ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY;

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1886, 22 October 1913, Page 10

ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY;

ANNUAL REPORT. Tho annual report of the astronomical section of the- Philosophical Society, to bo presented to-night, states ■ that tho year just passed h»s been roark- • ed by steady work and guiot progress ■ in tho astronomical section. Except during tiio Christmas vacation tho Observatory lias been kept open for visiI tors on fine Tuesday evenings throughout tho year, Dr. C* 11. Hector, Messrs. C. E. Adams, C. P. Ponies, 0. G. G. Berry, and Captain Hooper taking • charge of tho telescope oil these occasions. Tho privileges thus afforded • have been, much appreciated, though fewer non-members than ono would have expected have taken advantage of them. Special arrangements were made for observing tho two eclipses of tho moon. The' first on March '22, was spoilt by inclement weather, the moon remaining hidden by clouds during tho timo of the eclipse. On September 13 the conditions were perfect, and the capacity of the building was severely taxed. Mr. C. E. Adams and Captain Hooper have given much timo and attention to the adjustment of the equa- , torial. , Dr. Hector lias had tlie Parson's rcllector suitably mounted and installed in tho building, and has also ; given a handsome donation' of furniture for the meeting-room. Tho annual i, mooting was held on December 3., 1912. In December, 1012, Miss Mary Proctor visited Wellington, lectured on astronomv, and 'started a fund for the !■ establishment of a Solar Physics Ob- • sorvator.v in Now Zealand. She then visited kodaikanal, and returned to New Zealand early in the present year. .. Tho council of this section, at her request, organised for her a series of as- '• tronomical lectures throughout the Dominion, with the object- of arousing m-t-erest in, and obtaining funds for, tho proposed observatory. .These lectures " were given by Miss Proctor during ' March, April mid May, 1913, tho two in Wellington being delivered on April i) 10 and May 1 respectively. At the conclusion of the latter lecture it was 'announced that Miss Proctor's enthusiastic efforts had been crowned with complete success. This gratifying result was brought about by Mr. T. Cawthron promising to build, equip, and cn- '■ dow a Solar Physics Observatory in Nelson. Tho profits of the lectures, amounting to £50 ICis. Gd., were now no longer required for the observatory, and ~ were therefore put into tiie hands of s the Public Trustee to form the nucleus •- of a fund for tho foundation of a li< i. brary for the observatory when established, this library to' bo called tho Proctor Library. At tho request of Mr. 'Cawthrcm, an advisory committee, consisting of the council of the section, with the addition of Professor T. 11. , Laby, and Mr. E. D. Bell, was set up to consider matters in connection witn tho proposed observatory. This committee has hold numerous lengthy a meetings and dono a largo amount of work. Nearly all the ordinary scction mcet- '• ings during the year have been devoted to observation and to informal diseussions round the telescope.