SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Moon 



Oct. 

 . g .. 



19 .. 

 29 .. 



Risfs. 

 h.m. 



6.16 a.m. 

 6.33 

 6.50 



Rises. 

 lo.ii a.m. 

 3-53 P-m. 

 10.43 



Souths, 

 h.m. 



9 ... 11.39 a.m. 



19 ... 10.44 



29 ... 10.41 

 9 ... 1. 21 p.m. 

 19 ... 1.30 

 29 ... 1.42 

 9 ... 4 28 a.m. 

 19 ... 3.59 

 29 •■• 3.25 

 . ig ... 8.34 a.m. 

 . 19 ... 1. 14 p.m. 

 . ig ... 1.29 p.m. 

 Neptune ... iQ ... 3.25 a.m. 



Mercury. 



Mars 



Jupiter 

 Saturn 

 Uranus 



Sets, 

 h.m. 

 ... 5.19 p.m. 

 ■■• 4-57 

 - 4-37 



Souths. 

 ... 2.9 p.m. 

 ...10.29 

 ... 5.44 a.m. 



Semi 

 Diameter. 

 ... 5" o 

 ... 4" o 

 ... 3" o 

 ... 5" 6 

 ... 5" 8 

 ... 6" o 

 ... 6" o 

 ... 6" 5 

 ... 7" o 

 ...15" 4 

 ... 7" I 



Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



Dec. 



6° 34' S. 

 10° 16' 

 J 3" 



h.m. 



13-2 



13-39 

 14.17 



43' 



Sets. 

 ■ 556 p.m. 

 49 a.m. 

 1.48 p.m. 



Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



h.m. 

 12.54 

 12.38 

 13.15 

 1435 

 15.24 



Dec. 



7° 31' S. 



2= 38' 



5'' 38' 

 15° 13' S. 

 19° 8' 



16.15 ••• 22° 13' 



5-42 

 5.52 

 5-57 

 10.24 

 158 

 15-23 

 5-17 



23" 14' N. 

 23° 29' 

 24° 5' 

 10° 57' N. 

 15° 30' S. 

 18° ig' S. 

 21'' yj N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



New ... Oct. 6 ... 10. 18 p.m. 1st Qr. ... Oct. 13 ... 2.47 p.m. 

 Full ... „ 21 ... 4.17 ,, 3rdQr.... ,, 29 ... 3.21 ,, 



Sun. — The spots are small and few in number, 

 many appearing as the merest pores, quite hidden 

 by the faculee as they approach near the limb. 



Mercury is very badly placed for observation 

 early in the month, being in inferior conjunction 

 with the sun on October Sth, but improves some- 

 what later in the month, reaching its greatest 

 elongation W. (18^) on the 24th, at 8 a.m. 



Venus is poorly situated all the month. 



Mars is getting into good position for the ordinary 

 observer, rising in the evening at 8h. 32m. on ist, 

 and a few minutes before 6 o'clock on 31st. Its 

 angular diameter is, however, less than half that 

 of Jupiter, but many of the details of its surface 

 are very evident, even with the aid of small instru- 

 ments. 



Jupiter may be observed in the later morning 

 hours, rising at 1.30 on October 20th. 



Saturn and Uranus are too near the sun for 

 observation. 



Neptune's tiny disc is on the meridian about 

 4m. earlier than that of Mars on igth, and so is 

 getting into fair position for observation. 



Meteors may be looked for on October 13th, 

 15th, 17th, iSth, 22nd, 24th and 29th, many 

 radiating from Orion and Gemini. 



Brooks' tiny comet is now getting farther from 

 the earth, though still nearing the sun. 



Variable Stars. — During October observations 

 should be made on — 



K.A. Ma^nitutle. 



h.m. S.Dec. Max. Mm. Period. 



o Ceti 2.12 ... 3° 34' ... 17 ... 9-5 ... 331-3363 days. 



This star long since earned for itself the title of 

 Mira. In colour it is usually yellow, though Sir 

 John Herschel described it as very full ruby. It is 



not always equally l)ril!iant at maximum, and its 

 period was said by Argclander to show a probable 

 regular alternation to the extent of twenty- live clays. 

 Its last maximum was reached about February 12th 

 last, when its magnitude was about 3-5. The star, 

 a Cassiopeai, in last month's list, rcvjuires careful 

 observation, as periods so different as 71J i days 

 and 50 98 days have been assigned to it. 



The Total Solar Eclipse. — Allhough our 

 Astronomer Royal at Jesso and the friends at 

 Vadso were disappointed, successful observations 

 were made by Dr. !•:. J. Stone and Mr. Shackclton 

 at Karmakul Island, Novaya Zemlya, whither they 

 had been taken by Sir Cieorge Hadcn-rowell in his 

 yacht, the " Otaria." The Russian observers at 

 some of the Siberian stations, and observers at Bodo, 

 in Norway, and some other places, also seem to have 

 made successful observations. 



Remarkable Observations.— The " New York 

 Herald" records that on July 21st, Prof. W. K. 

 Brooks, of the Smith Observatory, Geneva, N.Y., 

 whilst observing the moon with the lo-inch equa- 

 toreal, saw a round, dark object pass slowly before 

 it. It appears to have been a meteor too far from 

 the earth to have been rendered incandescent by 

 its atmosphere. The object moved horizontally 

 from east to west, the transit occupying three or 

 four seconds. The apparent diameter was about 

 one-thirtieth that of the moon. The real distance 

 from the earth being unknown, it is, of course, quite 

 impossible to give the real diameter of the meteor. 

 On June 27th, at i o'clock in the morning, the 

 writer of these notes was looking at the moon with 

 a 2-inch achromatic, power 44, when a tiny black 

 object, slightly elongated, slowly sailed past from 

 west to east, the transit occupying three or four 

 seconds. This object was believed to be a bird of 

 large size at a considerable distance. There was, 

 however, nothing like fluttering observed. 



Dr. Hubert A. Newton, Professor of Mathe- 

 matics at Yale College, has passed away. He 

 interested himself much in the motions of comets 

 and meteors, and did much to establish the fact of 

 the orbit of the November Meteors, and predicted 

 the great shower of 1866, which is expected to be 

 repeated again in 1899. He was born in 1S30, at 

 Sherburne, N.Y., and in 1S72 was electetl an 

 Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 

 1875 he was chosen Vice-President, and in 1S85 

 President of the American .Association for the 

 Advancement of Sciences, of which he had been a 

 member since 1S50. 



Another Lunar Object. — The northern of the 

 three craters crossing the eastern floor of the Mare 

 Crisium, known as Peirce A., is very interesting. 

 It is the smallest of the three, and in a drawing by 

 Mr. Edmund Neison. dated July 27th, 1S77. is 

 shown as joined to Peirce by a ridge, having a 

 convexity towards the west. About three days after 

 the sun has risen upon it, a brightish ring appears on 

 the Mare around it, and remains visible until about 

 sixty hours before the sun sets upon it. The area 

 within this ring is darker than the surrounding .sur- 

 face. The northern wall of the crater seems to be 

 near the centre of the ring. There appears to be 

 some doubt about the constant visibility of the 

 crater, some observers claiming the total disappear- 

 ance of Peirce A. under a high sun, while some never 

 seem to quite lose it. The writer has always seen 

 the north wall as a bright spot in the middle of the 

 darker area, with one exception, 1895, March nth, 

 2 am. Attention to this crater might prove useful. 



