SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



209 



Conducted by Alice Everett, M.A. 

 (Hon. Secretary of the British Astronomical Association.) 



Position at 





Rises 



Sets. 



Greenwt 



ch Transit. 





A.M. 



P.M. 



R.A. 



Dec. 





h.m. 



h.m. 



h.m. 





Sun 



Nov. 5 ... 7.3 



... 4-24 



... 14.42 



.. 15 46' s. 





„ 19 ... 7.27 



... 4.4 



.. 15.40 . 



.. 19° 32' 





Souths. 



Sets. 









P.M. 



P.M. 







Moon 



Oct. 29 ... 12.16 

 Nov. 5 ... 6.16 



„ 12-13 ••• H-2I 



... 4-28 

 ... 1035 



A.M. 



•• 7-35 









Rises. 



Souths. 









P.M. 



A.M. 









„ 19-20 ... 10.39 



... 6.15 









A.M. 











„ 26 ... 6.55 



.. 10.5s 









Souths 



Sets. 









P.M. 



P.M. 







Mercury... 



Oct. 28 ... 1.7 



- 5-7 



... 15-35 • 



.. 22° 16' S. 





Nov. 7 ... 12.13 



• • 4-31 



.. 15.20 . 



. 19 25' 





A.M. 











„ l8 ... IO.48 



■• 3-50 



.. 140S . 



. 13 «' 





Rises. 



Souths. 









A.M. 



A.M. 







Venus ... 



Oct. 29 ... 5.59 



.. II. 15 . 



.. 13-51 • 



.10° 5' S. 





Nov. 8 ... 6.31 . 



.. 11.23 • 



• • 14-39 • 



■ 14 30' 





„ IS ... 7.6 . 



.. 11-34 • 



. 15.29 •• 



. 18 18' 





P.M. 



P.M. 







Mars 



Oct. 28 ... 4.21 



.. 11.6 



- i-35 • 



. 8° 7'N. 





Nov. 7 ... 3.29 



.. 10.16 



.. 1.25 . 



• 7° 51' 





„ 17 - 2.48 



.. 9.32 



A.M. 



.. 1.20 . 



• 7° 57' 



Jupiter 



Oct. 28-29 7.44 



•• 3.58 



.. 6.27 . 



. 22 59' N. 





Nov. 17-18 6.20 . 



.. 2.35 . 



.. 6.24 , 



. 23 2' 





A.M. 



A.M. 







Saturn ... 



Oct. 29 ... 6.3 



.. 11.20 



.. 13.51 . 



• 8° 59' S. 





Nov 18 ... 4.57 



.. 10.10 



.. 14.0 . 



■ 9° 47' S. 





P.M. 









Neptune Oct. 28-29 ••• 6.27 



.. 2.28 



• • 4-57 • 



. 21 8' N. 





Moon. 







New ... Oct 



. 28 ... 5.57 p.m. 



1st Qr. . 



. Nov. 5 



.. 3.16 p.m. 



Full ...Nov 



13 ... 749 a.m. 



Last Qr.. 



• >. 20 



... 2.8 a.m. 



OCCULTATIONS OF STARS BY THE MOON. 



A ngle 



A ngle 



Date. 



Nov. 7 



., 13 



.1 13 



.. 15 

 » 17 



Star. 

 70 Aquarii , 



27 Tauri 



28 Tauri 

 136 Tauri 



47 Geminor. 

 34 Leonis . 



Disappear- from Re-appear- from 



Mag. an ce. N. Pt. 

 .. 6 4.29 p.m. 42° 



.. 4 8.29 „ 21° 



■ • 5* 8.50 „ 

 • • 5 7-9 .. 

 6 12.3 a.m. 

 .. 6 2.0 ,, 



ance. N.Pt. 

 5.42 p.m. 254 

 9.14 



9-3 ,. 

 7-50 „ 

 1.6 a.m. 

 2.46 „ 



290" 



3-4 

 224° 

 249° 

 251° 



347 

 ng c 

 ng° 

 1 59° 



NEAR APPROACHES. 



Nov. 13 23 Tauri, 5 mag., at 7.38 p.m., angle from N. pt. 336 



„ 13 7] Tauri. 3 „ ,, 8.9 „ „ „ ,, 336° 



24B.A.C. 4531 6 „ ,,5.57 1. „ ,, ,, 2i4 c 



Transit of Mercury.— The astronomical event 



of the month will be a transit of the planet 



Mercury across the Sun's disc on November 10th. 



The first contact will be visible at Greenwich just 



before sunset, but the egress will not be visible at 



Greenwich. 



Ingress. h. m. s. Egress, h. m. s. 



Ext. contact Nov. 10, 3 55 40 p.m. Ext. contact, 9 13 9 p.m. 

 Int. contact „ 10,3 57 23 ,, Int. contact, 9 11 26 „ 



The Sun will be in the zenith at Ingress at a 

 place in longitude 63° west and latitude 17 south, 

 and at Egress at longitude 142 west, latitude 17 

 south. 



Mercury is becoming well situated for observation 

 in the morning. 



Venus, rising shortly before the Sun, may be seen 

 in south-east in the early morning in Virginis, and, 

 later, in Libra. She sets about sunset. 



Mars is almost 'at his brightest, having just 

 passed opposition (October 20th) and, being in 

 fairly high declination, is very favourably situated 

 for observation. The planet is visible all night in 

 Pisces, rising some hours before sunset, southing at 

 ten to nine o'clock, when it is the brightest object in 

 the southern sky, and setting about sunrise. Mars 

 reaches a stationary point in his apparent path on 

 November 22nd. 



Jupiter is also conspicuous most of the night in 

 Gemini. Rising two or three hours after sunset, he 

 passes the meridian in the early morning. This 

 planet is now moving from west to east, in retro- 

 grade motion in his apparent path. 



Saturn is returning to view of a morning in the 

 east near the star Spica Virginis. 



Uranus is invisible. 



Neptune, which cannot be seen without instru- 

 mental aid, is in Taurus. 



Shooting-Stars. — Two great meteor showers 

 are due in November. The first is on November 

 13th, from a radiant point whose position is a = 

 150 , S = 4- 22 , the second, about November 23rd- 

 27th, from a radiant point at a = 25", 8 = + 44° 

 The motion of the meteors in the former is swift, in 

 the latter very slow. 



Solar Observations at the Roman College 



DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1894. The results 



of Professor Tacchini's observations, show a 

 gradual diminution in activity in the phenomena 

 of sun-spots and faculae (the faculae are bright 

 markings, the spots being dark), though a spot in 

 February attained large dimensions. As regards 

 the prominences, however, the activity has been 

 greater than in the preceding quarter-year. The 

 zone of greatest frequency for spots and faculae 

 has been in solar latitude 20" south to 2o D north. 

 All the solar phenomena have been most frequent 

 in the Sun's southern hemisphere, and all the most 

 beautiful and highest prominences have been 

 always observed south of the solar equator. In 

 particular, there has been an extraordinary 

 preponderance of prominences between 6o G and 

 70 south latitude. This greater activity in the 

 southern hemisphere seems to indicate that besides 

 ther solar rotation, there are causes still unknown 

 which produce a marked variation of the solar 

 activity with the latitude and with the hemisphere. 

 Philip's Patent Revolving Orrery. — This 

 instrument, for popular use, published by George 

 Philip and Son, 32, Fleet Street, is intended to show 

 approximately the position of any planet or fixed 

 star at any hour, and also to find the hour of its 

 rising, southing and setting. The principle is the 

 same as that of Philip's Revolving Planisphere 

 (price 2s. 6d.), to which it is meant to serve as a 

 companion. The orrery, which is about ten inches 

 in diameter, consists of two discs and two brass 

 pointers, which all revolve independently around 

 a common centre. The upper disc is of leather 

 and has a large oval hole cut in it. Upon the 

 under disc of cardboard is depicted a map of the 

 chief constellations in the region of the ecliptic. 

 The portion of this map seen through the oval hole 

 in the upper disc when the disc is turned and the 

 brass pointers set at the proper readings according 

 to the directions, represents the sky as seen by the ob- 

 server, a sliding brass button upon one of the pointers 

 doing duty as the planet. A planetary ephemeris, 

 such as is given in "Whitaker or the Nautical 

 Almanac, is required in using the instrument. 



