight ; from a portion given here it can be seen that the 

 comet is now moving northwards and eastw-ards ; it reached 

 its most southerly declination on December 19th and 20th. 

 and at the end of this month it is about the same right 

 ascension as the Pleiades and twenty degrees south, and its 

 magnitude will be equal to half that at the time of 



HALLEVS COMET.— It is still possible for observations 

 to be obtained of this much-discussed comet. Those who wish 

 to see it again before 1985. should not lose the opportunity 

 during the next few weeks ; it is best situated for observation 

 about 5 a.m., and will be at a similar position about two and a 

 half hours earlier each month ; being at rather a low altitude 

 it may be seen more readily at places south of England. This 

 ephemeris is that given by F. E. Seagrave, in the Astronomical 

 Journal, No. 620. 



Midnight G.M.' 



1910. 



Jan. 3 



., 11 



„ 19 



„ 27 



4 



12 



20 



28 



S 



16 



24 



1 



Feb. 



Mar. 



April 



h. 



11 



11 

 10 



10 



51 

 44 

 36 

 27 

 17 



6 

 55 

 44 

 34 

 24 

 15 



7 



27 

 53 

 57 

 51 

 44 

 56 

 49 

 44 

 6 

 15 

 25 

 49 



-18" IS'-l 



-18° 2.:-i 



-18° 23'-9 



-18" 10'-8 



-17° 45'-6 



-17° 8'-l 



-16 19':2 



-15 20'-5 



-14° 14'-3 



-13° 3'-7 



-11° 5l'-6 



-10 40'-7 



ASTRONOMER ROYAL FOR SCOTLAND.— We olTer 

 our congratulations to Professor R. A. Sampson upon his 

 appointment to the position of Astronomer Royal for Scotland. 

 His works upon J. C. Adams and Jupiter's Satellites have 

 hitherto absorbed nearly all his time given to astronomical 

 work : both these memoirs are of great and lasting importance. 

 Now that he has charge of an observatory worthy of the name 

 and one with an excellent and efficient all-round equipment, 

 we look forward to a continuance and development of that 

 practical side of astronomy so ably inaugurated at Edinburgh 

 bv the newlv-appointed Astronomer Roval for England. Mr. 

 F. W. Dyson. 



THE PRESENT STATE OF VARIABLE STAR 

 WCJRK. Introduction. — Exclusivism seems to be the 

 worst policy in scientific research. As observational science 

 is now highly developed in practically all the countries of the 

 world, and all the workers are exploring almost the same 

 borderland of discovery, accurate and e\er-renewed knowledge 

 of what others have done and are doing, is an absolute 

 requirement if unnecessary duplication is to be avoided, 

 as well as the waste of energy, time and money. This know- 

 ledge, howexer, is not always as perfect as it ought to be, 

 especially in great countries such as Britain, France, and the 

 United States, where scientific men. less inclined to inter- 

 nationahsni and to the study of foreign languages, are some- 

 times tempted to consider the scientific activity of their 

 countrymen as representing science. Small countries are 

 better able to avoid this drawback, for. lacking elaborate 

 sources of scientific information, forced to be polyglots and 

 naturally exempted from any undue chauxinism. their men of 

 science are in a better position to consider from an unbiassed 

 point of view the efforts of the whole of the scientific world. 

 And this, perhaps, is one of the reasons why countries, small 

 in their area and economic possibilities, maintain a high 

 standard of research among their powerful rivals. 



In the peculiar field of astronomy in which I have been 

 engaged for many years — the study of those interesting objects, 

 variable stars — much correspondence with British amateurs 

 has shown me how often their \iews on this subject are 

 confined to English references. I therefore think that a 

 comprehensive statement of what is actually done in this 

 branch, in the whole world, may be welcomed by all 

 interested in the matter including those possessing a 

 telescope, whatever its size may be. It will not only gi\e 

 them an idea of the work of astronomers in this direction, in 

 different countries, but will also show them how the obser- 

 \ ation of changing stars is carried out with zeal and success 

 by isolated workers. 



Statistics of Discovery. — Many complaints have been 

 made recently with regard to the great disproportion which 

 exists between the great number of variable stars known 



23 



