SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



337 



CONDUCTED BV FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Sill 



Mercury.. 



I'eiius 



Mars 



Jupiter . 

 Saturn . 



Uranus . 

 Neptune . 



May. 

 . 7 ••• 



17 ... 

 27 ... 



. 7 ." 

 17 ... 

 27 ... 



7 • 

 17 .. 

 27 .. 



7 • 

 17 ., 

 27 .. 



7 • 

 17 .. 

 27 ., 

 17 . 

 17 .. 

 17 .. 

 17 . 



Rises. 



h.m. 

 . 4.22 a.m. 

 ,. 4-7 



■• 3-55 



. 7.58 a m. 

 . 9-55 p.m. 

 . 1.41 a.m. 



SoutJis. 



h. in. 

 . 1.5 p.m. 

 . 0.20 

 . 11.21 a.m. 

 .. 10.59 



. lO.II 



■ 9-38 

 . 4-4Z p.m. 

 . 4.26 

 . 4.10 

 .. 6.31 

 . 11-59 

 . 11-55 

 . 1.31 



Sets. 



h.m. 

 .. 7.30 p.m. 

 " 7-46 

 " 7-59 



Souths. 

 .. 4.31 p.m. 

 .. 0.18 a.m. 

 .. 849 



Semi 

 Diameter. 

 ... 5" o 

 ... 5' 9 

 ... 5' 9 

 ...28" 2 



...25" o 

 ...21" 3 

 ... 2" 6 

 ... 2" 5 

 ... 2" 4 

 ...17" 4 

 ... 8" 6 

 ... I" 9 



Position at Noon. 



R.A. 



h.m. Dec. 



.. 2.59 ... 16P 58' N". 

 .. 3.38 ... 19= 27' 



.. 4.18 ... 21° 23* 



Sets. 

 .. o 20 a.m. 

 .. 356 

 .. 4.13 p.m. 



Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



h.m. 

 4.8 

 4-2 

 3-43 

 256 

 1-53 

 1-59 " 

 744 •• 



... 8.31 



... 10.14 



... 15-43 



... 15-39 



... 5-13 



Dec. 



.. 23= 4' N. 

 .. 20' 26' 

 .. 16^ 42' 

 .. 15= 4/ N. 

 .. I2-' 33' 



11= 7' 



23- 2' N. 



21= 51' 



20° 28' 



12- 17'N. 



17= 24' S. 



19= 17' S. 



21-^ 41' N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



New ... May i ... 8.46 p.m. ist Qr. ... May 9... 9.37 p.m. 



Full ... ,, 16 ... 1.54 „ srd Qr. ... „ 23 ... 9.34 a.m. 

 Neu: ... „ 31 ... 0.26 ,, 



Sun. — Spots are of considerable frequence upon 

 the disc, some being of great interest from their 

 rapid changes. 



Mercury is in splendid position for observation 

 at the commencement of ^lay, not setting on the 

 ist until 2h. lom. after the sun. On the 3rd, at 

 about 9 p.m., it may be found a little to the south- 

 west of the crescent moon. It rapidly nears the 

 sun, being in inferior conjunction on the 21st at 

 7 a.m. 



Venus is a morning star, which may be observed 

 a little before sunrise in the latter part of the 

 month as a very narrow crescent. 



M.-^RS is now an insignificant object, setting a 

 little after midnight during the entire month, 

 approaching near 5 Cancri, 4th-magnitude, on 

 the 31st. 



Jupiter is near Regulus all the month, being on 

 the meridian about 7.30 p.m. at the beginning of 

 the month, and setting about 2.45 a.m. .\t the end 

 of the month he sets just before midnight. 



Saturn rises about 8.33 p.m. on the ist and 

 about 6.30 on the 31st. About 5 a.m. on the iSth. 

 Saturn is in opposition, so that during this month 

 the planet is at its best. A very small telescope 

 will show its largest satellite. Titan. The rings 

 now present a magnificent spectacle. On May 

 25th the outer ring has its greatest apparent 

 diameter, 43"o5, and its least, i7"'43. the polar 

 diameter of the planet being i7"-2. The whole 

 month it remains near to /8 Scorpii. 



Uranus is at its best for this year, coming into 

 opposition on May 17th, at 6 p.m., just eleven 



hours earlier than Saturn, but its low altitude in 

 this country is much against successful observation. 



Neptune is too close to the sun to be observed. 



Meteors may be looked out for specially on 

 May 2nd, 4th, 15th, and 3rst. 



Variable Stars in good position during May 



and June are : — 



R.A. 



h.m. 



S Coronas Bor. 15.16 



R 



•• 15-43 



30 g. Herciilis 16.24 



S ,, 16.45 



a .. 17-8 



5 Libras 14-54 



X Sagittarii ... 17.38 



W ., ... 17.55 



R Serpentis... 15.44 



V Cygni 19.52 



Magnitude. 

 .Max. .\Un 



Period. 



6S 



11-8 





60 



6-3 

 31 



13-0 

 62 



12-5 

 39 



413d- 



301 'od. 



Var. Mn., i02d. 



4-9 



60 



2d. 7h. 31m. 



4-0 



60 



7d. oh. 25m. 



5-0 

 5-7 



6-5 



<II'0 



yd. i4h. 6m. 

 356-od. 



3-0 



6-7 





Dec. 

 31' 5<y N- 

 28° 33' N. 

 42° 10* X. 

 15° 9" N. 

 14° 32" N. 

 8= & S. 

 27° 46' S. 



29- 35' s. 



15° 31' N- 



34° 45' N- 



This brings our list of variable stars to a close. 

 In the new volume we intend giving monthly a 

 short list of those remarkable objects known as 

 red stars. 



A New Observatory for London. — At the 

 meeting of the British Astronomical Association on 

 March 31st, Mr. E. W. Maunder announced that 

 on that afternoon the Council had accepted the 

 generous offer of a site for an observatory by the 

 Royal Botanical Society. The spot offered is 

 situated in the grounds of that Society in Regent's 

 Park, and is to be held at a pepper- corn rent. A 

 committee wais appointed to carry out the negotia- 

 tions. The Park is a good place for an observatory, 

 from the large amount of skj- room which it offers. 

 Furthermore, it was in Regent's Park that Mr. 

 George Bishop's observatory- stood, with its seven- 

 inch DoUond equatoreal. The late Dr. J. R. Hind 

 became assistant in 1844, and succeeded in here 

 discovering ten of the minor planets, another being 

 found by Herr Marth. 



Jupiter's Belts. — At the same meeting two 

 papers by Rev. \V. R. Waugh were read, dealing 

 with the aspect of the planet this season, and 

 pointing out particularly the increase of width and 

 activity in the north equatorial belt. The south 

 equatorial belt is becoming more of a brick-red 

 colour, almost as intense as the great red spot was 

 when at its best. That object has now faded so 

 much that only its foUoiiing end can be observed 

 with telescopes of moderate aperture. It is not 

 only the changes in contour of the markings which 

 are a mystery, but also the changes in colour. 



The Great Nebula in Orion. — The April 

 number of " Knowledge" contains a plate of the 

 photograph of this wonderful object, taken by Dr. 

 Isaac Roberts with his great reflector after a 

 double exposure given on two nights, making a 

 total of seven hours. In the accompanying note 

 the doctor raises a question as to the benefit to be 

 derived from any longer exposure of the photo- 

 graphic plate. The marvellous curdled appearance 

 of the nebula is well brought out in the photograph, 

 and which the late Sir John Herschel described as 

 looking like " a curdling liquid, or a surface strewed 

 over with flocks of wool, or the breaking up of a 

 mackerel sky." 



Mars. — During the past opposition, last Decem- 

 ber, Professor Schur, using the Repsold heliometer, 

 measured the planet with great care. The 

 equatorial diameter varied from 6-210" to 6-310", 

 and the polar diameter from 6- 125" to 6-135". 



