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KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[August, 1904. 



The Face of the Sky for 

 August. 



By \V. Shackleton, F.R.A.S. 



The Sux. — On the ist the Sun rises at 4.24, and sets 

 at 7.47; on the 31st he rises at 5.12, and sets at 6.4S. 



Sunspots, faculaE', and prominences have been fairly 

 conspicuous of late. 



The positions of spots with respect to the equator 

 and poles may be derived by employing the following 

 table : — 



Date. 



Axis inclined from N. 



The Moon- :- 



Au=. 



Perigee (222,; ju , 

 Apogee (252,500 



18 a.m. 

 12 am. 



The Planets. — Mercury is an evening star, setting 

 about 8.40 p.m. on the ist. He is in aphelion on the 

 17th and at greatest elongation on the 20th, hence the 

 proximity of the time of aphelion to that of greatest 

 elongation makes the angular distance from the sun large, 

 and amount to 27' 24' E ; the position of the ecliptic in the 

 evening sky at this time of the year, howe\er, counter- 

 acts the otherwise fa\ourable coincidence of greatest 

 elongation and aphelion. 



\'enus is an evening star in Leo, setting abeut 7.50 

 p.m. on the 15th. 



Mars is a morning star in Cancer, rising about two 

 hours in advance of the Sun. 



Jupiter rises about 10.15 p.m- on the ist, and about 

 8.30 p.m. on the 31st. Towards the end of the month he 

 will be the most conspicuous object in the sky about 

 10 p.m., looking east. 



He is at the stationary point on the 20th, after which 

 his motion is retrograde or westerly. 



The equatorial diameter of the planet on the 17th is 

 44"-8, whilst the polar diameter is 2"-g less. 



Saturn is now well placed for observation, being a very 

 conspicuous object in the S.E. at 10 p.m., not very high 

 up. The planet is in opposition to the Sun on the loth, 

 hence this is the most favourable time for making obser- 

 \ations of the white spots which were seen last year and 

 used for the determination of the period of rotation, giving 

 a value of 10 h. 38 min. 



The polar diameter of the ball is i7"-4, whilst the major 

 and minor axes of the outer ring are 43"'4 and ii"*4 

 respectively. The northern surface of the ring is pre- 

 sented to us at an angle of 15 to our line of vision. 



Uranus is on the meridian about 8 p.m. near the middle 

 of the month, when he is about 10 minutes west of the 

 star 4 Sagittarii. His path on the borders of Ophiuchus 

 and Sagittarius may be seen on reference to the chart 

 appearing in the June number. 



Neptune is not suitably placed for observation, rising 

 about 5 a.m. 



Meteors : — 



The Stars : — 



About 9 p.m. at the beginning of the month the con- 

 stellations to be noticed are : — 



Zenith . Lyra ( Vega), Hercules, Draco. 



South . Sagittarius, Scorpio, Ophiuchus, Aquila; 



Aquarius and Capricornus to the S.E. 

 West . Bootes, Corona; Great Bear to the X.W., 



Virgo and Libra, S.W. 

 East . Cygnus, Delphinus, Pegasus, Aries; 



Andromeda and Cassiopeia to the N.E. 

 North . Ursa Minor, .Vuriga (Ca/^/Zrt on horizon). 

 Minima of Algol occur on the 14th at 11.22 p.m. and 

 on the 17th at 8.10 p.m. 



Telescopic Objects: — 



Double Stars: — Polaris, mags. 2-i, 95; separation 

 i8"-6. The visibility of the small star is used as a test 

 for a good 2-inch object glass. 



i Sagittae XIX.'' 45'", N. 18" 53', mags. 5, 10; separa- 

 tion 8"-6. 



a}, a- Capricorni XX.*" 12", S. 12' 51', mags, a' 4.5, 

 a'- 3'8 ; naked eye double, separation 373", very easy with 

 opera glasses. 



7 Delphini XX.^ 42™, N. 15' 46 , mags. 4-1, 5-0 ; sepa- 

 ration ii"-8. Very pretty double for small telescopes; 

 brighter component yellow, the other light green. 



Nebula;, &ic. — Dumb Bell nebula in \'ulpecula, nearly 

 4^ due north of y Sagittae. Rather faint object in a 

 3-inch. 



(M 8) Cluster in Sagittarius; large luminous field of 

 small stars ; fine object in pair of field glasses. .About 

 a degree E. of the star 4 Sagittarii and near to the 

 present position of Uranus. 



.Messler, of Berlin, Germany, and Gaumont, of Paris, 

 France, have finally succeeded in combining the grapho- 

 phone and the biog'raph so that perfect synchronism is 

 attained. It is now possible to see the pictures of a 

 cavalrj' drill and hear the commands as they issue from 

 the officer's lips. .\ singer accompanies her gestures 

 with the proper words and tones, creating- an illusion so 

 perfect as to make it in many cases almost impossible to 

 believe that what is seen is not life itself. It is hoped 

 that the invention may be so developed that it will be 

 possible to reproduce on the screen .scenes from all coun- 

 tries, accompanied with the appropriate sounds and 

 languages. The educational value of such a perform- 

 ance would be much greater than that of the unaccom- 

 panied, silent biograph. 



