June 1. IPOO.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



143 



streakeil lurtem-s. Mr. A. R. Hinks at Cambiiilgo watilieil tlu" 

 sky for several lumrs on April 20, hut saw no Lyruls, ilunijili a 

 detinite shower appeared to be proteeilin^ from the rejiioii of Hela 

 l>raconis. Mr. A. Kins; at Leicester made observations on several 

 niihts and lecistered a number of meteors, but there were only a 

 tow Lyrids. and tlie.«e showed a mdiant at 271'' + 33"'. bciii;; a liule 

 east of the vsual position, and eonlirniin'' fairly well I'rof. Herschel's 

 lOiitro at 27<"'' +311". As tlii' radiant is priibably a moriiini; oiii'. 

 the mean of the two positions woulil nearlj- represent its usual place 

 on April 21. but would be several degrees east of its position on 

 April 19. In observations of this and similar showers it is therefore 

 of great importance to keep the observations for each night separate. 

 and determine the individual radiants for successive dates if tliere 

 are sufficient materials for the purpose. This is, however, not often 

 the case, as the l.yrids form a very short-lived shower, and one 

 very meagre in the distribution oi its meteors. They are usually 

 rare except on the night of maximum, and even then the .shower is 

 so po«>r as to be scarcely distinguishable. Two meteors of the 

 tlisplay appear to have been doubly observed this year. On April 

 20 at lOh. 19m. a small meteor of about 4th mag. was recorded by 

 Prof. Herschel at .Slough, and by Mr. H. ('order at Uridgwater. 

 Tlie former found the radiant from the combined tracks was ,it 

 257° + 4(-l'', and the heights from ;U to 3ll miles over a iioiiit N.W. 

 of Basingstoke, Hants. The elevation is unusually low, hut there 

 seems little doubt as to the identity of the objects. A meteor 

 which appeared on April 21 at lOh. 32m. of 3J magnitude, was seen 

 by Prof. Herschel and by Mr. A. King at Syston, near Leicester. 

 Prof. Herschel places the radiant in 180" — 2oo, and gives the 

 heights of the meteor as from 65 to 53 miles from over Woodstock 

 to near Leice.ster. The path was 54 miles long, and the speed 

 about 15i miles per .second, which agrees veiy well with the theo 

 retical velocity, which would be 15 miles per second. 



FlRF.BAi.T. OK March 28. — A masnificent meteor was seen on 

 March 28 at about 8h. 32m. by Mr. Astbury at Wallingford, Mr. 

 Crommelin at HIackhcath, Mr. 0. T. Davis at Reading, Mr. Knight. 

 Bishops Stortford, and other observers. It was several times 

 brighter than Venus, and lit up the sky with a vivid flash. Prof. 

 Herschel has discussed the observations and finds the radiant at 

 182° + 43*, and lieights of from about CM to 35 miles over the S.E. 

 part of England. The observations, however, disagree in some 

 e.Nsential particular's, and it does not seem possible to derive a 

 perfectly satisfactory result from them. A few additional de 

 scriptions of this fine meteor would be very valuable, and it is to b" 

 hoped that thev will be forthcoming. 



■•■ ^ 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR JUNE. 



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



The Scn. — On the Ist the sun rises at 3.51 and set« 

 at 8.5; on the 30th ho rises at 3.48 and sets at 8.19. 

 The sun enters Cancer, and Summer commences at 

 10 P.M. on the 21st. Sun spots arc still occasionally to 

 be seen. 



The Moon. — The moon will enter first quarter at 

 6.59 A.M. on the 5th; will be full at 3.39 a.m. on the 

 13th; will enter last quarter at 0.57 a.m. on the 20th; 

 and will be new at 1.27 a.m. on the 27th. Among other 

 occultations during the month, that of Satm-n, on the 

 13th, will be of special interest. Particulars of the 

 three occultations visible at Greenwich arc given 

 below : — 



There will be a partial eclipse of the moon, beginning 

 just before it sets on the morning of June 13th. The 

 magnitude of the eclipse is 0.001, and the moon is only 

 in the shadow proper for about 7 minutes. First con- 

 tact with the shadow takes place at 3.24 a.m., and last 

 at 3.31 A.M., the moon setting at 3.54 a.m. The shadow 

 will fall on the lower part of the moon, to the left. 



The Planets. — Mercury is an evening star, but at (his 

 season one can scarcely expect to observe him, 



Venus is an evening star and attains her greatest 

 brilliancy on the 1st. The planet will bo stationary 

 in Gemini on the 16th, after which it will rapidly 

 approach the sun and be lost to our view until it re- 

 appears as a morning star. On the 15th one-seventh of 

 the disc will be illuminated. 



Mars is a morning star, but as it rises less than two 

 hours before the sun during the greater part of the 

 month no further data need be given. 



Jupiter is fairly well placed for observation from ,-lusk 

 until the early morning hours. His path is a short 

 westerly one in Scorpio, and at the onil of the month 

 will bo very near to Beta Seorpii; on the 30th ho will 

 be li minutes following and 18' south of the star. The 

 apparent diameter on the 15th is 41 ".6, and the meridian 

 passage on the same date is at 10.32 p.m. The satellite 

 phenomena are most interesting, at convenient hours, 

 on the Ist (8.19—11.0), 3rd (9.35—11.56), 4th 

 (8.44—10.45), 8th (10.33—12.58), 11th (8.27—12 43), 

 17th (10.26), 18th (10.13—12.57), ]9lh (10.13), and 29tli 

 (9.49—10.58). 



Saturn is visible throughout the greater part, of the 

 night, rising about 9.30 on the 1st, and about 7.30 on 

 the 30th. He is in opposition on the 23rd. On the 

 13th the planet will be occulted by the moon. During 

 the month the planet describes a westerly path between 

 Mu and Lambda Sagittarii. On the 19th, the diameter 

 of the ball is 17", while the outer major and minor axes 

 of the outer ring are respectively 42". 6 and 18". 9. The 

 northern surface of the ring is visible. 

 • Uranus is in opposition at 11 a.m. on the 1st, when 

 ho rises at 8 p m. During the month he describes a 

 short westerly path in the south-western part of 

 Ophiuchus, a little to the south -ea.st of the star Omega 

 in that constellation. 



Neptune is not observable, being in conjunction with 

 the sun on the 18th. 



The Stabs. — About 10 p.m. at the middle of the month 

 Cygnus will be in the east ; Lyra will be high up, a 

 little to the south of east; and Aquila will be ''n the 

 same direction but lower. Near tlie meridian will bo 

 Hercules, Corona, Ophiuchus, Libra, and Scorpio. 

 Arctunis will be a little west of the meridian, Virgo 

 rather low in the south-west, and Leo almost due west. 



C!)rss Column. 



Bv C. D. LofocK, H..1 



Communications for tliis column sliould be addiessed 

 to C. D. Loc'ocK, Netherfield. Camberley, and be posted 

 bv the 10th of each month. 



Solutions of Mav Problems, 



No. 1. 



(N. M. Gibbins.) 



1. Kt to K5, and mates next move. 



No. 2. 



(W. Clugston.) 



1. R to Kt4, and mates next move. 



Correct Solutions of both problems received from 

 W. de P. Crousaz, Alpiia, G. A. Fordo (Capt.), J. 

 Humble, J. W, Mevjes, G. W. Middleton, J. Baddeley 

 W. F. Denning, W' Clugston, H. C. Jclliman. 



Of No. 1 onlv, from Otto Schachel. 



