Societies and Academies

Abstract

LONDON: Royal Astronomical Society, February 9.—Annual general meeting.—William Huggins, D.C.L., president, in the chair. The following gentlemen—A. Mason Worthington, B.A. John Sidney White, and George Francis Hardy, were elected fellows of the Society. The annual report of the society showed that the number of Fellows had been increased during the past year, and that the society's library had been enriched by several important presents of books and manuscripts. Ten minor planets have been discovered in the course of last year, six of them in America, and four in France. In solar physics Prof. Tacchini has made an interesting investigation as to the relative height of solar prominences at different times of the sun-spot period. Prof. Young has determined the rate of the solar rotation by means of the displacement of the dark lines in the spectrum of the sun's limb. He has also proved that the 1474 line is double, and that the two components are of unequal strength; the coronal line corresponds to the stronger of the two, whilst the other is one of the faint lines in the spectrum of iron. Mr. Huggins' photographs of the spectra of stars were also referred to, and a short account was given of the observations of the new star in Cygnus, which was discovered by Dr. Schmidt, at Athens, on November 24, 1876. Its spectrum gives several bright lines, amongst which are three of the hydrogen lines, C being the brightest of all, the sodium line D, or the chromosphere line near D, the magnesium lines b, and the coronal line 1474. The reduction of the observations of the transit of Venus has been proceeding continuously at the Greenwich Observatory, under the direction of Capt. Tupman. All the observations with transit instruments at the various stations for local time and longitudes of Honolulu and Rodriguez by the observations of the moon in zenith distance have been completely reduced. An idea of the magnitude of the undertaking may be formed when it is stated that these two last calculations required the use of three millions of figures. The Report having been adopted, the Society proceeded to the election of Officers for the ensuing year, and the following gentlemen were elected: As President, William Huggins, F.R.S. As Vice-Presidents: J. C. Adams, F.R.S., Lowndean Professor of Astronomy, Cambridge; Sir G. B. Airy, K.C.B., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal; Arthur Cayley, F.R.S., Sadlerian Professor of Geometry, Cambridge; Edwin Dunkin, F.R.S. As Treasurer, Samuel Charles Whitbread, F.R.S. As Secretaries: J. W. Lee Glaisher, F.R.S.; A. Cowper Ranyard, M.A. As Foreign Secretary, Lord Lindsay, M.P. As Council: John Brett, Esq.; W. H. M. Christie, M.A. Warren De La Rue, F.R.S.; J. R. Hind, F.R.S., Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac.; E. B. Knobel; George Knott; William Lassell, F.R.S.; E. Neison; Capt. Wm. Noble; Rev. S. J. Perry, F.R.S.; Earl of Rosse, F.R.S.; Capt. G. L. Tupman, R.M.A.