SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



49 



Variable stars need persistent and careful 

 watching. During July the following stars of this 

 class are well placed for observation ; — 



CONDUCTED BV FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Sun 



Moon 



1896. 

 July 



Afercuyy. 



Venus 



Jupiter . 

 Saturn . 

 Uranus . 



Neptune . 



3rd Qr, ... July 3 

 1st Qr 17 



Rises, 

 h.m. 



A.M. 



• 349 • 

 ■ ■ 3-58 . 

 . 4.10 . 



• 4-23 . 

 Rises. 



P.M. 



. 10.59 • 



A.M. 



. 4.12 . 



P.M. 



. 6.17 , 



P.M. 



• 9-43 • 

 Souths, 



A.M. 



. 10.33 •■ 

 . 10.43 •■ 



. 11.22 .. 



P.M. 

 . 0.7 .. 



A.M. 



. 11.55 •■ 



P.M. 



. 0.8 .. 



. 0.21 .. 



. 0.32 .. 



A.M. 



. 7.12 .. 



. 6.59 .. 



, 6.47 - 



• 6.33 .. 

 P.M. 



. 1. 13 •• 

 . 6.43 .. 



. 7-52 .. 



A.M. 

 9.49 ■■ 



Sets, 

 h.m. 



P.M. 



. 8.18 

 . 8.12 

 . 8.2 



• 748 

 Souths. 



A.M. 



• 4-39 



P.M. 



■• 9-35 ■• 



A.M. 



■• 4-34 •■ 



Semi 

 Diameter. 



.. 4" 2 .. 



.. 3" 3 •■ 



,. 2" 7 .. 



.. 2" 5 .. 



4 9 



4" 9 



3" 5 



3" 6 



3" 8 



4" o 



14" 4 



8" o 



I" 9 



I" 9 



Position at Noon. 



R.A. 

 h.m. 

 6.44 . 

 7-25 . 

 8.5 . 

 S45 . 

 Siis. 



A.M. 

 10.41 

 P.M. 



90 



A.M. 

 11.56 



R.A. 



5-14 • 

 6.1 . 

 7.17 ■ 



845 . 



634 



7.28 

 8.20 



9. 11 



1-53 

 2.20 

 2.47 

 3-13 • 



9.12 . 

 1443 ■ 

 15-13 . 



Dec. 

 23° 4' N. 



20° 20' 

 18° 6' 



Dec. 



.. 19° 31' N. 



.. 21^ 59' 



.. 22° 52' 



.. 19° 48' 



.. 23° 41' N. 



- 22° 45' 



.. 20° 42' 



.. 17° 40' 



.. 9° 50' N. 



.. 12"^ 14' 



.. 14° 25' 



.. i5° 21' 



.. 16° 55' N. 



• ■ 13° 23' S. 



• 17° 38' S. 



5.12 ... 21" 38' N. 



Moon's Phases. 



1.23 a.m. 

 4.4 p.m. 



New 

 Full 



July 10 ... 



,- 24 .. 



7.35 P-m. 

 545 P-m. 



Sun. — The spots are now usually small, both in 

 number and size, although there was a slight 

 increase in activity about the first days of June. 

 On three consecutive days in April, and again on 

 three days in May, the Greenwich photographs 

 show no spots on the disc. 



Mercury is at its greatest elongation W. (21-' 13') 

 on July 4, and may be looked for as a morning 

 star, rising more than an hour before the Sun. 



Venus, being close to the Sun, is badly placed. 

 The same must be said for Jupiter and Neptune. 



Saturn sets about midnight in the middle of the 

 month. The ring is a magnificent object ; on July 

 2gth the greater axis of the outer ring is 39'55", and 

 the minor axis ly/g". 



Auroral displays of considerable brilliancy 

 were seen on May 3rd, lasting three hours, and 

 May 17th, lasting two hours. Mr. C. Roberts, of 

 Aberdeen, sends detailed descriptions to our con- 

 temporary, " The English Mechanic." 



Meteors. — Large meteors should be looked for 

 on July II, 20-21, 25-30. 



'? Aquilae .. 



12 ,, * . 

 M Cephei . 

 X- Cygnif. 

 34 P „ .. 

 T „ .. 

 /3 Lyrae ., 



13 R„ . 

 K Scuti 



R.A. 

 h. m. 



19 45 

 18.55 

 21.40 



1945 

 20.13 

 20.41 . 

 18.45 ■ 

 18.51 , 

 18 40 



Magnitude. 

 Max. Mm. 



I'eriod. 



■ 3-5- 

 • 5 •• 



• 47-- 

 . 6 



7d. 4h. i4ni. 4s. 



.. 4 ■ 



■ 4 • 



■ 3 •• 

 • 5 •• 



■ 3'5- 



. 6 .. 



.13 .. 

 . 6 

 6 

 • 4-5 ■ 



5 or 6 years. 

 4o6'42 days. 



i2d. 2ih. 5iin.; 



• 4'3- 



• 47-- 



. 4-6 

 ■ 9 •• 



717 days. 



Dec. 



.. 0° 40' N. 

 - 5° 54' S. 

 .. 58° 11' N. 

 .. 32° 35' N. 

 • • 37' 37' N. 

 .. 33° 51' N. 

 .. 33° 12' N. 



.. 43°46'N. 

 .. 5° SO* S. 

 * Variable in colour, yellowish-white to red. 

 t s.f. The double star X on the maps. Discovered by 

 Kirch, in 1686, to be variable. It is splendidly red, but 

 seems to lose colour as it gains light. 



; Within this period there occur two maxima and two 

 unequal minima. 



Saturn's Rings. — At the .\pril and May meetings 

 of the British Astronomical Association, there were 

 most interesting discussions upon the rings of Saturn. 

 M. Antoniadi, under \ery fine definition, at Juvisy, 

 found the division of the outer ring, known as 

 Encke's, absent, whilst the ring itself seemed broken, 

 as it were, into patches or fragments. A few days 

 after, Mr. C. Roberts found the Encke division in 

 its normal state. Abundant evidence is being 

 gathered that the ring is not constant in appear- 

 ance ; but this subject is so wide that we must 

 shortly deal with it in another column. 



Swift's Comet. — There appears to be some 

 doubt as to whether the comet generally observed 

 was really that discovered by Swift. The comet 

 was travelling almost directly north, just bearing 

 slightly to the east, and should have been, according 

 to calculation, some five degrees further south, oa 

 April 13th, than the place announced by Swift. 

 Moreover, Professor Lewis Swift described the one 

 he saw as travelling slowly to the west. Was the 

 announcement right , after all, that the Lick observers 

 saw Swift's own comet on April i6th, to the south- 

 west of its place of disco\ery ? The writer saw the 

 comet travelling through Cassiopea on May 9th, 

 loth, nth, and on the last occasion was struck 

 with its increased faintness. Mr. S. H. R. Salmon, 

 on May 27th, told the British Astronomical 

 Association how, on May 4th, he had noticed a star 

 of about ninth magnitude, when observed through 

 the comet, dimmed to the extent of at least one 

 magnitude. This observation is almost, if not 

 quite, the first record where a star has thus seemed 

 to lose its lustre whilst covered by a comet. 

 Moreover, some other stars were not appreciably 

 fainter when covered by this same comet. Was it 

 owing to any peculiarity of colour in the light 

 of the star ? 



Meteor of April i2Th. — I was interested to 

 read the notice in Science-Gossip of the meteor 

 of April 1 2th. It was by far the most brilliant I 

 have ever seen. I was crossing a field about three 

 miles from Leicester, and could with difficulty 

 trace the path in the dusk of the evening, when 

 suddenly the scene was lit up by a flood of light 

 as of moonlight, and glancing upwards I saw a 

 large meteor slowly sailing across the heavens, 

 leaving a rocket-like trail of sparks behind it. It 

 was moving in a south-westerly direction, and 

 when I first saw it it was about forty-five degrees 

 above the horizon, and disappeared about thirty 

 degrees above the horizon. — Geo. C. Turner, Park- 

 hurst, Upper Neu Walk, Leicester : June nth. 



