20 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Feb., 1904. 



The Face of the Sky for 

 Febrviary. 



I>y \V. Shacki.eton, F.R.A.S. 



The Sun. — On the ist the sun rises at 7.43, and sets 

 at 4.45 : on the 29th he rises at 6.50, and sets at 5.36. 

 The sun is after the clock, the equation of time reaching 

 a maximum of 14 m. 25 s. on the 12th. 



Sun spots may frequently be observed ; of late, the 

 solar disc has rarely been devoid of spots. For deter- 

 mining spot positions the appended table should prove 

 useful 



Date. 



Axis inclined to W. from 

 N. point. 



Centre of disc, S of 

 Sun's equator. 



The Moon is in perigee and apogee at midnight on the 

 1st and 15th respectively. Occultations. — It will be seen 

 from the particulars below that there is the interesting 

 phenomenon of an occultation of the ist magnitude star 

 Aldebaran, and, morevover, the circumstances are most 

 favourable as the moon is near the meridian. 



Feb. 24 .\ldebaran ' i' 

 ,, 29 lO Leonis 3-; 



D. H. 



5.57 p.m. 7.15 p.m. 8 7 6.17p.m. 

 8.53 p.m. g. 46 p.m. 13 10 .it 6 p.m. 



The Planets. — Mercury is a morning star in Sagit- 

 tarius; on the ioth,when he is at greatest westerly elon- 

 gation, he rises i hr. 10 min. in advance of the sun. 



\'enus is a morning star, rising throughout the month 

 about 5.40 a.m. ; she continues to diminish in brightness 

 and is becoming more gibbous, about o-So of the disc 

 being illuminated. 



Mars continues to be feebly visible in the south-west 

 shortly after sunset ; throughout the month he sets about 

 7.30 p.m. 



Jupiter is rapidly getting more to the west and also 

 diminishing in brightness; on the first he sets at 7.27 p.m., 

 and on the 2Qth at 7.40 p.m. About the middle of the 

 month his polar and equatorial diameters are 32"-4 and 

 34"-6 respectively. 



The configurations of the satellites as seen in an 

 inverting telescope, and observing at 6.30 p.m., are as 

 follows : — 



The circle (O) represents Jupiter ; G signifies that the satellite 

 is on the disc : 9 signifies that the satellite is behind the disc, or 

 in the shadow. The numbers are the numbers of the satellites. 



Saturn is in conjunction with the sun on the ist, and 

 therefore unobservable. 



Uranus rises only a short time before sunrise; this, 

 together with his extreme southerly declination, makes 

 him most unsuitable for observation. 



Neptune souths at g.30 p.m. on the ist, and at 7.30 

 p.m. on the 29th. He is about half a degree S.E. of 

 M Geminorum and his path is shown in the chart given in 

 the January number. 



Meteor Showers : — 



D'BJram Illustrating Occultation ol Aldebaran. 



The Stars. — The positions of the principal constella- 

 tions near the middle of the month at 9 p.m. are as 

 follows : — 



Zexith . .\uriga. 



South . Orion, Gemini, Procyon, Sin'ns, Cetus, 



Pleiades, Taurus to the S.W., Cancer and Hydra 



to the S.E. 

 West . Andromeda, .\ries, Pisces, with Pegasus 



and Cygnus to the N.W. 

 East . Leo, \'irgo. 



North . Ursa Minor, Draco, Cepheus, UrsaMajor 



to the right of Polaris, 



