On the 7th of December, 1847, Professor Peirce communicated to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, at Boston,* the following elements of the orbit of Neptune's principal satellite, computed from all the observations of Lassell and Bond which had then been made. The time of revolution is 5 days, 21 hours, 12.4 minutes. Inclination of the orbit to the ecliptic is 29°.9. Greatest elongation is 16.5. Distance from Neptune is 230,000 miles. The mass of Neptune corresponding to these elements of his satellite is one 18,780th. The mass of Neptune cannot be less than one 19,500th, nor more than one 17,000th. Mr. Peirce computed the mass of Neptune from American observations alone as one 19,840th. By assuming a value for the mass equal to one 20,000th, he had found that Neptune was capable of explaining all the anomalous disturbances in the motions of Uranus.t In 1831 Wartmann supposed he had discovered a new planet which he observed on the 6th and 25th of September, 15th of October, and 1st of November. Astronomers have paid little regard to this account, because the matter was kept secret till it was too late to verify it. A similar case occurred at the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1759, when Messier, who saw it before it reached the perihelion, withheld the fact from the world to gratify Delille's vainglory in being the solitary observer of it. Valz‡ states that he is unable to represent the observations of Wartmann by any kind of trajectory; the retrograde motion which they give the body for 86 days implies a distance eight times as great as that of Uranus; whereas the space passed over, viz. 2° 36', would bring the body within Neptune's orbit. In September, 1835, Cacciatore, successor of Piazzi at Palermo, addressed a letter to Captain Smyth,§ stating that in the hour XII. of right ascension in the heavens he had observed last May a body which moved during three days 10" in right ascension, and about a minute towards the north. "So slow a motion would make me suspect the situation to be beyond Uranus." Smyth searched for the object with these suspicious movements, and notified other astronomers to do the same, but their labors were fruitless. Olbers requested Petersen of Altona to look for this body, but he could not find it. Valz conjectured, from the imperfect knowledge of the observations which he was able to gain, that it might be akin to the small planets, with a period of three years.|| The question has been long entertained whether Venus had a satellite. Cassini, in 1672 and 1686, thought he perceived it through a 34-foot refractor. Short, in 1740, was equally sure that he got a sight of it through two different reflectors. Montaigne, in 1761, thinks he saw it. Smyth mentions * Proceedings, I. 195. † Mr. Bond describes the planet Neptune as shining with a bluish light, and having a decided planetary disk. Compt. Rend., Jan. 1847. § Cycle, II. 265. || Compt. Rend., 1847. The discovery of a planet Diana by Professor Kaiser of Leyden, announced in Silliman's Journal, VI. 278, was cancelled in VII. 290. the authority of Baudouin and Rodkier as in favor of these observations. It has been objected, that the satellite, though not easily seen when nearest to the earth, because its dark side is turned to us, would become visible during the transit of the primary over the sun's disk. But it was not seen in the transits of 1761 and 1769. Brewster states that "Wargentin had in his possession a good achromatic telescope which always showed Venus with such a satellite, and the deception was discovered by turning the telescope about its axis." Smyth, however, repudiates this attempt to explain away the testimony of so many good observers with good instruments, and thinks the search for the first satellite to an inferior planet ought not to be relinquished.* In 1842, De Vico, at that time Director of the Observatory of the Collegio Romano, published a memoir at Rome, containing an account of the observations made by him and his associates in the years 1840 and 1841. The attention of these observers was directed to Venus among other objects. Hitherto a doubt still lingered about the precise period of rotation of this planet. Dominic Cassini had put it at 23h. 21m.. He saw spots at Rome, though he could no longer see them in Paris; while the Northern astronomers could not see them, and doubted the testimony of Cassini and his son. Bianchini again, in 1726, made observations at Rome, and estimated the period of Venus's rotation as 24d. 8h.. Lalande, Delambre, and Laplace urged the necessity of further observations for adjusting this discrepancy. After one hundred years of doubt and delay three years of incessant observation were devoted to the problem. Between January 1st and April 30th of 1840, 1650 observations were made. The time of rotation of Venus, calculated from these recent dates, confirms Cassini's result, which was only 22 seconds less than the modern determination. On the 12th of April, 1841, Palomba, an assistant observer, saw the entire disk of the planet, although the bright phase was very small. This phenomenon, which is so frequently observed when the moon is young and the dark part is visible by the earth's reflected light, has been observed and recorded several times before in the case of Venus. Meyer had such a sight at Griefswold, October 20th, 1759; Harding saw the same thing three times in 1806 (January 24th, February 24th, March 28th), and Schroeter once, on the 14th of February. The observatory of the Collegio Romano is called by its historian the oldest in Europe, as from that station Clairus made his observations on the new star which appeared in 1572 in Cassiopeia. Scheiner, Cassini, Bianchini, and Boscovich bring its history down uninterrupted till 1787. The French Revolution incroached on its repose for thirty years. The present observatory was built in 1816, by Pius the Seventh, and recently it has received a fine appointment of instruments. De Vico, one of its late ornaments, who had become distinguished in cometography, died on the 15th of November, 1848, and has been succeeded by Secchi. N. B. The title of Captain Smyth on line 11 of page 72 is incorrect. * Cycle, I. 109, 110. I. METEOROLOGICAL TABLES FOR BIDDEFORD, ME.* Lat. 43° 31' N., Long. 70° 26' W. Barometer, 40.75 above high-water-mark. By James G. Garland. 1850. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. July 30.07 30.06 30.04 Aug. 29.98 30.03 30.01 Jan. 29.93 29.96 29.94 Mean NO CON Minimum. 30.057 30.25 29.65 60.24 76.34 72.42 69.666 64.44 82.17 71.83 72.81392 53 32 22 18 38.170 62 21.723 18 -13 29.943 30.41 28.99 17.03 29.35 25.83 24.070 13.48 26.53 21.29 20.43353 -10 30.163 30.77 29.48 22.66 35.58 31.95 30.063 19.50 31.08 27.50 26.027 48-14 29.973 30.48 23.98 29.68 46.12 40.00 38.943 26.11 41.26 35.10 34.15677 30.016 30.53 29.54 38.24 52.60 47.75 46.196 35.29 50.20 43.34 42.943 64 May 30.04 30.08 30.09 30.070 30.35 29.58 47.15 64.48 58.62 56.712 44.64 67.25 54.86 55.583 78 32 June 29.98 30.04 30.02 30.011 30.4329.76 54.32 72.61 66.50 64.476 M'n, 30.012 30.036 30.019 30.022 40.315 55.046 50.248 48.536 For winds, O denotes a calm; 6, a hurricane. For clouds, 0 denotes perfect clearness; 10, complete cloudiness. Rained from 11 A. M., to 11 P. M., 25th August, 1850, 4.847 inches. Hottest day, August 6, 1850; coldest day, Feb. 7, 1851, -14°; - Saco River closed with ice, December 9, 1850; opened, March 28, 1851; - Frost on June 16. First snow, November 21. - Shower, with hail, June 14, 1851. * Biddeford is on the Saco River, directly opposite Saco. II. METEOROLOGICAL TABLES FOR CAMBRIDGE, MASS. Summary of the Meteorological Observations made at the Observatory of Harvard University, from May 1st, 1850, to May 1st, 1851. By Wm. Cranch Bond. Lat. 42° 23′ N., Long. 71° 08′ W. of Greenwich. Inch. Inch. Inch. June, 29 890 29.863 July, August, September, 29.958 29.986 29.923 .063 29.952 .057 29.893 29.834 45.3 54.2 56.4 49.6 51.4 78.7 68.4 71.5 74.3 64.5 67.0 29.955 55.1 62.8 67.2 58.7 60.9 29.889 55.0 50.8 59.7 49.953.8 29.971 35.8 41.2 47.6 39.4 41.0] 23.952 21.7 23.8 30.0 25.5 25.2 29.950 22.3 25.6 30.2 24.0 25.5 30.127 29.0 28.9 35.2 30.2 30.8 29.942 32.4 36.8 41.6 34.2 36.2 29.879 37.9 46.0 51.3 42.9 44.2 .056 29.932 29.932 43.1 48.8 54.0 45.9 47.9 Mean height of the barometric column during the year, The total amount of rain which fell at Cambridge from April 30th, 1850, to April 30th, 1851, was 56.138 inches. III. METEOROLOGICAL TABLE FOR LOWELL, MASS. Abstract of the Record of the Heights of the Thermometer, at the Lower Locks, Lowell, in 1850. By James R. Moor. The temperature of the water in the canal, which in the summer months receives the whole waters of the Merrimac River, was above 320 from March 1st to December 10th, inclusive. IV. METEOROLOGICAL TABLE FOR WORCESTER, MASS. Lat. 42° 16' 17" N.; elevation 483 feet. For the Year 1849–50. 1849-50. Barometer. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. inch. Greatest height, 29.81 29.90 30.05 29.72 29.67 29.63 29.93 29.64 29.67 29.68 29.68 29.70 23.70 29.73 28.52 23.46 28.70 28.85 29.00 29.15 28.80 29.04 28.85 28.81 29.25 29.31 29.23 29.09 29.18 29.26 29.46 29.39 29.23 29.36 29.26 29.25 Least height, Do Not December. 3 January. A February. 16 58 -4 5 19 16 12 3 18 16 10 11 0 45 53 April. Mean, Fair days, 9260 NOVOMOMO & OF 101 36 6.30 7.92 3.37 2.14 54.67 0 0 .50 59 1 15 167 |