June 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



143 



will be close to (3 Leonis at the beginning of June, but its 

 exact place is doubtful. 



M. Legarde has recently published a new determination 

 of the orbit of Tempel's comet of 1871. The comet was 

 observed during^an interval of one hundred and nine days, 

 and its orbit appears to be that of a very excentric ellipse, 

 with a periodic time of about two thousand and thirty 

 years. 



The April Meteors. — Prof. A. S. Herschel, at Slough, 

 registered the paths of sixty-eight meteors observed on 

 clear nights between April 12t,h and 2-tth. The sky was 

 hazy on April 19th, and only one uncertain meteor was 

 seen in a watch of two and a half hours' duration. On 

 April 20th clouds prevailed. Very few, if any, Lyrids were 

 observed, but the meteors recorded indicated a large number 

 of minor showers in Corvus, Libra, Ursa Major, Draco, and 

 the region of Hercules. At Bristol, on April 17th, 18th, 

 19th, and 22nd, meteors were found to be somewhat rare, 

 and very few Lyrids were noticed. Four of the meteors 

 observed at Bristol were also recorded by Prof. Herschel 

 at Slough, but in two cases the observations do not match 

 very well, as the meteors were very indifferently seen at 

 Bristol. Of the other two, one appeared on April 17th, 

 lOh. 28m. It was a small, very slow moving meteor, with 

 a radiant near the southern horizon. Its heights were 

 from seventy-two to seventy miles over Malmesbury to 

 Evesham, and it traversed a path of about thirty-four miles. 

 The other was seen on April 22nd, lOh. 32m. It was 

 directed from a radiant at 252^ -(-49^, and fell from a 

 height of seventy-two to fifty-two miles from above Alcester 

 to Malvern. 



The brighter meteors seen by Prof. Herschel were as 

 under : — 



Path. 



, Diirutiou 



Date. Time. Mag. v K.A. Dec. K.A. Dec. in 



b. m. o o o o Seconds. 



April 16 10 47 1 290 +52 to 327 +52 25 



,.16 11 27 1 92.i +44 „ 91 +37 04 



„ 17 9 38i 1 44+73 „ 61 +60 10 



„ 19 9 53 1 280 +61 „ 286 +55 8 



„ 23 12 43 1} 158 +30 „ 138 ■^37 2-2 



„ 23 12 48i 1 232^ - 5 „ 231 +1 0-4 



Mr. W. E. Besley, of Westminster, watched the sky on 

 April 21st and 22nd during an aggregate period of three 

 and a quarter hours, and recorded twenty meteors, of 

 which twelve were Lyrids. The principal radiant appeared 

 to be very well defined at the usual position, viz., 273~ + 3:5 \ 



If observers at other places noted any of these objects 

 the data would be valuable as affording the materials for 

 computing their real heights in the atmosphere. 



Fireball of April 5th. — Mr. G. N. Stretton's description 

 of this object, as observed at Fulham (Knowle»&e, May, 

 p. 114), agrees remarkably well with the radiant point at 

 121" — 1'. As seen by your correspondent, the meteor 

 must have ascended in a perfectly vertical course ; but if it 

 actually reached the zenith, as he remarks, then the place 

 I gave for the disappearance must be shifted some 

 miles to the north-east, and the height at disappearance 

 must have been a little less than that stated. But in 

 discussing and endeavouring to harmonize materials of 

 this character, one has to adopt the path which best 

 satisfies the majority of the observations. Mr. Stretton's 

 position was evidently very near the point of the meteor's 

 disappearance. The fact that at Bournemouth it fell 

 vertically downwards in north-east, while at Fulham it 

 ascended straight up to the zenith from south-west, affords 

 the clearest proof that the direction of flight of the meteor 

 was on a line joining those two places, and that it succes- 

 sively passed over Bournemouth, Southampton, Alton, and 

 Aldershot, as stated in my paper in your May Number. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR JUNE. 



By Herbert Sadler, f.b.a.s. 



GROUPS of, and small detached, spots are still to be 

 detected on the solar surface. 

 Mercury is, theoretically speaking, a morning 

 star, but cannot be conveniently observed for any 

 practical purpose by the amateur during the month, 

 owing to his proximity to the Sun. He is in superior 

 conjunction with that luminary on the 30th. 



Venus is an evening star, and is conveniently situated 

 for observation. On the 1st she sets at lOh. 17m. p.m., 

 with a northern declination of 24^ 42' at noon, and an 

 apparent diameter of Hi . On the 11th she sets at 

 lOh. 26m. P.M., with a northern declination at noon of 

 23" 42', and an apparent diameter of 12 ". On the 18th 

 she sets at lOh. 24m. p.m., with a northern declination at 

 noon of 22' 19', and an apparent diameter of 12^ '. On 

 the 23th she sets at lOh. 18m. p.m., with a northern 

 declination of 20' 27' at noon, and an apparent diameter 

 of 12^'. -On the 30th she sets at lOh. 15m. p.m., with a 

 northern declination at noon of 18' 51', and an apparent 

 diameter of 13". During the month she describes a direct 

 path through a great part of Gemini into Cancer. 



Mars is practically invisible. 



•Tupiter is an evening star, and is still well placed for 

 observation. On the 1st he rises at Ih. 16m. p.m., with a 

 northern declination of 1" 9' at noon, and an apparent 

 equatorial diameter of lOi". On the 11th he rises at 

 Oh. 35m. P.M., with a northern declination at noon of 1°, 

 and an apparent diameter of 39i". On the 18th he rises 

 at Oh. 10m. p.m., with a northern declination of 0' 49', and 

 an apparent diameter of 38i". On the 30th he rises at 

 llh. 25m. a.m., with a northern declination of 0*^ 24', and 

 an apparent diameter of 37i". During the month he 

 describes a very short path in Virgo. 



Our remarks last month about the futility of attempting 

 to observe either Saturn or Uranus in these latitudes 

 apply with equal force to the present month. Neptune is 

 invisible. 



There are no very well marked showers of shooting stars 

 in June. 



The Moon is full at 2h. 11m. p.m. on the 4th; enters 

 her last quarter at 6h. 4m. p.m. on the lith ; is new at 

 4h. 19m. A.M. on the 19th ; and enters her first quarter 

 at 4h. 54m. a.m. on the 27th. 



Ctjcss CEolumn. 



By 0. D. LooocK, B.A. 

 Communications for this column should be addressed to 

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

 the 10th of each month. 



Solutwn of May Problems. 

 (By P. G. L. F.) 



No. 1. 

 1. Q to B5, and mates next move. 

 No. 2. 

 Key-move. — 1. Q to B3. 

 If 1. ... K moves, 2. Q to K2ch, etc. 



1. . . . Anything else, 2. Q to Qsq, etc. 

 [There is a near " try " by Q to Qsq at once.] 

 Correct Solutions of both problems received from 

 Alpha, K. W., Capt. G. A. Forde, W. F. Denning, E. W. 

 Brook, W. de P. Crousaz, H. S. Brandreth. 



Of No. 1 only from G. G. Beazley, W. Clugston, 

 J. M'Eobert. 



J. Nield fCrumpton). — Many thanks ; we hope to find 

 space for them this summer. 



