28o 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Nov., 1904. 



The Face of the Sky for November. 



By W. Shackleton, F.R.A.S. 



The Sun. — On the ist the Sun rises at 6.55, and sets 

 at 4.32 ; on the 30th he rises at 7.44, and sets at 3.53. 

 The equation of time is a maximuni on the 3rd, the Sun 

 being i6m. 21s. before the clocl<. 



Sunspots and prominences have been numerous of 

 late ; at the time of writing five groups of spots are visible. 



The positions of the spots, &c., with respect to the 

 equator and poles may be deri\ed by employing the 

 following table : — 



The Moon : — 



Date. 



Nov. 7 . . 

 ,. 15 •• 

 .. 23 •• 

 ., 30 .. 



Phases. 



H. M. 



• New Moon 



J) First Quarter 



O Full Moon 



d Last Ouarter 



3 37 p.m. 



o 36 a.m. 



3 12 a.m. 



7 38 a.m. 



The Planets. — IVIercury is in superior conjunction 

 with the Sun at the beginning of the month, and towards 

 the end of the month he becomes an evening star, 

 setting about an hour after the Sun. 



Venus is an evening star setting about 5.45 p m. on the 

 1st, and about 6.15 p.m. on the 30th. Towards the end 

 of the month the planet will be observable after sunset, 

 but low down in the S.W. The disc is gibbous, and has 

 an apparent diameter of i3"'o. 



Mars is a morning star situated on the confines of 

 Leo and \'irgo, rising at 2 a.m. on the 15th. 



Jupiter is in an extremely favourable position for 

 observation, and is the most conspicuous object in the 

 evening sky looking S.E., being visible from sunset until 

 early morning. 



The equatorial diameter of the planet on the ist is 

 5o"-o, whilst the polar diameter is 3"-2 smaller. 



At II p.m. on the 19th the planet is in pro.\imity to 

 the Moon, being only i"i to the North. 



The configurations of the satellites, as seen in an in- 

 verting telescope at 10 p.m., are as follows: — 



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

 on the disc ; • signifies that the satellite is behind the disc, or in 

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



Saturn is on the meridian about i i hours after sunset ; 

 hence this is the best time for making observations ; the 

 brightness of the planet is diminishing in consequence of 

 increasing distance from the earth. 



The ring appears widely open and we are looking 

 clown on the northern surface at an angle of 16°; on the 

 5th the polar diameter of the ball is i3"'6, whilst the 

 major and minor axes of the outer ring are39"-4 and ii"-o 

 respectively. 



The planet is in (juadrature with the Sun on the 7th. 



The moon is near the planet on the evening of the 14th. 



Uranus is unobservable, setting shortly after sunset. 



Neptune rises about 11 p.m. near the middle of tlie 

 month ; his position in the constellation Gemini will be 

 seen on reference to the chart appearing in the January 

 number. 



Meteors : — 



The principal showers of meteors during the month are 

 the Leonids and Andromedids. Watch should be kept 

 for Leonids after midnight of the 14th and 15th, when the 

 moon will have set. 



Encke's Comet : — 



The re-discovery of Encke's comet by photography 

 with 3^ hours exposure at the Kiinigstuhl Observatory 

 has been confirmed by a later photograph taken at the 

 same place, which establishes its identity beyond doubt. 

 The comet is described as extremely faint and diffuse. 

 Its approximate position on November i is R..\. 23 hr. 

 17 ni., Dec. -j- 26° 5]', or a little east of 1^ Pegasi ; it is 

 moving in a direction W. by S. 



The Stars : — 



About g p.m , at the middle of the month, the following 

 constellations may be observed: — 

 Zenith . Cassiopeia. 

 South . Andromeda, Pisces Cetus; Pegasus, 



Aquarius towards S.W. 

 West . .Vijuila, Cygnus, Lyra a little north of 



west, Corona N.W. setting. 

 East . Auriga, Perseus, Pleiades, Taurus ; Aries 



to the S.E. ; Orion rising S.E. 

 North . Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cepheus; 



Draco a little west of north. 

 Minima of Algol will occur on the .Sth at 1 1 .50 p.m., on 

 the nth at S.39 p.m., and on the 14th at 5.28 p.m. 



Telescotic Objects: — 



Double Stars : — v Cassiopeise o'' 43™, N. 57° 17', 

 mags. 3J, yh ; separation 5"-7. Binary star. 



X Arietis i'' 52"^, N. 23°-6', mags. 4, 8; separation 37". 

 Components white and blue ; easy with power 20. 

 Persei 2^ 44'", N. 55°-28' ; mags. 4, 



separation 

 28". The brighter component is orange, the other blue. 

 There are also several other fainter stars very near. 



