Jupiter is still an evening star, rather farther from the Sun than the others already mentioned. It does not set until after midnight on March 1st, and at the end of April it remains above the horizon until after 9 o'clock. It is in the constellation Taurus, and during March and April moves II° eastward and 2° northward. On March 1st it is a little south of the Pleiades, and at the end of April it is about 5° north of Aldebaran, a Tauri. Saturn passed conjunction with the Sun on February 24th and became a morning star, but does not move far enough away from the Sun to be seen in the morning twilight until nearly the end of March. On April 1st it rises about an hour before sunrise, and on April 30th a little more than two hours before the Sun. Toward the end of April the planet is far to the south of the Sun, and its rising point on the horizon is about 30° south of that of the Sun. The rising point of the planet changes slowly, while that of the Sun moves rapidly northward during the spring. Uranus is a morning star, rising at about 3:30 A. M. on March 1st and at about 11:30 P. M. on April 30th. It is in quad-rature with the Sun-that is, at right angles to it as seen from the Earth-on March 29th. It is in the constellation Sagittarius a short distance north of the milk-dipper group, moves about 1° eastward until April 13th, and then begins to move slowly westward. There is no bright star near enough to make identification easy. Neptune is in almost exactly the opposite part of the sky, being above the horizon, while Uranus is below. It is in the constellation Gemini several degrees west and south of Castor and Pollux, the principal stars of the constellation. It is far too faint to be seen without the aid of a telescope. (FIFTIETH) AWARD OF THE DONOHOE COMETMEDAL. The Comet-Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific has been awarded to MICHEL GIACOBINI, Astronomer, 58 Publications of the Astronomical Society, &c. Nice, France, for his discovery of an unexpected comet on Committee on the Comet-Medal: SAN FRANCISCO, January 11, 1906. WM. H. CROCKER, CHAS. BURCKHALTER. (FIFTY-FIRST) AWARD OF THE DONOHOE COMET-MEDAL. The Comet-Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific has been awarded to EMIL SCHAER, Astronomer, Geneva, Switzerland, for his discovery of an unexpected comet on November 17, 1905. Committee on the Comet-Medal: SAN FRANCISCO, January 11, 1906. W. W. CAMPBELL, (FIFTY-SECOND) AWARD OF THE DONOHOE COMET-MEDAL. The Comet-Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific has been awarded to MICHEL GIACOBINI, Astronomer, Nice, France, for his discovery of an unexpected comet on December 6, 1905. Committee on the Comet-Medal : W. W. CAMPBELL, CHAS. BURCKHALTER. SAN FRANCISCO, January 11, 1906. NOTES FROM PACIFIC COAST OBSERVATORIES. A PROGRAMME OF SOLAR RESEARCH.1 The following programme of solar research has been prepared for the Solar Observatory: 1. DIRECT PHOTOGRAPHY. (a) Daily photographs of the Sun on a scale of 6.7 inches (17cm) to the diameter, for comparison with the spectroheliograph plates. (b) Large scale photographs of spots and other regions, for the study of details. II. PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE WITH (a) Daily photographs of the Sun with the lines:- (4) H8, showing the hydrogen flocculi. (5) Other dark lines, as may prove feasible, showing the flocculi of the corresponding elements." (b) Measurement and discussion of the above photographs, involving : (1) Determination of the area of the flocculi and their distribution in heliographic latitude and longitude. These results will give a measure of the relative activity of different elements in various regions of the solar surface; furnish the means of answering certain questions regarding the relationship of flocculi to spots, such as the time of first appear 1 Abstract of Contributions from the Solar Observatory, No. 3. 24045, showing the iron flocculi, is now used daily. ance, relative position on the disk, etc.; and serve (2) Measurement of the heliocentric position of points in (5) Study of the motion of the high-level calcium vapor, currents. (6) Measurement of the position and area of prominences, and study of their relationship to solar and terrestrial phenomena. (c) Special studies with spectroheliographs of suitable dispersion, involving the use of various dark lines (including enhanced lines) and of lines affected in spots; simultaneous photographs of eruptions on the disk in different lines; comparative studies of quiescent and eruptive prominences with the hydrogen and calcium lines, etc. III. SPECTROSCOPIC INVESTIGATIONS. (a) Daily photographs of the spectra of spots, region Ha to HB, for the determination of intensities and the identification of lines that are widened or otherwise affected.1 1 These photographs may also chance to record such exceptional phenomena as the remarkable disturbance of the reversing layer described in a previous paper (Astrophysical Journal, Vol. XVI, 220, 1902). (b) Photographs of the H (or K) line, with high dispersion, on successive sections of the disk, to give the radial velocity of the calcium vapor in the flocculi, chromosphere, and prominences. (c) Measurements with the bolometer of the relative radiation, corresponding to various wave-lengths, of the sun-spots and photosphere, and bolographs of spot spectra. (d) Spectrographic measurements of the solar rotation, to determine the law of rotation with the lines of various elements, and to detect possible changes in the rotation. period. (See also II (b), 2.) (e) Miscellaneous investigations, as opportunity may offer, of the spectrum of the chromosphere; the pressure in the solar atmosphere, etc. IV. STUDIES OF THE TOTAL SOLAR RADIATION. (a) Frequent determinations of the total solar radiation, involving measures with the pyrheliometer at various altitudes of the Sun, and simultaneous bolographic records to give the absorption of the Earth's atmosphere. (b) Frequent determinations of the absorption of the solar atmosphere for light of various wave-lengths, to detect any possible changes in absorption that might account for observed changes in the total radiation. (c) Occasional supplementary observations on Mt. San Antonio (241⁄2 miles 39.4km from Mt. Wilson) at an altitude. of 10,100 feet (3,500m). = (d) A comparative study of different types of pyrheliometers. V. LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS. (a) A study of the lines affected in sun-spots under various conditions of temperature, pressure, etc. (b) Determinations of the pressure shifts of certain solar lines. (c) Other similar investigations. With a few exceptions, these investigations are now in progress at the Solar Observatory. Direct photographs of the Sun are taken daily, but large-scale photographs of details have not yet been started. The daily spectroheliograph routine includes H1, H2, H8, and λ 4045 (Fe) photographs of the disk, and H, (composite) photographs of the flocculi and prominences, all on a scale of 6.7 inches to the Sun's diameter. 2 |