644 



NATURE 



[October 22, iqo8 



OVR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Comet Morehouse, 1908c. — A new ephemeris for comet 

 igoSc, computed from the following elements and covering 

 the period October 8 to December 7, is published by Herr 

 Ebell in No. 4276 of the Astronomische Nachrichten 

 (p. 61, October 9); these elements were calculated by Prof. 

 Kobold, and appeared in No. 4275 of the same journal : — 

 T = 1908 December 25-8116 (M.T. Berlin). 



00=171° 39' 4»"7 / 

 a =103° u' 56"7[ 19080 

 / =140° 11' 7"-4 ) 

 log? =9-975278 



According to the new ephemeris, the comet will attain 

 its greatest brightness on October 24, and will then be 

 about 5-6 times as bright as when discovered. 



From notes in the Gazette astronomique (No. 10, p. 78) 

 we learn that the comet was seen with the naked eye by 

 several observers, at Antwerp, on September 29, the 

 estimated magnitude of the head being 6-2, whilst the tail 

 was 2° in length. 



On October 18, at 8 p.m., the comet was seen as a 

 naked-eye object at Chiswick, whilst with a i^-inch opera- 

 glass, magnifying three times, it was quite a good object 

 on October 14 and 18, the direction of the tail being made 

 out quite easily. Photographs taken at the Solar Physics 

 Observatory, South Kensington, with the 36-inch reflector 

 and the 6-inch Dallmeyer camera, show that the tail is 

 a complex structure of some five or six streamers. 



Comet TempeLj-Swift, igoSd. — Observations of the 

 apparent position of comet igoSd were made at the Nice 

 Observatory on September 29 and 30 and October 2 and 3 

 by M. Javelle, using the large equatorial of 760 mm. 

 aperture, and M. Giacobini, using the equatorial coude 

 of 400 mm. aperture. 



Comparing the observed apparent positions with the 

 ephemeris positions (T = September 30-88) given by M. 

 Maubant in No. 4269 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, 

 it is seen that the corrections to the latter are about 

 — 14m. and -1-1° 24'. A further extract from the 

 ephemeris is given hereunder : — 



Ephemeris 12/). M.T. Paris. 



a 6 log ? 



log.i 



V 



Oct. 20 ... 8 20-5 ... +26 18-9 ... 00719 ... 9-8501 



24 ... 8 32-7 ... +2^ 13-2 ... 00762 ... 9'8524 



28 ... 8 43-9 ... -f 24 71 ... o-c8i2 ... 9-8544 



Nov. I ... 8 54-1 ... +23 1-5 ... 0-0867 •■• 9 S562 



The positions determined at Nice are published in No. 

 4276 of the Astronomische Nachrichten (p. 61, October 9). 



A Bright Meteor. — Mr. Denning writes : — " I saw a 

 conspicuous meteor on October 14 iih. 3m., =first magni- 

 tude, shooting exactly from $ Andromedae to between 3 

 and 77 Pegasi. Bright streak. The meteor was evidently 

 an early Orionid, as the direction is from the usual radiant 

 point at 91° 4- 15°. 



" I think this well-known October shower continues from 

 the 9th to the 2gth of the month, and I have never been 

 able to trace the slightest change of position in the radiant, 

 though I have watched the display very closely with the 

 special purpose of ascertaining whether or not any dis- 

 placement occurs." 



Vortices in the Sun's Atmosphere. — In No. 10 of the 

 Compfes rcndus M. Deslandres discusses the " long 

 flocculi," or filaments, shown on spectroheliograms in the 

 neighbourhood of sun-spots and disturbed regions. From 

 a study of the spectroheliograms taken at Meudon, com- 

 bining the results obtained with the spectrohcliograph with 

 those obtained with an instrument indicating the radial 

 velocities of the particular solar vapours observed, he 

 arrives at the conclusion that the filaments are in reality 

 tourbillons with horizontal axes, parallel to the solar sur- 

 face. Six drawings, from photographs, accompany the 

 paper, and show the extent and direction of some of these 

 filaments on various dates. In some cases the actual 

 filaments are accompanied bv ** aligucments^^* and are con- 

 tinuations or sections of them, whilst in others similar 

 alignments are shown alone. In general, the latter are 



NO. 2034, VOL. 78] 



double and approximately parallel, including between the 

 components an area a little less bright than the surround- 

 ing regions. These alignments generally intersect at 

 faculic areas, and, if the latter be considered as cyclones 

 having vertical axes, it is comprehensible that the former 

 mark the lateral inrush of solar vapours to the cyclonic 

 area. M. Deslandres considers that when the vertical 

 movement is the more intense a spot is formed, and when 

 the horizontal motion is the greater a dark filament, such 

 as shown on Prof. Hale's recent photograph, results. He 

 further urges the importance of a consistent research on 

 these lines, and suggests that the results may prove 

 valuable in the solution of problems relating to analogous 

 movements in the terrestrial atmosphere. 



The Orbit of 42 Com.^ Berenices (2 1728). — New 

 elements of the orbit of the binary system 42 Comae 

 Berenice are published in No. 4276 of the Astronomische 

 Nachrichten (p. 55) by Dr. Doberck. This system is of 

 special interest, as the apparent motion is in a straight 

 line, the plane of the orbit lying in the line of sight. Dr." 

 Doberck finds that the period is 25-335 years, and that the 

 eccentricity of the orbit is 0-4965, the apparent length of 

 the semi-major axis being o"-674. 



The Rio de Janeiro Observatory. — From the Minister 

 of Industries we have received a copy of the " Annuario " 

 published by the Rio de Janeiro Observatory for the current 

 year. The volume contains a number of useful tables 

 relating to astronomical and meteorological reductions, 

 several calendars, tables for the conversion of measures 

 from one system to another, and tables relating to cosmical 

 physics, general physics, and chemistry. 



THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 

 ON REFRIGERATION. 



TN an assembly which included ministers of railways and 

 of agriculture, professors of physics, cold-storage 

 engineers, fishery experts, fruit importers, and trafiic 

 managers, one naturally expected a very varied type of 

 communication. A considerable portion of the available 

 time w-as devoted to questions of such general importance 

 as the settlement of units and the various legal matters 

 in which cold storage, transport, and similar questions 

 are getting involved. There were also a large number of 

 purely scientific papers dealing with the production of cold, 

 the determination of conductivity, and similar problems. 

 Prof. H. K. Onnes gave, by special request, an account 

 of his recent work on hydrogen and helium. He was 

 followed by Prof. Mathias, who pointed out that, in the 

 determination of the critical volume by his well-known 

 straight-line law, substances did not follow, as a whole, 

 the law of corresponding states. However, when divided 

 up into groups, the correspondence was very perfect in the 

 group. Prof. Onnes expressed the view that the diver- 

 gencies must be ascribed to a difference of compressibilily 

 of the molecules themselves, or to a different distribution 

 of potential round them. M. R. Pictet opposed strongly 

 the view of ascribing an apparent volume to the molecules, 

 and gave an interesting paper on the uses of low tempera- 

 tures. 



M. J. Becquerel communicated some of the results of 

 the magneto-optic measurements he has made recently at 

 Paris and Leyden. Particular interest was taken in the 

 discovery of a phenomenon, resembling Zeeman's, in solu- 

 tions and crystals. As a consequence, the section sug- 

 gested that the nations should unite to construct a large 

 electromagnet without iron to study such questions more 

 effectively. 



0-\ygen is made from air in considerable quantities in 

 Paris now by the Linde and the Claude processes. In 

 principle there is not much difference, Linde employing 

 pressures of about 60 kg. and Claude 20 kg. per sq. cm. 

 There is a more economical distribution of pressure in 

 the Claude method, a process which admits of the collection 

 of nearly pure nitrogen. Bv an extension of the same 

 method Claude is able to obtain neon and helium from the 

 atmosphere, which is an interesting application of the 

 principle of continuous fractional distillation for the pur- 

 pose of obtaining what may be considered as traces of 

 impurities. 



