214 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Beptembeb 1, 1898. 



waa roughly estimated as from 280'' - 14° to 310° + 8°, 

 but no other descriptions of it have come to hand. 



Fireball of July 2Gth. — Mr. F. C. Dennett, of 

 Dalston, E., writes : " There was a remarkable meteor on 

 July 2Gth, at about 9h. 12m. It appeared from behind 

 houses and disappeared behind clouds about twenty degrees 

 N.N.E. of the zenith. Size a-quarter to a-third that of 

 the moon. The colour was green, very decided, and its 

 trail, perhaps four degrees in length, was red, Its motion 

 was fairly rapid, and its path was nearly south to north, 

 perhaps ten degrees east of the meridian." Mr. C. Grover 

 at Lyme Begis describes the time as 9h. 10m., and says : 

 " The fireball started from a point a little south of east at an 

 altitude of about fifteen degrees, and vanished in about 

 north-east, at a height of about ten degrees. At first it 

 appeared like a small star, but rapidly increased until it 

 was far brighter than Venus, and finally disappeared in a 

 shower of sparks. The colour was most remarkable — a 

 brilliant, dazzling green— so intense as to be quite startUng. 

 The sky was very hazy at the time." Mr. W. Lucking, of 

 Berden, Herts, reports, in a letter to Prof. Herschel, that 

 on .July 26th, 9h. 10m., a magnificent detonating fireball 

 passed over that village. There was a vivid illumination 

 of the landscape, and, on looking upwards to ascertain the 

 cause, a fireball with a red train was observed moving 

 northwards nearly from the zenith. The fireball burst 

 with a loud report, which was compared to that of a cannon 

 fired at a short distance. At Albury, Herts, a loud 

 detonation occurred, and is described as being simultaneous 

 with the disruption of the meteor. People indoors thought 

 there must have been an explosion at the Waltham Powder 

 Mills, and were much alarmed. The fireball was also seen 

 at Maldon and other places. From a comparison of the 

 various accounts the approximate real path of the object 

 appears to have been from above a point twenty-five miles 

 west of Dieppe, France, to March, Cambridge. The height 

 was seventy-three miles at first, and twenty-seven miles at 

 the end. The meteor had a long flight of about one 

 hundred and ninety-one miles from south to north, and a 

 probable radiant at 2G9° — 28°. It must have passed over 

 the zenith of Berden at a height of thirty-eight miles, so 

 that a detonation of the meteor would have taken three 

 minutes to reach observers there. This is, however, a 

 relatively short interval, and quickly passes when people 

 have been surprised by an unexpected phenomenon, so the 

 statement that the sound came simultaneously with the 

 meteor's explosion may not be quite correct. 



Fireball of August 1st. — Mr. W. Lascelles-Scott, of 

 Romford, reports that just before lOh. 9m. p.m. he saw a 

 magnificent meteor about eight times the brilliancy of 

 Jupiter : " It passed directly overhead, and apparently 

 describing a curve upon a vertical plane in the direction 

 S.S.W. by S. to N.N.E. by N., descended imtil it quietly 

 disappeared, after traversing more than one-third of the 

 heavenly dome." 



Tlie Perseids. — This long-continued shower commences 

 about the middle of July, and the sky being almost free 

 from moonlight at this epoch, an attempt was recently 

 made to observe a few of the earlier members of the display, 

 Prof. Herschel, at Slough, watched the north-west portion 

 of the firmament on July 13th, 14th, and 15th, and noted 

 nineteen meteors, which included two Perseids, one seen on 

 July 14th at lib. 25m., and the other on July 15th at 

 lOh. 59|m. At Bristol observations were commenced on 

 July 16th, when three small Perseids were recorded 

 amongst fifteen meteors seen during a watch of three hours. 

 On later nights of July a few other Perseids were registered, 

 both at Slough and Bristol, but they were not sufficiently 

 numerous on any particular date to indicate a good radiant. 



On July Both a fine Perseid appeared in the moonlit 

 sky at lOh. 43m., and was fortunately observed by Prof. 

 Herschel and the writer. The real path of the meteor 

 extended over fifty-seven miles, from Northampton to 

 Burford, and it fell from a height of eighty-one to forty- 

 seven miles. Its velocity was thirty-six miles per second, 

 and the radiant point, from the combined paths, was at 

 23 + 53°, which is several degrees west of the normal 

 place of the Perseid centre on July 30th. At Slough the 

 meteor was observed at a considerable distance from its 

 radiant, and a slight inaccuracy in recording the direction 

 of flight would throw the radiant some degrees away from 

 its correct position. At Bristol the meteor was much fore- 

 shortened close to its radiant, and it left a dense streak, 

 broken in the middle, just south of a Cassiopeia. 



Among the minor showers observed in July, there was a 

 prominent display of Cygnids from a radiant at 315" -I- 47°. 

 This is a well-known position, and furnishes quite a distinct 

 stream to that of the August Cygnids, which were very 

 active in 1893, from a radiant at 292° -|- 53°. 



There was also a well pronounced radiant in Hercules 

 at about 249° + 37°, and very few Aquarids were recorded, 

 but there was a display of long-pathed meteors from a 

 centre at 338° — 25°, near Fomalhaut. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR SEPTEMBER. 



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



THE Sun has been free from spots for several days 

 together during the last two months, but several 

 spots of moderate size have been observed. 

 Bright facula- have been frequently seen. It 

 is, of course, impossible to say what may happen 

 during the present month. 



Mercury will be at inferior conjunction on the 5th, and 

 will reach his greatest elongation of 17° 51' W. on the 

 2l8t. He will, therefore, be a morning star during the 

 latter part of the month. On the 2l8t he will cross the 

 meridian Ih. 12m. before the Sun, his declination being 

 8= 20' N., while that of the Sun will be 0' 36' N. 



Venus is an evening star, and will be at greatest eastern 

 elongation on September 21st, 46' 27' E. of the Sun. She 

 is, however, so far south, and sets so soon after the Sun, 

 that her appearance is not very striking. On the 2l8t she 

 will set about an hour after the Sun. At the middle of the 

 month, a little more than half of the disc will be illuminated. 

 On the 19th it will be interesting to observe the planet in 

 close proximity to the Moon, the two being in actual 

 conjunction about 7 p.m., shortly before they set. At the 

 time of conjunction the Moon's age will be 3d. 19h., and 

 Venus will be 1° 28' north of the Moon. 



Mars does not rise until between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. 

 during the month, and he is too far distant for profitable 

 observation with small telescopes. It is, however, always 

 interesting to follow the apparent movement of this planet. 

 During the month he pursues a direct path in Gemini, 

 along a line running a little north of the star r,, south of e, 

 to a httle north of L His apparent diameter increases 

 from 6-4 ' to 7*2". There will be a daylight occultafcion of 

 this planet on the 9th, the disappearance taking place at 

 1.31 P.M., at a point 95' from the vertex, and the re- 

 appearance at 2.19 P.M. at 215' from the vertex. The 

 Moon will be twenty-three days old, so that the disappear- 

 ance will take place at the bright limb. A telescope will, 

 of course, be necessary to observe the occultation, but as 

 the Moon will probably be visible to the naked eye, an 

 equatorial wUl not be essential. 



Jupiter will be an evening star during the month, but 

 he is too near the Sun for useful observation. He will be 



