SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



177 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Position at Xoon. 

 Rists. Sits. R^l. 



Nov. h.m. h.m. h.m. Dec. 



Sun ... 3 ... 7.0 a.m. ... 4.2S p.m. ...14.36 ... 15^ 15' S. 

 13 ... 7.17 ... 4.12 ...15-16 ... iS c 8' 



23 ... r-34 ... 3-59 ...15-58 ... 20° 29' 



Rises. Souths. Sets. Age at Noon. 



Nov. h.m. h.m. '':.>»:. rf. h.m. 



Moon 3 ... 2.11p.m. ... 7_t3 p.m. ... 0.15 a.m. 8 12 32 

 13 ... 6_t8 ... 2.35 a.m. ...11. 16 18 12 32 



23 ... 6.34 a.m. ...10.46 ... 2.4S p.m. 28 12 32 



Position at Noon. 

 Souths. Semi R.A. 



Nov. h. m. Diameter. h.m. Dec. 



Hcrcury... 3 — n 33 a.m. ... 2" 4 ... 14.25 ... 13= 4S'S. 



13 ... 11.56 ... 2" 3 ... 15.2S ... 19° 16' 



23 ... 0.22 p.m. ... 2" 4 ... 16.33 •■• 23 = 2 9' 



Venus ... ' ... 10.H a.m. ... 5" 7 — 13-3 — 4 = 55' S. 



J3 ... 10.8 ... 5" 5 ... 1349 - 9° 35' 



23 ... 10.26 ... 5" 4 — 14-37 — 13 54' 



Vats ... 13 ... 11.54 ... 1" 9 ... 15.26 ... IS- 51' S. 



Jupiter ... 13 ... S-42 ...15" I ... 12.13 — o° 12' S. 



Saturn ... 13 ... 0.29 p.m. ... 7" o ... 16.1 ... lS° 51' S. 



Uranus ... 13 ... 0.15 ... 1" 8 ... 15-47 — 19° 44' S. 



Stf.ur.e... :z ... 1.55 a.m. ... I* 2 ... 5-=5 — 2I J 49'N. 



Moon's Phases. 

 h.m. h.m. 



ittQr. ...Nov. 1 ... 2.37 p.m. Full ... Nov. 9 ... 9.50 a.m. 

 yd Qr. ... „ 17 ... 2.2 p.m. Sew ... ,, 24 ... 9.20 a.m. 



In apogee. November nth, at 10 a.m., distant 

 252.500 miles; and in perigee on 24th, at 3 p.m., 

 distant 221.700 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon : 

 Nov. 13 ... Ceres ... 12 p.m. ... planet 0° 2c/ S. 



JupiterM ... 4 p.m. 



23 ... Venus" ... 3 a.m. 



24 ... Mars» ... 9 a.m. 



24 ... Saturn* ... 12 a.m. 



25 .. Mercury" ... 2 a.m. 



6° 9' N. 



6° 39- N. 

 4° 4' N. 

 5° 5/ N. 

 " o" N. 



Below English horizon. + Daylight. 



The Sun should be watched for spots, traces of 

 •rable activity being frequently visible. 



Mercury, being in superior conjunction with 

 the sun at 5 a.m. on November 7th, is too close 

 for observation this month. This is unfortunate, 

 seeing it is in conjunction with Mars, Uranus and 

 Saturn on the 12th, 10th and 18th, being only 21' 

 south of Mars at 7 p.m on the 12th. 



-> is still a morning star, rising at 4 27 a.m. 

 on the ist. and 5 57 a.m. on the 30th. Its angular 

 diameter is gradually contracting, and its form 

 more nearly approaching a circle. 



. Satccn and Uranus: are in superior 

 conjunction on November 21st, H p.m. and 1 a.m., 

 and 25th, 7 a.m. respectively, and so are too close 

 to the sun for observat: is in conjunction 



with Uranus, only 24' south at yam on the 21st, 

 ■h Saturn at 7 a m. on the 27th 



Jopmi i* a morning Mar, rising about 3,13 a.m. 

 cm the 1st, and 14', am on the 30th, its path 

 taking it close south of the 3rd. magnitude n 



i». Its diameter is increasing, and the phe- 



•i of its belts and sate: 



r';»tE rises early in the evening, mi i-; 

 situated between the "crab nebula and the 

 ;?h magnitude 114 Tauri 



Meteors should be looked for, particularly on 

 November 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th-oth, nth-i5th, 19th 

 and 27th. Mr. W. F. Denning, of Bristol, expects 

 an abundant display on the morning of the 14th, 

 a repetition of that of 1S64, though possibly 

 not so brilliant. The radiant point is R.A. ion. 

 and Dec. N. 23 , hence they bear the name of 

 Leonids. 



Red Stars in position during November : 



R.A. 



k. m. Dec. Magnitude, 

 a Tauri, Aldebaran 4.30 16 IS' N. 1 



B. 51 Camelopardi 2.47 63 5c/ N. 6.5 Variable, noe 



B. f5 „ 3.32 62 15' N. 6.6 Tied 



B. S3 „ 4.39 67° 5/ N. 7 



P. III.97 „ 3.32 59°33'N. 6 Orange red 



— Camelopardi ... 3.4S 6o°50'N. : J : 5 



— Tauri 4.17 20 30* N. + 6 or 7 Fine red 



— Eridani 3.39 10° S. + 8 Closely N., 



following 5 



Saturn's Ring System. — From Lick Observa- 

 tory it is reported that Professor J. M. Schaeberle 

 has observed a division of the middle, or B, ring of 

 Saturn, only 07" from its inner edge, about equal in 

 width to the Cassini division between A and B. 

 It is not a black division, and in a poor air is very 

 apt to be overlooked. It appears to be vaguely 

 indicated in De la Rue's drawing reproduced in 

 Smyth's "Speculum Hartwellianum." Schaeberle, 

 however, cannot see the division between B and C, 

 announced by Herr Leo Brenner, and which was 

 seen by Dawes in 1S52-3 and Secchi in 1S55. 

 Brenner, writing to the " Observatory," reports 

 the recovery of Otto Struve's (1851) division of the 

 crape veil, or C, which was seen also by Struvaert 

 in 18S7. Brenner also speaks of a new division of 

 A. inside the Encke division, which at the time of 

 observation was more conspicuous than Encke's. 

 Divisions have been observed on the inner part 

 of A by Kater, 1825, Secchi, 1S55, as well as 

 suspected by others. These observations prove 

 what constant change is taking place amongst 

 the particles which go to make up this magnificent 

 appendage. 



August Meteors. — Professor A. S. Herschel 

 contributed an interesting article on "Outlying 

 Clusters of the Perseids " to the October number 

 of "Nature." The same number notices photo- 

 graphs of a meteor taken by Professor E. E. 

 Barnard. The plates were exposed in two cameras 

 on the mornings of August 10th, nth and 12th. 

 The meteor trail was from R.A. 2h. 59m., N. Dec. 

 23 7, to R.A. 2h. 59m., N. Dec. 32°o. Near the 

 southern end of its path the meteor — which must 

 have been brilliant — appears to have exploded ; 

 the trail — much fainter — is continued about 1° 

 further in the same direction, when a second minor 

 explosion seems to have taken place. On a photo- 

 graph taken by Mr. Butler some two years since, 

 the direction of the meteor's trail was changed 

 after the explosion. 



VbnuB, — M. Camile Flammarion contributed 

 the first part of a useful article on "Some New 

 Views as to the Planet Venus" to the October 

 number of " Knowledge." On examining the 

 illustrations we were struck by the remarkable 

 agreement between the three drawings taken by 

 MM Antoni.vli, M.ithii-u and I l.unmarion, at 

 Juvisy, 1H79, July 14th, the first iwo at 2ih. 15m., 

 the third fifteen minutes later. Again, there is a 

 remarkable agreement between those by Sir W. 

 Hersclx-I, 1780, |une 19th — taken apparently with 

 a front view reflector — and M. E. A. Antoniadi, 



|une j jrd, zih, 45m. 



