SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



161 



Conducted by Alice Everett, M.A. 

 (Hon. Secretary oj the British Astronomical Association.) 



Moon 



Aug. 27 



Sept. 10 



.. 24 



Aug. 27 

 Sept. 10 



Mercury... Aug. 30 



Venus 



Jupiter 



Saturn .. 

 Uranus .. 



Neptune. 



Sept. 8 



Aug. 30 



Sept. 9 



,. 19 



Aug. 30 

 Sept. 9 

 >. 19 

 Aug. 30 

 Sept.ig 



Aug. 29 

 Sept.iS 

 Aug. 29 



Aug. 30 



Rises 



A.M. 



h.m. 

 ... 5-G 

 ... 5.29 



... 5-52 

 Rises. 



P.M. 



...(11.39)- 

 Souths 



P.M. 



... 8.54 

 Rises. 



P.M. 



...(10.42) 

 Rises. 



A.M. 



— 4-39 

 Souths 



P.M. 



... 0.17 



... 0.40 



Rises. 



A.M. 



... 2.52 



..-. 3-22 



... 3-52 

 P.M. 



- (8.45) 



.. (8.6) 

 • • (7.30) 

 ..(11. 19) 



..(IO.II), 



Souths. 



P.M. 



... 2.54 

 .. 1.43 

 .. 4-7 

 Rises 



P.M. 



...(10.23) 



Sets. 



Position. 



P.M. 



R.A. 



Dec. 



h.m. 



h.m. 





6-57 • 



.. 10.22 . 



.. 9° 59' N. 



6.25 . 



. 11. 18 . 



. 4° 51' N. 



5-53 • 



.. 12.13 . 



.. o c 34' S. 



Souths. 







A.M. 







8.48 







Sets. 







12.41 







Souths. 







A.M. 







7-39 







Souths. 







A.M. 







11.49 . 



. 10.16 . 



. 12° 38' N. 



Sets. 







P.M. 







6.46 . 



. 11.27 . 



■ 5° 3' 



6.3O . 



. 11.29 . 



. 2= 44' S. 



Sou t lis. 







A.M. 







10.31 . 



. 9.0 . 



. 17 41' N. 



IO.4O .. 



■ 9-49 •• 



• 14° 14' 



IO.48 .. 



• 10.37 •• 



. io° 7' 



A.M. 







3-35 • 



. 2.8 . 



. 8° 59' N. 



2.59 .. 



. 2.15 .. 



. 9 if 



2.24 .. 



2.16 .. 



■ 9° 49' 



7-34 •• 



. 6.7 .. 



. 23 4' N. 



6.26 .. 



6.19 .. 



23° 1' 



Sets. 







P.M. 







7.8 

 9.26 



Souths. 



A.M. 

 6.25 



13.25 

 13-33 

 I4.39 



4.59 ... 21° 13' N. 



Full 



Neio 



Aug. 30 .. 

 Sept. 15 .. 



Moon. 



8.5 p.m. 3 erf Qr. 

 1st Qr. 



Sept. 7 



1.3 a.m. 

 12.32 p.m. 



4.22 a.m. 



OCCULTATIONS OF STARS BY THE MOON. 



Angle Angle 



Disappear- from Re-appear- from 



Star. 



B.A.C. 662S 



12 (j> Capricor 



14 70 Aquarii 



17 6 Piscium 



20 9 Tauri 



20 x 1 Tauri 



24 c Geminor 



2.16 a.m. 200° 

 2-43 ., 293° 

 2.37 ,. 225° 

 8.49 p.m. 

 1.34 P.m. 



276° 

 287° 



Date. Star. Mag. ance. N. Pt. a'n'ce. N.Pt. 



Sept. 9 B.A.c. 662S ... 6 6.5 p.m. 37° ... 7.4 p.m. 307° 



, 5* 12.43 a.m. 72° 



. 6 1. 17 ,, 8S° 



• 4 2.6 „ 353° 



6 1.28 ,, 84° 



5* 84 p.m. 52° 



6 12.41 a.m. 81° 



NEAR APPROACHES. 



Sept. 4 b.a.c. 4923 6 mag., at 8.21 p.m., angle from N. pt. 17° 



6 b.a.c. 5603 6J ,, 9.3 „ „ ,, „ 184° 



,, 11 X Capricor. 6 ,, 8.45 ,, „ ,, ,, 335° 



,, iS 27 Arietis 6 ,, 8-i6 ,, ,, ,, ,, 334° 



,, 19 66 Arietis 6§ ,, 9.59 ,, ,, ,, ,, 336° 



,, 22 49 Auriga? 5$ ,, n. 10 ,, ,, ,, ,, 356" 



„ 22 b.a.c. 1746 6£ ,, 12.48 a.m. ,, ,, „ 168 



Eclipses. — There will be a partial eclipse of the 

 Moon, partly visible at Greenwich, on September 

 15th, in the early morning. The first contact with 

 the shadow occurs at the Moon's north point, the 

 last at 58° to the west of the north point (for direct 

 image). The magnitude of the eclipse is 0225 

 (the Moon's diameter being taken as 1). The 



first contact with the Penumbra takes place at 

 2h. 05m. a.m., first contact with the Shadow at 

 2h. 15m. 362s., second contact with Shadow at 

 yh. 17m. 270s., and second contact with Penumbra 

 at 7h. 27m. a.m. At Greenwich the moon will 

 set at 5I1. 39m. a.m. 



A total eclipse of the Sun will occur on September 

 28th. The path of the centre of the shadow of 

 this eclipse lies entirely across the Southern Indian 

 Ocean, and apparently through the Amirante 

 Islands ; but as the maximum duration of totality 

 is only eleven seconds the phenomenon is of little 

 interest. The penumbra will pass over South- 

 western Australia a short time before sunset, the 

 Sun being seen at Melbourne partially eclipsed 

 just before setting. 



Sun. — The development and decline of the spots 

 may be observed. 



Mercury will be in superior conjunction, or, in 

 less technical language, nearly behind the Sun 

 from September 2nd to 19th. 



Venus is a morning "star," rising between three 

 and four in the early morning, and setting half-an- 

 hour before sunset, the planet's altitude being 

 higher than the Sun's. 



Mars is visible nearly all night, rising about 

 8 p.m. in the beginning of September, and cul- 

 minating about 3 o'clock in the morning. 



Jupiter rises about 11 p.m. in the first days of 

 September, and gradually earlier each evening to 

 gh. 30m. p.m. at the end of the month. 



Saturn is an evening "star," setting about an 

 hour or an hour and a-half after the Sun. 



The Return of Comets. — Mr. H. A. Newton 

 has recently published an interesting memoir on 

 the subject of the capture of comets by Jupiter. 

 ("Mem. Nat. Acad, of Sciences," vol. vi., No. 1.) 

 He calculates that out of a thousand million 

 comets moving in parabolas that approach the Sun 

 nearer than Jupiter, 126, 839, 1701 and 2670 will 

 have their orbits changed by the attraction of 

 Jupiter into ellipses, with periodic times less than 

 six, twelve, eighteen and twenty-four years 

 respectively. These numbers would be greatly 

 increased by the consideration that a comet whose 

 orbit was changed into an ellipse of any period 

 would be almost certain, sooner or later, to make 

 another approach to Jupiter, and thus undergo a 

 further shortening of its period. 



Stars having peculiar Spectra. — Mrs. 

 Fleming, of Harvard College Observatory, has 

 made an examination of the photographs of stellar 

 spectra taken at the Peruvian Station of the 

 Observatory, and forming part of the work of the 

 Henry Draper Memorial, and has added several 

 faint stars to the list of those having peculiar 

 spectra. Three new variable stars have also been 

 discovered in this examination by means of the 

 presence of bright hydrogen lines in their photo- 

 graphic spectra, and each of them was found to 

 appear bright on several plates, and faint on 

 several other plates. Mrs. Fleming expressly 

 states that these variables are not "suspected" 

 variables, having probably in mind the note 

 appended, in a recently published catalogue to 

 other stars discovered to be variable at Harvard 

 by the employment of the powerful weapon of 

 photography, there first applied to this purpose, 

 older discoveries of variability having been made 

 by eye observation. 



