SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



207 



ASTRONOMY 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Dec. 



Rises, 

 h.m. 



... 3 ... 7-19 a.m. 

 13 ... S.o 

 =3 ... - " 



Rises. Souths. 



Dec. h.m. h.m. 



Moon pan. ... 7.49 p.m. 



13 ... 8.9 ... 2.57 a.m. 



23 ... S-4 a.m. ...11.33 



Position at Noon. 



Sits. R.A . 



h.m. h.m. Dec. 



... 3.51 p.m. ...16.40 ... 22 12' S. 

 ... 3.49 ...17.24 ... 23- 12' 



... 3.52 ...1S.9 ... 23 26' 



Sets. Age at Noon. 



h.m. d. h.m. 



... 1.47 a.m. 9 2 40 



...10.42 19 2 40 



... 3.14 p.m. 29 2 40 



Position at Noon. 



Souths. Semi R.A. 



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



Iftnmij... 3 ... o_)9 p.m. ... 2" 5 ... 17-40 ... 25° 33' S. 



13 ... 1.15 ... 2" 9 ... 18.45 - 25° 18' S. 



2; ... 1.25 ... 3- 6 ... 19.35 ... 22° 49' S, 



Venus ... 3 ... 10.37 a.m. ... 5" 3 ... 15.27 ... 17 39' S. 



13 ... 10.49 ... 5- 2 ... 16.19 ... 20 38' S. 



23 ... 11.3 ... 5" I ... 17.12 ... 22° 37' S. 



Vars ... 13 ... 11.27 ... I" 9 ... l 6 -56 ... 23= 5' S. 



... 13 ... 7.1 ...16" 2 ... 12.30 ... 1° 54' S. 



Saturn ... 13 ... 10-46 ... 7* o ... 16.15 ••■ J 9° 32' S. 



Uranus ... 13 ... 10.24 ... 1" 8 ... 15.54 ••■ 20 7' S. 



Neptune... 13 ... :1.50 p.m. ... 1" 3 ... 5.21 ... 2i°46'N. 



Moon's Phases. 

 h.m. h.m. 



1st Qr. ...Dec 1 ... 3.15 a.m. Full ... Dec. 9 ... 4.54 a.m. 



yd Qr :- ... 4.22 a.m. New ... ,, 23 ... 7.55p.m. 



lUQr 30... 7.27 p.m. 



In apogee. December Sth, at 11 a.m., distant 

 252.600 miles; and in perigee on 23rd, at 3 a.m., 

 distant 222.300 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon: 

 Dec 18 ... Jupiter* ... Sa.m. ... planet 6° 50" N. 

 22 ... Saturn* ... 5 am. ... ,, 5° 4/ N. 



22 ... Venus* ... 10 p.m. ... ,, 3° 4"' N. 



23 ... Man ... 5 a.m. ... „ 2 26' N. 

 25 ... Mercury* ... 5 a.m. ... ,, 0° 24' S. 



• Below English horizon. t Daylight. 



Occcltation and Near Approaches: 



A tittle Re- A ngU 



Maeni- appears. from appears, from 



Dec. Star. tude. h.m. Vertex, h.m. vertex. 



6 ... * Arieti ■p.m. ... 7x° ... 3.X4 p.m. ... 325° 



icf ... Near approach. 

 19 ... 69 Yirginlt 4'9 ... 6.23 a.m. ... 223 ... ,, 



The Sun has now been very quiescent for a few 

 weeks. No dark spots were seen on disc for a few 

 days near the end of October. 



cry is an evening star, attaining his 



greatest elongation ea at midnight on 



h About this time it sets an hour and 



a half after the sun, but is badly placed for 



obser-. 



a morning star, in conjunction with 

 Uranus at 2 p.m on the -Sth, Venus being 17' N 

 She is in conjunction with Saturn at h p.m on the 

 12th. and with Mars at 11 p m on thi 

 her position if so low that she cannot be well 

 observed. 



ire too Close to the 

 •an for observation 



jcrtTKK travel* along a short direct path 

 south-west - binary star y Vii 



O. on the 1st, and seven minutes 

 after ■ 



Neptune is in opposition at S p.m. on the 12th, 

 and so is at his best for observation, appearing as 

 an Sth-magnitude star south-west of the crab 

 nebula, and a little west of (,'Tauri. 



Ceres, the minor planet, discovered on January 

 1st, 1S01, shining as an Sth-magnitude star, comes 

 into opposition on Christmas Day. Its position 

 on the 1st is R.A. 6h. 45m. gs., Dec. N. 25 29' 13"; 

 and on the 31st, R.A. 6h. 17m. 25s., Dec. N. 

 27° 5S' 2", a retrograde path through Gemini into 

 the confines of Auriga, passing about nth north of 

 e Geminorum. 



Meteors may be looked for specially on Decem- 

 ber Sth, oth, nth, 12th and 21st. 



Red Stars in position during December : 



R.A. 



h. ■;-. Dec. Magnitude. 

 o l Orionis (B. 157) 4.47 14 10' N. 5 Variable (?) 



— ,, ... 4.59 o° 59' N. 6.5 Fine garnet 



a ,, Betelgeuze 5.50 7°23'N. 1-1-4 Variable 



31 „ ... 5.24 I" 20' S. 5 



B. 14S Auriga? ... 6.28 3S 32' N. 6-3 Fine red 



-T ., - 5-53 46° 20' N.+ 5 



ii9Tauri 5.26 lS°30'N. : l : 5 



/ A few minutes 



s.p. and also 



*7 Geminorum ... 6S 22 32' N. 4 -{ n.p. are two 



j other ruddy 



6.15 



35' N. 



stars 

 Orange 



B ^a^s 2 ^ ni3 ]^ ^6'S. 5-5 



Comet a 1897 was discovered on October 16th 

 by Mr. Perrine, of the Lick Observatory, about 

 equal to an Sth-magnitude star, in Camelopardus, 

 and having a short tail. Its path has carried it 

 through the northern part of Cassiopea and 

 Cepheus and now it is travelling through Draco. 

 It should reach perihelion on December Sth, when 

 its distance from the sun will be 136 the earth's 

 distance = 10. It was nearest to us on October 

 23rd, when its distance was o-8. Most observers 

 describe it as not exceeding 10th magnitude, and 

 it is growing fainter. 



The Lick Observatory. — We regret to learn 

 that Professor E. S. Holden has resigned the 

 Directorate, his official relations ending with the 

 present year. Professor J. M. Schaeberle will be 

 acting director. Another unfortunate cause for 

 regret is that the Crossley 36-inch silver-on-glass 

 reflector does not render such good results as it 

 should, the cause being found to lie in its focal 

 length being too short. 



The Yerkes Observatory is at last in working 

 order. 



The Gresham Lectures, November 2nd to 5th, 

 proved of great interest ; some of the slides shown 

 were of exceptional interest, one being a grand 

 painting of Jupiter by Mr. N. E. Green, and 

 another was a magnificent photograph of the 

 cluster a Centauri taken at Arequipa. 



1 . Winnbcke's Comet will probably be 

 picked up before this is in the reader's hands. 

 The comet was discovered in 1819 by l'ons on 



iunc 12th. Winnecke in 1H.5S discovered thai il 

 I peri 1 Ol 6 eanda-half year-., travelling in 

 an elliptic orbit. It has been obsei ed al each 

 return since, except 1863 and 1880. 



The British ici vt ion will 



1 ' ,i.,n 1 1, liege, '.11 t lie 



, ibai 



