Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 393 



The aurora was rather faint, and it only extended from the N. to 

 the N.W. point of the horizon, yet there rose from its base about 

 twelve columns of light with other coruscations ; and one meteor 

 appeared over it. There was also a faint appearance of the aurora 

 the following evening, but large black clouds intervened. In the 

 evening of the 17th the Northern Lights again appeared, from eight 

 till a quarter past nine o'clock : during the first half-hour, many 

 bright flame-coloured columns rose in slow succession, some of 

 which attained the same altitude as the star Benetrasch in Ursa 

 Major, and were two degrees in width. Four meteors occasionally 

 appeared over them. The aurora then settled into a segment of 

 mild light, and extended from N. by E. to W. The heavy dew 

 and low passing cirrostratus clouds were unfavourable to its con- 

 tinuance. 



ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



The eclipse of the moon in the night of the 2nd of September was 

 visible here only in its effects, in consequence of the interposition of 

 thick strata of clouds, through which only an undefined light was 

 seen. At a quarter past nine, however, a partial opening in the 

 clouds showed for a few seconds of time, by means of a telescope, 

 that the moon was nearly half eclipsed. 



The planet Mars, on fine evenings this month, has been a very 

 conspicuous and interesting object in the S.E. quarter of the heavens, 

 having come to an opposition with the sun at midnight of the 19th ; 

 and from his comparative nearness to the earth, has on several 

 evenings, before and after his opposition, appeared to surpass Ju- 

 piter in splendour and magnitude : he will continue to be conspi- 

 cuous in the evenings during the remainder of the year, but will 

 gradually decrease in brilliancy and apparent magnitude, and lose 

 his circular form as he passes to a conjunction with the sun. 



Mercury, at his greatest elongation in the evenings of the 17th 

 and 18th, was scarcely perceptible with the naked eye, and had but 

 a faint appearance through a telescope, although the sky was clear, 

 owing to his position in south declination. 



Georgium Sidus or Herschel planet, is creeping along the neck of 

 the Goat, and is now (October 1st) on the meridian one minute 

 and twenty seconds after a Cygni, and 34 degrees distant from, 

 and immediately under, a Delphini, at 8 o'clock in the evening ; so 

 that good opportunities may occur during the month for observing 

 it with a powerful telescope. 



Emersions of 'the first and second Satellites of Jupiter. — In the eve- 

 ning of the 24th, at 8' 1 41 m 52 s mean time, an emersion of the first 

 satellite from Jupiter's shadow, on the east side of the planet, was 

 observed here with an achromatic telescope, and the difference in 

 time compared with that in the Nautical Almanac, gave the longi- 

 tude from Greenwich within a mile and a half. 



In the evening of the 27th, at 8 h 18'" 3 5 mean time, an emersion 

 of the second satellite out of Jupiter's shadow was observed with 



N. S. Vol. 8. No. 47. Nov. 1830. 3 E the 



