SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



8* 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 



iiercvrx . 



Venus 



Han 

 Jupiter 

 Saturn . 



aug. 

 . 5 — 



15 ... 

 25 ... 



. 5 ••■ 



15 .. 



5 - 



15 ... 

 - 



5 ... 



15 ... 



25 ... 



15 ... 



15 ... 

 •5 



K ■■• : : 



Rises, 

 h.m. 

 4.32 a.ni. 



Rises. 

 1.20 p.m. 

 8.1 

 1.31 a.m. 



Souths. 

 h. m. 

 1.23 p.m. 



9.2 a.m. 

 9.10 



9J9 



2.1 p.m. 

 1.28 



7.50 a.m. 



Sits, 

 h.m. 

 7.40 p.m. 



-.- 

 7.0 



Souths. 

 5.3S p.m. 



1 53 a.m. 

 9 49 



Semi 

 Diameter. 



2 1 

 ... 3" I 

 ... 3" 5 

 ... 9" o 



... 1- 9 



...U" 3 

 ... 7*8 



I" 2 



Position at Soon. 

 R.A. 



h.m. Dec. 



... 9.3 ... iff" 51' N. 

 ... 941 ... 13 54' 

 ...10.1S ... 10° 35' 



Sets. 

 ... 9.46 p.m. 

 ... 8.14 a.m. 

 ... 5.49 p.m. 



Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



h.m. 



... 10.20 . 



... 11.14 • 



... 11.56 . 

 ... 559 

 ... 6.47 

 ... 7-35 ■ 



... 11.37 ■ 



... 11.5 . 



... 15-30 ■ 



... 15-31 ■ 

 ... 5-26 . 



Dec. 



11° 22' N. 



4' 28' 



■° 43' S. 

 21° 9'N. 



21° 18' 



20° 33' 



3= 16' N. 



7° 3'N. 

 16° 57' S. 

 18° 50' S. 

 2I J 52' N*. 



. s Phases. 



Jupiter 1 

 Saturn' 



ir a.m. 



4 P.m. 



. 3 Pm 



... planet 4 yf N. 

 4°4I'N. 



f 1 > N. 



\enu- * 



. 7P-m- 



2' 31' S. 



Jupitr: 



Merc:- 

 Mars-t 



5 a.m. 

 7 a. in. 

 7 a.m. 



5° 2' N. 



... 



5" 32' N. 



rie horizon in 



England. 



iklu. 



A.m. h.m. 



IS/ Qr. ... Aug. 5 ... 6 25 P-"'- Fu " — Ao 8- '2 ■•■ 2-23 P-m. 

 ltd Qr 20... 8.29 a.m. jNVii- 2S ... 3.29 a.m. 



In perigee, distant 229,100 miles, August 7th, 

 9 p.m. ; in apogee, distant 251,200 miles, August 

 20th, 9 a.m. 

 Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon : 



Aug. 1 

 1 

 6 



2« 



30 

 3° 



about three days in June (17th, 18th and 19th), but 

 since then there have been several small spots, one 

 or two of considerable interest. 



Mercury is an evening star, reaching its greatest 

 elongation east, 27 12', at 5 p.m. on 26th, 

 when he sets about thirty-two minutes after the 

 sun. He cannot be said to be in good position for 

 observation. 



1 splendid object in the north-east as a 

 ng at about 1 am on August 1st, 

 and near 1 



b, Jupiter .in; too near the 



sun for observation. action of Jnpiter 



m. on the 14th, the latter 



ately happens in broad daylight, 



and when both the planet* ar<: bi 



d object, but inn. 1 be 

 looker! ■ :--.■ He sets at 



112 1st. 



tooth on with it. 



ild be look) I jrd, 



5th, 7th-Mth, loth, 



.ill tin- 



dates given in the first half of the month. Perseus 

 seems the portion of the heavens whence most of 

 these bodies radiate. 



Red Stars in position during August. 

 R.A. 



h.m. Dee. Magnitude. 



B. 579 Cepbei 21-to 59° 3/ N. 7-5 



a .. 21.40 5S 14' N. 4-6 Variable, orange-red 



B 599 „ 21.53 63 3' N. 57 



S ,, 21.37 78° 5' N. 7-4-u'5 Variable 



B 587 Cygni 21.32 44 50' N. 67 Orange ruby 



B.A.C 72ig ,. 20.44 45° 3' N. 7'o Variable (?) 



Cygni 21.40 37 N.-t- 7*0 Fine ruby 



Hour-glass Sea on Mars. — M. E. A. Antoniadi 

 contributes an interesting article to " Knowledge " 

 for July, in which he seems to prove conclusively 

 that considerable change has slowly taken place on 

 the western part of this marking during the 

 present century. It appears as if the " sea " has 

 gradually encroached upon the land. 



Jupiter's Satellites. — Mr. Douglas, of the 

 Lowell Observatory, has come to the conclusion 

 that the third moon rotates on its axis in 7d. 5I1., 

 nearly corresponding with the period of its revolu- 

 tion, 7d. 3h. 42m. 334s. The fourth also very 

 closely approximates the time of rotation with that 

 of revolution. 



The American Nautical Almanac has a new 

 Superintendent, Professor W. \V. Hendrickson, 

 head of the mathematical department in the Naval 

 Academy at Annapolis for twenty-four years, 

 having been appointed in place of Professor 

 Newcomb, who had retired. 



Dr. J. Franz has been appointed Professor of 

 Astronomy in the University of Breslau and 

 Director of its observatory. He has been Assistant 

 Professor of Astronomy at Konigsberg. 



The Photographic Atlas of the Moon, con- 

 sisting of enlargements, by Dr. Weinek, of 

 photographs from the Lick, Paris and Arequipa 

 Observatories, must be ready for commencing 

 publication, for its prospectus has been issued. It 

 is to be hoped that the work will be completed in 

 spite of its considerable price of jf 10 ; none too 

 long, however, for the work represented. 



Sunspots. — An illustrated paper on "The 

 Umbral Protrusion of Sunspots," communicated 

 to the British Astronomical Association by Mr. 

 F. K. McDonall, of the New South Wales Branch, 

 and read at the meeting at Essex Hall on June 

 30th, led to an interesting discussion by Captains 

 Noble and Steele, Mr. Maunder and Miss Brown. 

 The opinion generally expressed was that sunspots 

 in section were very like lunar craters, only pro- 

 portionately much more shallow. So much so is 

 this the case that the centre of the dark umbra, or 

 floor, is often elevated above the wall. 



Mi' Ai.van <; ("lakk, the famous optician, has, 

 we ap bear, passed away, at the age of 

 sixty-five. He was born in Massachusetts, al Fall 

 1 1<- worl ' ii "I 1 " iii' 1 iiIkt. entering the 

 firm upon I' 1 . ing j In " ■! I lie \u im Ii ol,j,-i 1 ive 

 at Washington, |o im b al Pulkova, and 36 inch at 

 the 1 .1 al i" great works of the 



firm until thi glass took ihe first 



Hi the glasses as well, and with one 



be djw overi d > I inion to Sirius, lop .. bii b 



■ ded I beli 



Lalande gold mea ' in i 62 The Yerlces glass is 

 nol 1 "■; to the mishap to the 



,,-y. 



