July 1, 1897.J 



KNOWLEDGE. 



175 



Venus is a morning star, and, as such, is excellently 

 placed for observatiou, being at her greatest western 

 elongation (40") on the 7th. On the 1st she rises at 

 Ih. 27m. A.M., or nearly two and a quarter hours before 

 the Sun, with a northern declination of 15° 85', and an 

 apparent diameter of 2.5|". On the 10th she rises at 

 Ih. lum. A.M., or about two and three-quarter hours 

 before the Sun, with a northern decUnation of 17° 28', 

 and an apparent diameter of 23", about half her disc 

 being illuminated. On the 20th she rises at Ih. 4m. a.m., 

 or 3h. om. before the Sun, with a northern declination 

 of 19" 20', and an apparent diameter of 21". On the 

 30th she rises at Ih. a.m., or 3h. 20m. before the Sun, 

 with a northern declination of 20" 46', and an apparent 

 diameter of 19". She is in conjunction with Ceres at 

 2h. A.M. on the 23rd, Ceres being 6' south ; and with 

 Neptune on the morning of the 28th. During July Venus 

 pursues a direct path through nearly the whole length of 

 Taurus. 



Mars is for all practical purposes invisible, his diameter 

 being so small, and the planet setting so soon after the 

 Sun. 



Jupiter can be seen during July, but cannot be said, 

 owing to his proximity to the Sun, to be in a favourable 

 position for observation. On the 1st he sets at lOh. 50m. 

 P.M., or about two and a half hours after the Sun, with a 

 northern declination of 10° 18', and an apparent equatorial 

 diameter of 33| ". On the 10th he sets at about a quarter 

 past ten p.m., with a northern declination of 9° 43', and an 

 apparent diameter of 33J". On the 20th he sets at 

 9h. 40m. P.M., or about one and a half hours after the Sun, 

 with a northern declination of 9' 2', and an apparent 

 diameter of 32f". After this he approaches the Sun too 

 closely to be visible. He describes a short direct path in 

 Leo. 



Saturn is an evening star, but his low declination 

 militates strongly against accurate observation of the 

 details on his surface. On the 1st he rises at 4h. 15m. 

 P.M., with a southern declination of 16^ 50', and an 

 apparent equatorial diameter of I75" (the major axis of the 

 ring system being 41 j" in diameter, and the minor 16f "). 

 On the 10th he rises at 3h. 40m. p.m., with a southern 

 delcination of 1G° 48', and an apparent equatorial diameter 

 of 17V'. On the 20th he sets at Oh. 13m. a.m., with a 

 southern declination of 16^ 47', and an apparent equatorial 

 diameter of 17^". On the 31st he sets at llh. 26m. p.m., 

 with a southern declination of 16° 49', and an apparent 

 equatorial diameter of 17". During the greater part of 

 July he pursues a very short direct path in Libra, being 

 stationary on the 28th. 



Uranus is an evening star, but is very badly situated for 

 observation, owing to his great southern declination. On 

 the 1st he rises at 4h. 30m. p.m., with a southern declination 

 of 18° 55', and an apparent diameter of 3 7 ". On the 31st 

 he sets at llh. 14m. p.m., with a southern declination of 

 18° 55'. During the month he describes a short retrograde 

 path in Libra. 



Neptune is, for the purposes of the amateur observer, 

 practically invisible. 



Shooting stars are fairly numerous in July, but twilight 

 interferes with observation. There is a well-marked 

 shower near S Aquarii towards the end of the month, the 

 maximum being on the 28th. The radiant point is in 

 R.A. 22h. 40m., south declination 18°. 



The Moon enters her first quarter at Ih. 32m. p.m. on 

 the 7th ; is full at 4h. 52m. a.m. on the 14th ; enters her 

 last quarter at 3h. 8m. p.m. on the 21st ; and is new at 

 3h. 58m. P.M. on the 29th. Many of the stars in the 

 Pleiades will be occulted on the early morning of the 24th. 



By C. D. LooooK, B.A.Oxon. 



Communications for this column should be addressed to 

 C. D. LococK, Burwash, Sussex, and posted on or before 

 the 10th of each month. 



If 1. 

 1. 



Solutions of June Probhms. 



(T. Eaddick.) 



No. 1. 



1. R to QB8, and mates next move. 



No. 2. 



Key-move. — 1. R to Q=q. 



. K to B3. 2. R to Q4, etc. (or B to Kt6, dual). 

 . K X P. 2. B to Kt6ch, etc. 



[We regret that the number of moves was accidentally 

 omitted. Fortunately most of our solvers found no 

 difficulty in supplying the omission.] 



Correct Solutions of both problems received from 

 Capt. Forde, Alpha (not correct in one variation of No. 2), 

 Novice, J. T. Blakemore, G. G. Beazley, H. le Jeune, 

 E. W. Brook. 



Of No. 1 only from H. S. Brandreth, J. M'Eobert, 

 W. Clugston, W. H. Lunn, and one unsigned (Hornsey). 



TT'. Clwjstoti. — ]\Iany thanks for letter and enclosures. 

 Of your earlier received problems we much prefer No. 34, 

 printed below. In the " crowd " of No. 33, is not the P at 

 B2 useless, as 1. B to Ktsq would not solve the problem ? 



H. DO. Bernard. — Your four-mover is demolished by 

 1. ERGch, followed by BBS or KKt7 accordingly. With a 

 Black King so surrounded it will be a difficult matter to 

 make the problem sound. 



J. H. Ballantine. — Have you noticed that your key-move 

 which has the defect of guardmg the Black King's sole 

 exit, threatens both B to Qoch and R x Rch, the result 

 being innumerable duals ? Also the White QB seems 

 unnecessary. We should be glad to receive an amended 

 version, as the position seems capable of being made into 

 a fine problem. 



PROBLEMS. 



No. 1. 



By W. Clugston. 



BL4CK (9). 





m 





White (9). 



White mates in two moves. 



