344 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



ISTo. 237. 76(c) Geminokum.— 6 m. Lalande (14991); 6 m. Heis; 

 6 m. Franks, 1878. Sir "W. Herschel fo-und (/> - 76. 5-33 and 5-8 H.P. 



I^ovember 24, 1878, I found 76 less than i; ; also less than <^. 



December 1, 1880, same relative magnitude. 

 January 12, 1882, 76 about three steps less than a 6 m. star (Heis) 

 n. f <fi, or about mag. 6'3. 



jSTovember 22, 1883, 76 nearly one magnitude less than cj>, but 

 brighter than any star in the immediate vicinity of ^. 



No. 238. K Gemia^oetjm. — Comes possibly variable from 8'.5 to 14 

 ("Webb, Cel. Objects, p. 310). Herschel called attention to the com- 

 panion of this star as probably shining by reflected light from the 

 primary. Dembowski thought it variable. 



'No. 239. /5 Geminoeum: (Pollux). — Admiral Smyth measured two 

 distant companions to this star as follows : — 



Position AB 66°-9. Distance 130"-0 ) -^ i, iqqo qi 

 „ AC 73°-6. „ 202"-7 \ ^P°'^ 1832-31, 



and says [JBedforcl Catalogue, p. 187) A 2, orange tinge; B \2\, ash- 

 coloured; C 11^, pale violet, and it has a minute comes to thes^, 

 which, though unnoticed in former registers, is certainly now (1832) 

 as bright as C : these companions form a neat triangle," and he adds 

 in a foot note : " While this is in the press the Eev. "W. E. Dawes has 

 shown me an exact diagram which he made of the object January 1, 

 1829, with a 3|- foot achromatic, charged with a Huygenian eyepiece 

 magnifying 200 times. With this instrument he saw the three com- 

 panions very distinctly, although two only were visible, and that but 

 on remarkably fine nights, in Sir James South's 7-foot equatorial, with 

 an aperture of 5 inches." 



In the E. A. S. Monthly Notices for April, 1861, the Eev. T. W. 

 Webb remarks that with his S-t inch OG, the third star appears "as 

 much inferior to B, 12 m, as B is below C ; and as Sir James South's 

 equatorial of 5 inches had shown but two companions some years before 

 the date of the Bedford Catalogue, there is perhaps grounds to suspect 

 a variation in its light." 



Burnham, 1879-24 rated Smyth's star C as 9 m. and the third star 

 9-5 m. In 1878 he called B 10 m. 



My own observations are as follows : — 



January 30, 1880, 3-inch refractor, power 133. C quite plain, 

 and B tolerably so, with Pollux in the field. D (Smyth's third star) 

 only seen with Pollux just out of the field. C about one magnitude 

 brighter than B, and B li or 2 magnitudes brighter than D. D very 

 faint. To my eye C seems about 10 m. (Smyth's scale) B = 11 m. and 

 D 12^ m. 



March 31, 1881, 133 on 3-inch refractor. C brighter than B. D 

 very faint, hardly visible. D not seen with power 83. 9.30 p.m. 

 moon just set, ancl sky rather bright. 



