Rambaut — Conjunction of Saturn and Mars, 1889. 381 



at the time of observation. The ordinary working power of 300 

 was employed, temperature 44°. 



The time was taken from a chronometer recording sidereal 

 time, and was read only to the nearest minute. In the case of 

 the last, two observations a good deal of time elapsed between the 

 two settings, before and after reversal, owing to interruptions by 

 clouds, and it is possible thatthe exact time corresponding to the 

 setting may not be very reliable. 



With regard to the brightness of the planets it is worthy of 

 remark, that whereas Saturn appeared to the unassisted eye the 

 brighter of the two, the reverse was the case in the telescope. 



Thus I find in my note-book that, at 17 h 35 m , it was only 

 just possible to glimpse Mars with steady gazing, while Saturn 

 remained an easy enough object to see; but still the two planets 

 were distinctly separated. At the same hour Sir Robert Ball 

 notes : — " Mars ceased to be visible to the naked eye, and Regulus 

 could still be glimpsed. The two planets never coalesced ; indeed 

 I was struck by the nearness and smallness of the discs. This was 

 especially noticeable in the opera-glass." At 18 b 9 m , however, he 

 remarks : — " Further observations of Saturn became impossible 

 owing to daylight, though Mars was still visible." 



