NOTICES FROM THE LICK OBSERVATORY.

PREPARED BY MEMBERS OF THE STAFF.

THE SYSTEMS OF BRIGHT STREAKS ON THE MOON.

The systems of bright streaks on the moon which radiate from the craters Tycho, Copernicus, Kepler, Byrgius, Anaxagoras, Aristarchus and Olbers are visible at the first glance in even the smallest telescope, and have been known since GALILEO's time. Similar, though less prominent systems radiate from Euler, Proclus, Aristillus, Timocharis, Menelaus, Mayer and other formations. These streaks have been more or less accurately depicted in the moon-maps of LOHRMANN, BEER and MÆDLER, and SCHMIDT; and they are beautifully and plainly shown in lunar photographs.

Comparisons of the negatives taken at the Lick Observatory with the best maps have shown me that the latter do not always agree with the former and the question arises whether each such bright streak always occupies one and the same position on the moon, no matter what the moon's age and phase may be. Το settle such a question by visual observations would be a very long and arduous task, and I believe it has always been tacitly assumed by selenographers that these bright streaks remain in one and the same situation and that they do not shift as the phase changes.

It is clear, however, that the question of whether they do or do not shift slightly as the moon's age varies is an important one. A shift would indicate a phase in the bright streak itself and would throw some light on its nature which is, as yet, not understood.

A careful examination of glass-positives from our negatives would settle this fundamental question, and it appears to be worth making and not very difficult to make. If the bright

streaks were found to vary in position systematically as the illumination changed, this would be a fact of great importance.

If, on the other hand, the streaks could be proved to remain in fixed positions, no matter what the illumination might be, this also would be well worth establishing.

I shall be very glad to assist any observer who has sufficient time to devote to this question by supplying him with the material for examination; and it appears to me that the necessary time would be well spent. I have consulted Professor WEINEK in this regard and he agrees with me that the research (which only needs patience and conscientiousness) is very interesting and well worth undertaking. EDWARD S. HOLDEN.

A BRIGHT METEOR.

PHOENIX (A. T.), February 3, 1892.-A meteor was seen northeast of here Monday night (February 1). The meteor fell with a roaring noise that was heard here, thirty-five miles distant. -S. F. Chronicle.

STEEL ENGRAVING OF THE GREAT TELescope.

The frontispiece of this number of the Publications is an impression from a steel engraving of the 36-inch telescope which has been made for Messrs. WARNER & SWASEY, the designers and makers of the mounting. They have kindly presented to the Society 1000 impressions from this plate for distribution to the members. The Committee on Publication begs to acknowledge this courtesy in the name of the Society.

E. S. H., C. E. Y., W. W. C.

THE BRUCE TELESCOPE FOR THE HARVARd College

OBSERVATORY.

A recent letter from Professor PICKERING refers to the BRUCE telescope, of which so much is expected, and says that Mr. ALVAN CLARK has received the four discs of glass for the objective and that the prism to go in front of the object-glass is entirely completed. It is hoped to have the entire instrument ready for its work in about a year.

E. S. H.

CONGRESSIONAL GRANT OF ADDITIONAL LAND FOR THE USES OF THE LICK OBSERVATORY.

Hon. E. F. LOUD, of the House of Representatives, and Hon. CHARLES N. FELTON, of the Senate, have procured the passage of a bill (H. R. 3933, 52d Congress, 1st Session), granting to the Regents of the University of California the following described public lands, in trust, for the use of the Lick Observatory, namely, the N. W. 4 of Section 3; the E. 1⁄2 of Sec. 4; the N. W. 4 of Sec. 4; the N. W. 4 of the S. W. 4 of Sec. 4; all in Township 7 S, Range 3 E, Monte Diablo Base and Meridian, comprising about 680 acres. The 44th Congress had previously granted 1350 acres in 1876 (see Publications of the Lick Observatory, vol. I, page 12, map). Mr. LICK during his lifetime had purchased a tract of 191 acres; Mr. R. F. MORROW had presented a tract of about 40 acres; and the Legislature of California set aside in 1890 the N. 1⁄2 of Sec. 16 (320 acres). The total area of the Reservation is therefore about 25812 acres at the present time. The recent additions insure the Observatory against encroachment for all time. E. S. H.

49

PHOTOGRAPH OF MARE CRISIUM AND VICINITY.

The plate in this number of the Publications is copied from a negative made at the Lick Observatory on August 31, 1890. It represents about the best results which can be obtained by "process-cuts"; and it hardly does justice to the original. In a subsequent number of the Publications we shall be able to give a heliogravure reproduction of Professor WEINER'S drawing of this region, when the great superiority of the latter process will be evident. E. S. H.

LARGE SUN-SPOT OF FEBRUARY, 1892.

This spot was, I believe, first seen by Mr. W. J. HUSSEY of the Ann Arbor Observatory on February 5.* It was independently discovered, with the naked eye, by Professor SCHAEBERLE at Mt. Hamilton on February 9. Since that time a very large number of photographs has been made of it, at the Lick Observatory, by Messrs. SCHAEBERLE and CAMPBELL, using the 40-foot horizontal photo-heliograph. A few of these negatives are very fine and it is hoped to reproduce some of them in the Publications. *It was photographed at Northfield on February 5.

The spectrum of the spot has been observed by Dr. CREW, who has printed a note on the subject in Astronomy and Astro-Physics for April, 1892. E. S. H.

THE NEW STAR IN AURIGA, FEBRUARY, 1892. Professor PICKERING of the Harvard College Observatory has kindly sent us prints from his negatives of 1890, February 6, and of 1891, December 17, which cover the region in Auriga where the new star has lately appeared (R. A. 5" 25"; Decl. +30° 21'). The new star is not on the first plate and it appears on the second. It has therefore been of something like its present brightness since December 17 at least. It was not known to exist, however, until February 1, when a postal-card was sent by Dr. ANDERSON of Edinburgh (its discoverer) to the Astronomer-Royal of Scotland. The discovery was at once verified by him and notified by telegraph to observatories in Europe. The news arrived in the United States on February 2, but the telegram did not reach Mt. Hamilton until February 6. Since that time it has been constantly under observation here. Dr. CREW has printed a preliminary account of its visible spectrum in Astronomy and Astrophysics for April, 1892. Professor CAMPBELL has observed both its visible and its photographic spectrum on every available opportunity and has fixed the place of about 50 bright lines and bands. We have received from the Harvard College Observatory a splendid enlargement from negatives of its photographic spectrum made in Cambridge. Plates suitable for measurement showing its relation to comparison stars near it have been made at Mt. Hamilton with the great equatorial, and Professor BURNHAM has measured its distance from surrounding stars. Professors SCHAEBERLE and CAMPBELL have made naked eye and opera-glass estimates of its visual brightness on nearly every night since February 6. Professor SCHAEBERLE has also secured a large number of plates with the CROCKER photographic telescope which show the new star and Polaris, with varying exposures, and which are eminently suitable for fixing its photographic magnitude. Besides such short exposures (13—23— 45—8—16—32—64—128) the latter observer has made a few long exposures on the same region, when the circumstances were favorable, giving all the stars down to about 13 mag. The star is now (March 10) invisible to the naked eye. The reports we have so far received indicate that the weather has not been very favor

able in the East and in Europe, and it is therefore a matter for congratulation that our sky at Mt. Hamilton has been unusually clear during the past month, so that almost a continuous record has been secured at this observatory.

A HANDY STAR-ATLAS (MESSER'S).

E. S. H.

I have lately seen a Star-Atlas compiled by Herr JACOB MESSER, of St. Petersburg, which is very compendious (the page is about 41⁄2 inches by 834 inches and the book is about. 14 inches thick), and which, I should think, would be found extremely convenient for amateur observers who do not care to burden themselves with the larger works.

It contains all the stars visible to the naked eye (1st to 6th magnitudes, inclusive), from the north pole down to 35° south declination, together with a selection of the most interesting double stars, variables, nebulæ, clusters, etc.

The atlas is published in two editions, one German, the other Russian. There are some 250 pages of introductory matter specially designed for amateur observers. E. S. H.

A LARGE NEW NEBULA IN AURIGA.

On receiving the announcement, February 6th, of the discovery of Nova Auriga, Professor HOLDEN requested me to use the CROCKER telescope for photographic observations on this star. The same day (February 6th) the WILLARD lens was, therefore, strapped to the 6-inch CLARK equatorial and a series of exposures made that evening. Similar observations have been made on every clear night up to the present time.

On a plate which I exposed for 150m on the evening of March 21st, I find a large and apparently new nebula in R. A. 5" 9.5 Dec. +34° 10'. The north preceding part of this nebula is in the form of a comparatively slender ray which seems to have its origin in the star W. B. 5, No. 151. This ray gradually widens -the northern boundary running in an easterly direction for a quarter of a degree or more; the southern boundary runs in a southeasterly direction, passing just a little to the north of the star W. B. 5, No. 162 (a naked-eye star), around which it appears to bend and then takes a southerly course extending more than a quarter of a degree beyond this star.

In a southeasterly direction the length of the nebula visible on