SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



185 



Conducted by Alice Everett, M.A. 

 (Hon. Secretary oj the British Astronomical Association.) 









Position at 









Rises. Sets. Greenwich Transit. 









a.m. P.M. R.A. Dec. 









h.m. h.m. h.m. 



Sun 





... Oct. 8 . 



. 6.14 ... 5.21 ... 12.56 ... 5° 59' S. 







,, 22 . 



. 6.38 ... 4-51 ••• 1348 ... n° 9' 

 Souths. Sets. 



P.M. P.M. 



Moon 



... Oct. 1 . 



. 1.37 ... 6.6 







,, 8 . 



. 7.34 ... 11.38 



A.M. 







. ,, H-I5 • 



. II.52 ... 7.12 



Rises. Soutlis. 



P.M. A.M. 







., 21-22 . 



• 9-55 ■•• 6.32 



A.M. A.M. 



Venus 



.. Sept. 29 . 



. 4.24 ... 10.55 ••• Z1 - 2S ••• 5° 4' N. 







Oct. 9 . 



. 4.54 ... II. I ... 12.13 •■• °° 9' 







„ 19 • 



. 5.27 ... 11.S ... 12.59 ••■ 4° 48' S. 



P.M. 



Ma rs 





... Sept. 28-29 646 ... 1.40 ... 2. 11 ... 9 41' N. 







Oct. S-9 . 



• 5-59 ••• 12 -50 ... 2.1 ... 9 J 15 



P.M. 



. 5.10 ... 11. 58 ... 1.48 ... S 3 40' 







„ iS . 









A.M. 



Jupi 



er 



Oct. S-9 . 



. 9.1 ... 5.I5 ... 6.26 ... 22° 59' 



Nept 



mi 



... Sept. 2S-29 8.25 ... 4.27 ... 4.59 ... 21" 12' 









Moon. 



New 





Sept. 29 ... 5.44 a.m. 1st Qr. ... Oct. 6 ... 7.1 p.m. 



Full 





Oct. 14 ... 6.41 p.m. LastQr 21... 6.56 p. m 



OCCULTATIONS OF STARS BY THE MOON. 









A ugle A ngle 









Disappear- from Re-appear- from 



Dai 





Star. 



Mag. ance. N. Ft. ance. N.Pt. 



Oct. 



7 



A Sagittarii . 



. 5 6.33 p.m. i° ... 7.1 p.m. 323 



,, 



10 



50 Aquarii . 



. 6 7.14 „ 30° ... 8.25 ,, 264 



,, 



10 



b.a.c. 7835 . 



. 6J 11. 11 „ I02 D ... 11.58 ,, 186 



,, 



15 



tt Piscium . 



. 6 2.45 a.m. $6° ... 3.47 a.m. 266 



,, 



15 



19 Arietis 



. 6 5.53 p.m. 113 ... 6.27 p.m. 193 3 





16 



27 Arietis 



. 6 4.13 a.m. ii5 3 ... 4.58 a.m. 202 





17 



66 Arietis 



• 6£ 5-27 ,. 73° — 6.31 „ 260° 



,, 



19 



b.a.c. 1648 . 



• 6i 12.34 ,, 45° ••• 1-33 ,, 2S9 



,, 



20 



49 Aurigse , 



■ 5i 5-15 >. 93° ••■ 6.29 ,, 282° 







near approaches. 



Oct. 



18 



X 1 Tauri, 5§ 



mag., at 3.5 a.m., angle from N. pt.165 



.. 



19 



B.A.C. 1746 fi\ 



., ,, 8.17 „ „ „ „ 1S4 3 



Mercury, being now very low down, is unfavour- 

 ably situated for observation. 



Venus rises in the early morning, and may be 

 seen before sunrise low in the eastern sky in the 

 constellation of the Virgin. It will be near 

 j3 Virginis, 44' north of this star, on October 3rd, 

 12' north of 77 Virginis on October 9th, and 3 35' 

 north of the first magnitude star Spica on October 

 23rd. This planet's distance from the earth is 

 rapidly increasing. 



Miirs is now under the best observing conditions, 

 rising early in the evening and passing the meridian 

 about midnight, when it is the brightest object in 

 the southern sky, and may be easily recognised by 

 its brilliancy and ruddy hue. This planet will 

 attain its shortest distance from the earth on 

 October 12th, and will be in opposition, or in a 

 straight line with the Sun and Earth, on October 

 20th, when its distance from the earth will be 

 about forty and a-half million miles, or five million 



miles greater than in 1892. Its declination will, 

 however, be much further north (33°), so that it 

 will be in a much better position for northern 

 observers than in 1892. 



Jupiter shines conspicuous in Gemini between 

 the third magnitude stars e and n of this constella- 

 tion. He rises late in the evening, passing the 

 meridian before dawn. Jupiter will appear 

 stationary on October 24th, previous to beginning 

 retrograde (west to east) motion in his apparent 

 path. 



Saturn and Uranus are invisible. 



Neptune, with instrumental aid, may be seen in 

 Taurus, not far from the sixth magnitude star 

 I. Tauri. 



Meteors. — There will be an important shower on 

 October iSth. Radiant point = 92° 5=4-15-' 



The Lunar Eclipse of September 15TH. — 

 At Greenwich, we learn, no observations could be 

 made owing to the cloudy sky. 



The August Meteor Shower. — The weather 

 was unfavourable, but some observations are 

 recorded. A letter to the "Observatory" from 

 Messrs. Nyland and Bolt, of Utrecht, states that 

 on August 10th, they only had a clear sky for fifty 

 minutes, and observed in that time seventy-three 

 shooting stars, which seemed to come from four 

 distinct radiant points, the mean of the four nearly 

 coinciding with the point which the comet 1862 

 III would have occupied in its orbit at that time. 



A New Method in Astronomy. — In the 

 "Observatory" for July, Miss Clerke, the author 

 of several valuable works on astronomy, had an 

 article with the above title referring to some recent 

 work of Dr. Gill's, Her Majesty's Astronomer at 

 the Cape. The methods of exact astronomy have 

 not essentially changed since Flamsteed, the first 

 Astronomer Royal, set up his mural arc at Green- 

 wich in 16S9. Since then innumerable and 

 admirable refinements have been introduced by 

 six generations of anxious, active and ingenious 

 observers ; but the same general plan has been 

 adhered to. Nevertheless, the results are not all 

 that could be desired. The principle of the new 

 method is readily explained. Close along the path 

 of a planet near opposition, a number of stars are 

 selected and linked together by careful and 

 repeated heliometer measures into a system of 

 interdependent points. A network of triangles is, 

 in fact, formed on the sphere, just as in a 

 terrestrial survey. The same stars are also 

 observed in the ordinary way on the meridian, 

 and by comparison of the relative places 

 obtained by the two methods, the very smallest 

 errors can be eliminated. Then, as the planet 

 travels among these rigidly ascertained sky- 

 marks, its situation, relative to successive pairs 

 of stars, is measured with the heliometer night by 

 night during the favourable period of about a 

 month before and a month after opposition. An 

 extraordinary degree of accuracy can be thus 

 realized. To attain this end, however, international 

 co-operation must be secured. 



Relative determinations can then be made with 

 almost any desirable exactitude. 



Dynamical research, however, demands absolute 

 places, which are not easily obtained, and still 

 remain unsatisfactory. They cannot be had at all 

 without referring to the Sun, and solar observations 

 of precision are hampered by peculiar causes of 

 uncertainty. The troublesome question of latitude- 

 variations is also involved. 



