Pebruaky 1, 1899.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



47 



4 a.m. (10 a.m. G.M.T. i, and perhaps nearer i a.m. He had five 

 cameras pointed to different parts of the sky, but at the time of 

 writing had found no trails ou the plates he had developed. At 

 the Observatory at Harvard College it ap])ears, however, that 

 Prof. Pickering secured a considerable number of photographic 

 trails. He and his observational staff saw an aggregate of eight 

 hundred meteors. 



At Burgess Hill, Sussex, the sky was clear on November 13th, 

 and Mr, Gregg reports in the Eiuiliuli Mechiuiii- that he watched 

 — between llh. 50m. and I.*^h. 10m. — and counted sixty-four 

 meteors, of which forty-three were Leonids. 



The Ge.mimd Meteors. — These were tolerably numerous in 

 18il8. On December 12th, 7h. 25m. to llh., Mr. R. Service, of 

 Dumfries, counted fifty-two meteors. Between 9h. 30m. and 

 12h. 30m., Mr. A. King, at Leicester, saw fortj-one. Mr. 

 Nielsen, at Hartlepool, observing from the cliff between 9h. 5iu. 

 and lOh. 5m., counted thirty-six meteors, of which thirty-five 

 were Geminids. A number of meteors were also observed by 

 ilr, Beslev, Mr. Milligan, and others. The former found 

 radiants at" 104'^ -I- 31' and 115-^ -h 32'. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR FEBRUARY. 



By A. Fowler, f.r.a.s. 



THE SUN. — On the 1st the Sun rises at 7.41 a.m., 

 and sets at 4.47 p.m. ; on the 28th he rises at 

 6.50 A.M., and sets at 5.30 p.m. 

 The zodiacal light may be looked for in the west 

 after sunset. 



The Moon. — The Moon will enter her last quarter 

 on the 3rd, at 5.24 p.m.; will be new on the 10th at 

 9.32 A.M. ; enter her first quarter on the 17th, at 8.52 

 A.M. ; and will be fuU on the 25th, at 2.16 p.m. 19 Pis- 

 cium (mag. 5'2) will be occulted on the 12th, the dis- 

 appearance taking place at 7.35 p.m., 78° from the north 

 point (39^ from the vertex) ; at the reappearance, fifty- 

 three minutes later, the star will be setting. 103 Tauri 

 (mag. 5-5) wDl be occulted on the 18th ; the disappearance 

 wiU take place at s.53 p.m., 96° from the north point (66° 

 from the vertex) ; and the reappearance at 10.11 p.m., 273° 

 from the north point (233° from the vertex). 



The Planets. — Mercury is not well placed for observation 

 during this month. He is a morning star at the beginning 

 of the month, reaching superior conjunction on the 27th. 



Venus is now a briUiant object in the morning 

 sky. She reaches her greatest western elongation of 

 nearly 47° on the 11th at 7 a.m. During the month her 

 apparent diameter diminishes from 28" to 21-8". At the 

 middle of the month about half the disc will be illuminated. 

 The path of the planet lies in Sagittarius. She rises about 

 three hours before the Sun at the beginning, and about 

 2h. 40m. before the Sun at the end, of the month. 



Mars will be readily recognized in Gemini, through 

 which he traverses a retrograde path until the 27th, when 

 he will be stationary. He will be visible, practically, 

 throughout the night, crossing the meridian at 10.57 on 

 the 1st and at 8.53 on the 28th. The apparent diameter 

 of the planet diminishes from 13-8" to 11 •2' daring the 

 month, and his distance increases from about sixty-two 

 million eight hundred and seventy-nine thousand to 

 seventy- s6ven million eight hundred and fifty thousand 

 miles.* The phase will be very slight, the illuminated 

 part on the 14th being 0969 of the disc. 



Jupiter is becoming more favourably situated, rising at 

 midnight about the middle of the month, and about 

 11 P.M. at the end. He is near a Librse, and will be 

 stationary on the 24th, his path accordingly being a very 



• The distance at opposition in January was about 60 millions of 

 miles, not 143 millions, as iacorrectlj" etated in the January number. 

 — A. F. 



short one. His polar diameter increases from 84-4" to 

 37*4" during the month. 



Satui-n is a morning star, rising about 4.80 a.m. on the 

 1st, and shortly before 8 a.m. on the 28th. He traverses 



Tlie Morning Planets in February. 



a short direct path in the most southerly part of Ophiuchus. 

 The northern surface of the ring is visible, and the rings 

 are widely open. 



Uranus is also a morning star near w Ophiuchi. He will 

 be in quadrature with the Sun on the 26th. 



Neptune is visible nearly all night. At the middle of 

 the month he precedes ? Tauri by (im., and has a declina- 

 tion 49' greater than that star. 



The St.\rs. — At the beginning of the month, Gemini 

 and Canis Minor will be on the meridian shortly before 

 midnight, Canis Major a little after 10 p.m., Orion about 

 9 P.M., and Taurus soon after 8 p.m. At the end of each 

 succeeding week these constellations will be in the south 

 about half an hour earlier. 



Conveniently observable minima of Algol will occur on 

 the nth at 10.39 p.m. ; and on the 14th at 7.28 p.m. 



C^tss Coltttnn. 



By 0. D. LooooK, b.a. 



♦i 



Communications for this column should be addressed to 

 C. D. LococK, Netherfield, Camberley, and posted on or 

 before the 10th of each month. 



Solutions of January Problems. 



No. 1. 



(By W. Clugston.) 



1. Q to B7, and mates next move. 



No. 2. 



(By C. D. Locock.) 



[The composer's intention was 1. B to Kt3. Unfor- 

 tunately 1. P to Q3 instead solves the problem, while it 

 prevents the main variation.] 



Correct Solutions of both problems received from 

 Alpha, K. W., H. Le Jeune, D. R. Fotheringham, N. E. 

 Meares, F. V. Louis, G. C. (Teddington). 



Of No. 1 only, from W. H. Stead, G. G. Beazley. 



Of No. 2 only, from H. S. Brandreth, A. W. Webb, W. 

 de P. Crousaz, A. Gorham, Miss Theakston. 



H. S. Brandreth. — In No. 1, if QKt7, B or P moves. 



Miss Theakston.— 1. R x P is met by 1. B to Kt5 or R6. 



A. Gorham. — The King escapes at K6. 



W. de P. Crousaz.— 1( 1. Kt to Q3, B to Kt5 or R6. 



H. BrLitoii.—Th&nka for the problem. Would it not be 

 possible to get rid of a few of the pieces, even at the cost 

 of one variation if necessary ? 



