4 6 



SCIEXCE-GOSSIP. 



ASTRONOMY. 



Conducted by Alice Everett, M.A. 



(Hon. Secretary of the British Astronomical Association.) 



Position. 

 R.A. Dec. 



Diameter. Rises. Sets At transit at Greenw'h 



Sun 16' 4" ... Mar. 25 5.53 ... 6.19 ... 0.18... i° 55' N. 



i&&' ... April 8 5.22 ... 6.42 ... 1.9 ... 7 18' 

 ... „ 22 4.51 ... 7.5 ... 2.0 ... 12 17' 

 Souths 



P M. A.M 



Moon ... Mar. 25 11.43 ... 3.33 



... April 8 10.19 ... 1.58 



.. 22 10.37 ••• 2.14 



A.M. A.M. 



Venus 34 ... : , 2 4.3 ... 9.20 ... 22.3 ... 8° 57' S. 



29" ... „ 12 3.49 ... 9.12 ... 22.34 ». 7° 32' S. 



26" ... ., 22 3.28 ... 9.6 ... 23.9 ... 5 16* S. 



Mars 7" 2 3.32 ... 7.42 ... 20.24 ... 20 25' S. 



8" ... „ 12 3.10 ... 7.31 ... 20.53 ... 18° 49* 



S" ... ., 22 2.48 ... 7.21 ... 21.22 ... 16° 58' 



A.M. P.M. 



Jupiter 33" ... ,, 11 6.46 ... 2.40 ... 3.59 ... ig°58'N. 



P.M. A.M 



Saturn 17" ... ., 11 6.34 ... 12.4 ... 13.25 ... 5° 50 7 S. 

 Urar.us 4" ... .. 1 9.26 ... 2.7 ... 14.49 -•• 15° S^ S. 



A.M. P.M. 



Neptune 2A" ... „ 1 7.58 ... 3.59 ... 4.40 ... 20° 40* X. 



A.M. 



Juno ... „ 9 ... 2.9 ... 15. iS ... 4 1 " 11' S. 



Those who require a Calendar of more detailed informa- 

 tion, are recommended to the " Companion to the Observa- 

 tory," published annually by Taylor & Francis. Price, is. 6d. 



Moon. 



3rd Or. ... Mar. 29 ... 8.2S a.m. Neiv ... Apr. 6. ..4.0 a.m. 

 1st Qr. ... Apr. 13 ... 12.33 a.m. Full ... Apr. 20 ... 3.2 a.m. 



OCCULTATION'S OF STARS BY THE MOON. 



A ngle A ngle 



Disappear- from Reappear- from 



Date. Star. Mag. ance. N.Pt. ancc. X. Pt. 



Mar.26 2 Scorpii 5 2.32 a.m. 1250 3.52 a.m. 282 



„ 26 b.a.c. 5255 6 2.5S „ 130° 4.17 „ 275 



„ 26 3 Scorpii 6 3.6 ., 85° 4.19 „ 320 



Apr. 2 29 Aquarii 6 (below horizon) 5.27 „ 251 



,, 9 J, 1 Tauri 5* 7.4 p.m. 67° 8.4 p.m. 278 



„ 10 b.a.c. 1746 6k 10.54 11 92° 11.44 .> 273" 



„ 11 49 Aurigae ... 5$ 8.40 ,, 76 9.37 „ 305 



„ 12 c Geminorum 6 10.52 „ 111° 1149 „ 286 



,. 16 ff Leonis 4 8.42 ,. 78° 9.29 „ 357 



„ 19 b.a.c 4394 6 4.28 a.m. 106° (below horizon) 



The Sun. — There will be an Annular Eclipse of 

 the Sun, invisible at Greenwich, on April 5 ; just 

 visible as a partial Eclipse in Norway, Sweden, 

 Eastern Europe and Asia. The central line begins 

 in the Indian Ocean, crossing India, north of 

 Madras, passing through Calcutta, Upper Burmah, 

 China and Eastern Siberia. 



Mercury. — This planet is badly situated for 

 observing, rising shortly before the Sun. 



Venus is also a morning star in Aquarius, south- 

 following Mercury. Venus attained her greatest 

 brilliancy on March 23. She rises an hour and a 

 half before the Sun, but passes the meridian three 

 hours before him owing to her low declination. 



Mars. — This ruddy-hued planet is in the con- 

 stellation Capricorn, and may be seen rising more 

 than an hour before the Sun in the S.E. Mars is 

 getting a little higher in declination. 



Jupiter is a conspicuous object in the evening to 

 the N.W. (setting between 10 and 11 hrs. p.m.) in 

 the constellation Taurus, between the famous 



cluster of the Pleiades, and the V-shaped cluster 

 the Hyades, and near the very bright star Aldebarau. 

 About April 16th Jupiter will be midway between 

 Aldebarau and the Pleiades. 



Saturn passes the meridian about midnight, and 

 the present is therefore a most excellent time for 

 observing this planet, with its wonderful system of 

 rings and eight moons. It lies very near, and a 

 little to the north of, the 1st magnitude star Spica 

 in the Virgin. 



Uranus is still in Libra, near k Librae. 



Neptune. — This distant outlier of the Solar system 

 is in Taurus, X.E. of Aldebaran. 



Minor Planets. — Ceres, Vesta and Pallas are 

 all in Taurus, Ceres is very near, and a little to the 

 east of 5 Leonis, a 3rd magnitude star. Vesta lies 

 close by S.E. of 8, and X.E. of Leonis, and can- 

 be seen with the naked eye by persons endowed 

 with good vision. 



Meteors. — One of the most important meteor- 

 showers of the year falls on April 20th. The 

 position of the Radiant is ^ = 270° 5= + 33 . 



NOTES. — The Sun-spot which aroused popular 

 interest towards the end of February, though 

 certainly large as compared with the average, is 

 by no means the greatest that has appeared of 

 recent years. The Great Spot of February, 1892, 

 for instance, was nearly twice as large. The 

 impression made by the recent spot was probably due, 

 in part, to the fog which prevailed in the metropolis 

 at the time, which made it possible for people 

 to look at the Sun without being dazzled. The 

 Spot was at a maximum on February 20th, when 

 the area was 1,870 millions of square miles. A 

 marked magnetic disturbance was noticed at 

 Greenwich the same day, beginning suddenly at 

 3.15 p.m. and lasting 27 hours. After an interval 

 of 24 hours another and more intense storm 

 commenced, and reached a maximum at 3 p.m. 

 on February 23rd. While the outbreak of a large 

 Sun-spot is generally accompanied by terrestrial 

 disturbance of the magnets, this disturbance is not 

 proportional to the size of the spot, the larger spot 

 sometimes being associated with less disturbance 

 than a smaller. It would seem as if the magnetic 

 storm indicated some disturbed condition of the 

 forces on the Sun's surface of which spots were 

 only one of the symptoms. There is little doubt 

 that the Aurora is also an allied phenomenon. 



Auroral displays were witnessed in several 

 parts of England on February 28th. The following 

 description was given by an observer at Norwich, 

 Mr. C. Thwaites ; " At a few minutes past 7 o'clock 

 a bright cone of light was seen springing up from 

 the horizon at about east by north, this was 

 followed by detached cloud-like streamers, which 

 gradually joined into one vast, wide arch of brilliant, 

 light, extending, for a short time completely across 

 the heavens, slightly to the south of the zenith. 

 Other luminous patches also appeared on either 

 side of this arch, covering the constellations of 



Grion, Ursa Major and Leo The effect of 



the pulsating light was very beautiful.'' 



European Time. — Two more countries, Denmark 

 and Switzerland, have decided to adopt mid- 

 European time, which is just one hour fast of 

 Greenwich time. More than half the countries of 

 Europe now reckon time from the Greenwich 

 meridian, yet one of the British Isles still reckons 

 from a local meridian. 



