Upon the night of the 13th of July, 1875, at midnight, two officers of
H. M. S. _Coronation_, in the Gulf of Siam, saw a luminous projection
from the moon’s upper limb (_Nature_, 12-495). Upon the 14th it was
gone, but a smaller projection was seen from another part of the moon’s
limb. This was in the period of the opposition of Mars.
Upon the night of Feb. 20, 1877, M. Trouvelot, of the Observatory of
Meudon, saw, in the lunar crater Eudoxus, which, like almost all other
centers of seeming signalling, is in the north-western quadrant of the
moon, a fine line of light (_L’Astronomie_, 1885-212). It was like a
luminous cable drawn across the crater.
March 21, 1877—a brilliant illumination, and not by the light of the
sun, according to C. Barrett, in the lunar crater Proclus (_Eng. Mec._,
25-89).
May 15 and 29, 1877—the bright spot west of Picard (_Eng. Mec._,
25-335).
The changes upon Linné were first seen by Schmidt, in 1866, near the
time of opposition of Mars. In May, 1877, Dr. Klein announced that a new
object had appeared upon the moon. It was close to the center of the
visible disc of the moon, and was in a region that had been most
carefully studied by the selenographers. In the _Observatory_, 2-238, is
Neison’s report from his own memoranda. In the years 1874 and 1875, he
had studied this part of the moon, but had not seen this newly reported
object in the crater Hyginus, or the object, Hyginus N, according to the
selenographers’ terminology. In the _Astronomical Register_, 17-204,
Neison lists, with details, 20 minute examinations of this region, from
July, 1870, to August, 1875, in which this conspicuous object was not
recorded.
June 14, 1877—a light on the dark part of the moon, resembling a
reflection from a moving mirror; reported by Prof. Henry Harrison
(_Sidereal Messenger_, 3-150). June 15—the bright spot west of Picard,
according to Birt (Jour _B. A. A._, 19-376). Upon the 16th, Prof.
Harrison thought that again he saw the moving light of the 14th, but
shining faintly. In the _English Mechanic_, 25-432, Frank Dennett
writes, as to an observation of June 17, 1877—“I fancied I could detect
a minute point of light shining out of the darkness that filled Bessel.”
These are data of extraordinary activity upon the moon preceding the
climacteric opposition of Mars, early in September, 1877.
Now we have an account of an occurrence during an eclipse of the moon:
On the night of the eclipse (Aug. 27, 1877) a ball of fire, of the
apparent size of the moon, was seen, at ten minutes to eleven, dropping
apparently from cloud to cloud, and the light flashing across the road
(_Astro. Reg._, 1878-75).
_Astro. Reg._, 17-251:
Nov. 13, 1877—Hyginus N standing out with such prominence as to be seen
at the first glance;
Nov. 14, 1877—not a trace of Hyginus N, though seeing was excellent:
Oct. 3, 1878—the most conspicuous of all appearances of Hyginus N;
Oct. 4, 1878—not a trace of Hyginus N.
Upon the night of Nov. 1, 1879, again in the period of opposition of
Mars (opposition Nov. 12) again the bright spot west of Picard (_Jour.
B. A. A._, 19-376). But I have several records of observations upon this
appearance not in times of opposition of Mars. Whether there be any
relation with anything else or not, at five o’clock, morning of Nov. 1,
1879, a “vivid flash” was seen and a shock was felt at West Cumberland
(_Nature_, 21-19).
In the autumn of the year 1883, began extraordinary atmospheric effects
in the sky of this earth. For Prof. John Haywood’s description of
similar appearances upon the moon, Nov. 4, 1883 and March 29, 1884, see
the _Sidereal Messenger_, 3-121. They were misty light-effects upon the
dark part of the moon, not like “earthshine.” Our expression is that so
close is the moon to this earth that it, too, may be affected by
phenomena in the atmosphere of this earth.
Something like another luminous cable, or like a shining wall, that was
seen in Aristarchus, by Trouvelot, Jan. 23, 1880 (_L’Astro._, 1885-215);
a speck of light in Marius, Jan. 13, 1881, by A. S. Williams (_Eng.
Mec._, 32-494); unexplained light in Eudoxus, by Trouvelot, May 4, 1881
(_L’Astro._, 1885-213); an illumination in Kepler, by Morales, Feb. 5,
1884 (_L’Astro._, 9-149).
In _Knowledge_, 7-224, William Gray writes that, upon Feb. 19, 1885, he
saw, in Hercules, a dull, deep, reddish appearance. In _L’Astronomie_,
1885-227, Lorenzo Kropp, an astronomer of Paysandu, Uruguay, writes
that, upon Feb. 21, 1885, he had seen, in Cassini, a formation not far
from Hercules, both of them in the northwestern quadrant of the moon, a
reddish smoke or mist. He had heard that several other persons had seen,
not a misty appearance, but a star-like light here, and upon the 22nd he
had seen a definite light, himself, shining like the planet Saturn.
May 11, 1885—two lights upon the moon (_L’Astro._, 9-73).
May 11, 1886—two lights upon the moon (_L’Astro._, 6-312).