286 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Decembeb 1, 1898. 



Denning's Comet (1881 V.).— In Ast. Nach., 3524, Dr. 

 Berberich gives a sweeping ephemeria for this comet, 

 wbich is computed to return to perihelion on February 

 10th, 1899. The conditions are, however, unfavourable 

 to its observation, for it will necessarily be extremely 

 faint, and only discernible in some of the large telescopes 

 employed in our chief Observatories. On December 6th the 

 comet will be in about R.A. 2HG-5°, Dec. - 27° or 31° east 

 of the sun, and much too near that luminary to allow of 

 its detection. 



The Novembek Leonids of 1898. — November weather 

 in the English climate is proverbially bad, but it is seldom 

 that the skies are so clouded and so thoroughly unfavour- 

 able for observation as they proved between November 8th 

 ^nd 15th in the present year. It is doubtful, therefore, 

 whether the Leonid shower has been successfully observed 

 anywhere in England. On November 13th and 14th dense 

 fogs prevailed in many parts of the country. At the time 

 of writing (November 15th) reports have only been received 

 from a few stations, but these are of a disappointing 

 character. At Bristol the sky was pretty constantly 

 obscured either by cloud or fog during the whole of the 

 second week of the month, and the only suitable oppor- 

 tunity for securing an observation occurred on the morning 

 of November 13th after 3 a.m. Meteors were, however, by 

 no means frequent on that occasion, only seven being 

 observed in an hour, and the Leonids were not represented 

 amongst them. At 4h. 4m. a.m. a brilliant flash lit up the 

 sky, and was probably due to the outburst of a very large 

 meteor, but the observer was watching the eastern region 

 from an open window, and the flash evidently had its 

 origin in the opposite quarter. Mr. H. J. Townsend, 

 writing from Leeds, says that the Leonids were lost in the 

 fogs which enveloped that district just at the important 

 time, and Mr. W. E. Besley makes a similarly unfavourable 

 report from Middlesex. On the night of the 10th, how- 

 ever, at llh. 29m., he saw a swift, streak-leaving meteor, 

 about equal in brightness to Sirius, passing from 98°+ 45° 

 to 63i°-f 47°. This may possibly have been a Leonid, 

 though its direction of flight was from a point several 

 degrees below the radiant in the " Sickle." Two minutes 

 later he registered a meteor of mag. 1^, shooting to jast 

 S. of /3 Aurigse from a radiant S. of S Ursae. Should the 

 bad weather have negatived the efforts of English observers 

 generally, it is still satisfactory to think that the atmo- 

 spheric conditions on the Continent and in America may 

 have been more favourable. We shall look forward with 

 interest to descriptions of the shower as witnessed at these 

 distant places. It would be a matter for great regret if 

 the Leonids came and went without being adequately 

 recorded. 



Meteoric Shower on September 25th, 1898. — M. A. 

 Hausuy, of the Observatory at Meudon, near Paris, writes 

 that four persons belonging to the Society for the Naviga- 

 tion of the Air noticed that shooting stars were surprisingly 

 frequent on September 25th, 1898. They were first noticed 

 at 9 p.m., when they were appearing at the rate of one per 

 minute. The numbers afterwards increased, until at 2 a.m. 

 on the morning of September 26th the maximum was 

 reached, the rate being three or four per minute. The 

 moon was ten days old at the time and shining brightly ; 

 the meteoric shower must therefore have been of very 

 special character to have asserted itself in the strength 

 assigned. From the indications afforded by the paths, 

 M. Hausuy says the radiant was probably situated in 

 Triangulum. 



Large Meteor. — The Indian papers contain accounts of 

 a fireball seen at Calcutta and other places on the evening 

 of October 4th at fih. 20m. It moved very slowly from 



W.S.W. to E., and it occupied about 10 seconds in its long 

 horizontal flight. It was five or six times as bright as 

 Venus. Another account from Calcutta says the meteor 

 passed from S.W. by W. to N.E., lighting up the whole 

 face of the Esplanade and (iovernment House almost as 

 brightly as an electric search light. The nucleus emitted 

 a sapphire-blue colour, but its material prior to vanishing 

 became red. The meteor was noticed at Sitarampur, two 

 hundred and forty miles from Calcutta, travelling from 

 S.W. to N.E. It was obviously a fine object of its class, 

 and one of those slow-moving fireballs directed from 

 radiants in the western sky. 



The Geminids. — This well-known annual shower will 

 recur on December 10th to 12th, and there being no inter- 

 ference from moonlight it ought to be very favourably 

 observed. It does not, like the Leonids and Andromedes, 

 occasionally present very imposing spectacles, but it is 

 more frequent in its apparitions, and will sometimes 

 furnish thirty or forty meteors in an hour. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR DECEMBER. 



By A. Fowler, f.b.a.s. 



SOLAR activity continues to furnish surprises for those 

 who make regular observations, notwithstanding 

 that the minimum of sunspots, under normal con- 

 ditions, is so near. The Sun will be at its least 

 distance from the earth on the 31st at 10 p.m. On 

 the 13th there will be a partial eclipse of the Sun, but, 

 as it will not be visible in this country, particulars are 

 considered unnecessary. 



Mercury is an evening star in the early part of the 

 month, arriving at greatest eastern elongation (21°) on the 

 4th. He is, however, too low for observation in our latitudes. 

 He will be in inferior conjunction on the 21st. 



Venus will be at inferior conjunction with the Sun on 

 the 1st, and will afterwards be a morning star. On the 

 17th she will rise about two hours before the Sun. She 

 will be stationary on the 21st. 



Mars rises soon after 8 p.m. at the beginning of the 

 month, and about 6 p.m. at the end. He is a conspicuous 

 object in Cancer, and, as will appear from the diagram of 

 his path given in the October number, his motion will be 

 direct until the 10th, when he is stationary, and afterwards 

 retrograde. His apparent diameter increases from 11-2" 

 on the 1st to 13-8" on the 31st, and his horizontal parallax 

 firom 10-6" to 13-1". 



Jupiter is a morning star. During the month he traverses 

 a direct path in the following part of the constellation Virgo. 

 Towards the end of the month he will rise shortly before 



3 A.M. 



Saturn may be considered not observable this month. 

 He will be in conjunction with the Sun on the 6th, and 

 will afterwards be a morning star. 



Uranus is a morning star, rising about two hom'S before 

 the Sun towards the end of the month. 



Neptune may be observed during the whole of the night. 

 He will be in opposition on the 15th, and on that date will 

 be about 50' north of ? Tauri. 



Conveniently observable minima of Algol will occur on 

 the 7th at 11.54 p.m. ; on the 10th at 8.43 p.m. ; on the 

 13th at 5.32 p.m. ; and on the 30th at 10.25 p.m. 



MirsL Ceti may, perhaps, continue as a naked eye star 

 throughout the month. 



The Moon will enter her last quarter on the 6th at 

 10.6 A.M.; will be new on the 13th at 11.43 a.m.: enter 

 her first quarter on the 20th at 3.22 a.m. ; and will be full 



