SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



33 1 



ASTRONOMY, 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 



April. 



Rises. 



h.m. 



5.35 a.m. 

 5-i; 



April. 

 Moon 2 ... 



... 4.51 

 Rita, 

 h.m. 



1.34 p.m. 

 1.16 a.m. 

 456 



Sets. 



h.m. 

 . 6.33 p.m. 

 ... 6.49 

 ... r •; 

 Souths. 



... 4.56 a.m. 

 ... 1.6 p.m. 



h.m 



... 0-17 



Mercury.. 



Wars 

 I Matter 





12 ... 

 22 ... 



Saturn 

 Vranns ... 12 ., 

 Neptune... 12 ., 



Souths. 



h. m. 

 . 1.2 p.m. 



I'll 



0.45 



0-47 

 . 0.51 

 . 1.3 



. 9.55 a.m. 

 . 11.33 p.m. 

 1049 

 106 



3.21 a.m. 



2-43 



3.5S p.m. 



Semi 

 Diameter. 



... 3' o 

 ... 4- 

 ... 5" 2 

 ... 5" o 

 ... 5' ■ 

 ... 5" 2 

 ... 2" 2 



...20" 3 



...20" O 

 ... 8" 2 

 ... 1" 9 

 ... i- 3 



Position at Soon. 

 R-A. 



Dec. 

 ... 5° 3'N. 

 ... S^ 4S' 

 ... 12" IS' 

 Ageat Neon, 

 it. h.m. 

 11 3 23 

 21 3 23 

 1 13 39 

 Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 

 h.m. Dec. 



1.45 ... 12° 26' X. 



2-34 - IS 3 7' 



2.48 ... 18° 51' 



1.30... 8°33'N. 



2.17 ... 13 12' 



Sets. 



h.m. 

 .. 3.37 a.m. 

 .. S.40 

 .. 9 30 p.m. 



... 3-5 



... 23-15 . 



... 12.19 



... 12-14 



... I2 - I0 . 



... 16.43 . 



... 16.4 



... 5-lS . 



17 19' 



. 6= 8' S. 



. 0° 18' S. 



. o° II' 



0° 35' 



20° 21' S. 

 . 20° 36' S. 



21° 4/ N. 



Full . 



Moon's Phases. 

 h.m. h.m. 



... 9.20 p.m. ird Qr. ... Apr. 13 ... 2.28 p.m. 



.. 20 ...10.21 .. lit Qr 29 ... 2.5 a.m. 



In perigee April 9th, at 10 p.m., distant 227,300 

 miles : and in apogee on 25th, at 7 p.m, distant 

 251,800 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon : 



pr. 6 ... Jupiter ... 4 a.m. ... planet 6° 59' N. 



10 ... .i;.l-.:rn ... 5 p.m. ... „ 5 t/ N. 



18 ... Mars' ... 2 am 6° it/ S. 



22 ... Mercnry* ... 3 a.m. ... „ 2 2* S. 



21 ... Vennst ... noon ... ,, 4 40' S. 

 * Below English horizon. t Daylight. 



Apr. 



V' 



Occcltations : 



Angle 

 Magni- appears. 



Re- A ngle 



from appears, from 



Star. tiide. h.m. Vtilex. h.m. Vertex. 



A Ophlochi ... 4 7 ■■• 2 38 am. ... 39° ... 3.8 a.m. ... 347° 



...52... 1.1 a.m.... 1* ... 1.15 a m. ... 331° 



Tn Sun has latterly been showing an increase 



■a rite -March lolh— there are at 



.2 spots and pores upon his surface. 



Mf.kccky is an evening star all the month, being 



at greatest elongation east ii'j 2)') at 1 am. on 



nth, and setting about two hours after the sun 



near that date I'/ser to the 



rning into inferior conjunction at 10 a.m. 



: ath being through Aries. 



•h taking it 

 . .lurus, 10 that at 

 :ifl>r 

 the tun it is v.uth of the lleiades. 



morning star in Aquaria!, and later 

 end of the month in 45m 

 in 



' ■ If) It Is 



ijh. 13m., 



It, l< A. 



Iti path 



towards the north-west, just north of the 4th- 

 magnitude £ Virginis. 



Jupiter is almost at its best for this year 

 southing as it does a little before midnight. The 

 equatorial belts are much contrasted, the southern 

 being dark and dense, and apparently double 

 through a part of its length, the extremities of 

 the double portion being noticeable with quite 

 small telescopes as distinct elbows. The northern 

 belt is quite lacking in the density of its com- 

 panion, besides having quite a different tint. 



Saturn rises about a quarter of an hour before 

 midnight at the beginning of the month, and two 

 hours earlier at the end. Situated in Ophiuchus, 

 S north-east of Antares. 



Uranus rises at 9.45 p.m. on 22nd, when it is 

 situated just more than i° south-east of the beautiful 

 double star, £ Scorpii. 



Neptune must be looked for early in the evening, 

 when it will be found a little west of 114 Tauri. 



The Zodiacal Light may be observed this 

 month following the line of the ecliptic, after 

 sunset. 



Meteors may be looked for about nth, 

 19th and 20th. 



Red Stars in position during April: 



12th, 



a Bootis, Arcturus 



R.A. 

 h. »i. 

 14. 11 

 14.26 

 14-19 







B 328 ,. 



B.A.C. 4628 Canes Yen. 13.46 



68 Virginis 13-22 



•yHydra: 

 R „ 



13-12 



I3'23 



The Solar Eclipse.- 



Dec. 



19° -13' N. 



31° 30, N. 



26 15' N. 



35° 15' N- 

 12° lo" S. : 



22° 20' S. ; 

 22° 3 6'S. ; 



Magni- 

 tude, 

 , j Reddish 

 1 yellow 



7'5 

 6 



5 



4 



Variable 



4-10 Variable 



-All the observers seem to 

 have had the most exceptional good fortune in 

 making their observations. The attempt to obtain 

 spectroscopically the rotation of the corona proved 

 a failure. The remarkable amount of light present 

 during totality was a noticeable peculiarity. The 

 totality, however, came to an end four seconds 

 earlier than was expected. 



Singular Object. — In the " Astronomische 

 Nachrichten," No. 3,477, Dr. Brendel, of Griefs- 

 wald, Pomerania, tells how that Postmaster Ziegler 

 and several others, on February 4th, saw a remark- 

 able body, about 6' in diameter, crossing the sun's 

 disc. The ingress was at ih. 10m. and the egress 

 at 2h. 10m. Berlin mean time. The direction being 

 towards the north-west, it can scarcely have been 

 1 Jr. Waltemuth's supposed second moon which he 

 predicted to be in transit on the 3rd. The object 

 is said to have been visible for nearly a quarter of 

 an hour before reaching the disc, and for nearly an 

 boor after leaving it. Unfortunately the Doctor 

 did not observe the object himself. 



A singular "nebula" has, according to Rev. 

 T. E. Espin's Circular, No 46, from Wolslngham 

 Observatory, under dale of February i6th, been 

 discovered by that observer. It la a " remarkable 

 ol.jei t. hitherto unrecorded, di-.( nvered on januai y 

 1'. ih. and seen on three oilier nights ll IS 

 elliptical, 1 long, major axis jy. , and rather 

 resemble-, some ol. < 111 11 : - medium than .'1 nebula, 

 , I believe, unique." it ll situated R.A. 



■ ill. ','.m . lie. -. . ,., 1 ,' (. |ioi ll I . . ,| I 



discovered with a 6 Im ii ai nromatli . and has been 

 ed wlih a i\ inrh at Edinburgh 



