SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



237 



Conducted by Alice Everett, M.A. 



( Hon . Secretary of the British Astronomical Association.) 







Rises. Sets, 

 h.m. h.m. 



Position at 



Greenwich Transit. 



R.A. Dec. 



Sun 



Dec. 3 . 

 .. 17 ■ 



A.M. P.M. 



• • 749 ••• 3-51 

 . 84 ••■ 349 

 Souths. Sets. 



h.m. 

 ... 16.39 ■ 

 .. 1741 • 



. 22° 9' S. 



. 23 23' 



Moon 



Dec. 3 . 



„ IO-II. 



„ 17-18 . 

 ,, 24 • 



P.M. P.M. 



. 4.51 ... 9.31 



A.M. 



. 10.0 ... 631 

 Rises. Souths. 



P.M. A.M. 



• 9-54 ••• 5-i 



A.M. 



. 6.0 ... 9.44 

 Souths. Sets. 







Mercury.. 



Nov. 28 . 

 Dec. 8 . 



„ 18 . 



A.M. P.M. 

 . IO.29 ••■ 3-'7 

 . IO.4O ... 3.4 



. 11.3 - 3-3 



.. 14-58 . 

 ■■ 1549 • 

 .. 16.51 . 



. 14° 28' S. 



. 18 43' 



. 22° 26' 



Mars 



Nov. 27-28 



Dec. 7-8 . 



„ 17-18 



P.M. A.M. 



. 8.53 ... 34° 



. 8.18 ... 3.9 



7.48 ... 2.4O 



Rises, Souths. 



.. 1.20 .. 

 .. 1.24 . 

 .. 1.33 •• 



. 8° 28' N 



g° 2l' 

 . io° 32' 



Jupiter 

 Saturn .. 

 Neptune 



Dec. 7-8 . 



„ 8 . 



Nov. 27-28 . 



P.M. A.M. 

 . 4-52 ... 1-7 



A.M. 

 . 3.5I ... 9.0 



P.M. 

 .. 4-26 ... 12.27 



Moon. 



... 6.14 . 

 ..(14.8 . 

 ... 4-54 • 



. 23° 9' 

 . io° 30' S. 



. 21° 3' N 



New ... Nov. 27 ... 8.54 a.m. 1st Qr. .. 

 Full ... Dec. 12 ... 7.46 p.m. Last Qr... 



Dec. 5 

 ,1 19 • 



. 12.15 P.m 

 . 11. 16 a.m 



Passage of Venus behind the Sun on 

 November 30th. — On the occasion of the con- 

 junction of Venus with the Sun on November 30th, 

 the planet will pass behind the Sun's disc. The 

 passage will be slow, as both bodies will be moving 

 in the same direction. Venus will disappear about 

 11 p.m. on Nov. 29th, when the Sun is below our 

 horizon, and will reappear about 2.30 p.m. on Dec. 

 1st. Observation of the reappearance will be 

 difficult as a dark-glass dark enough to tone down 

 the Sun's brilliancy may be too dark for the planet. 



The Sun. — Although the maximum period has 

 passed the Sun still continues fairly spotted. 



Mercury will be visible in the morning under 

 excellent observing conditions till December 17th, 

 having been so since November 14th. So long a 

 period of visibility is a somewhat rare event in the 

 case of this planet, and the opportunity should not 

 be lost by those interested. There will be an 

 interesting conjunction of Mercury with the bright 

 star Ant ares in the Scorpion on the morning of 

 December 14th, when the distance between the 

 two will be about 5 15', Mercury being the more 

 northern. 



Venus will return as an evening " star" after the 

 first week in December, but will be too near the 

 Sun and too low down to be easily seen with the 

 naked eye. 



Mars, the ruddy planet, is still under favourable- 

 conditions for observing, and is the most con- 

 spicuous object in the sky in the early evening, 

 being in the south about 8 o'clock, north-west of 

 the star Piscium. The planet will be near the 

 Moon on December 8th. Mars is passing through 

 the constellation Pisces to Aries, and will be in 

 conjunction with the stars y and Arietis in turn. 



Jupiter. Later in the evening than Mars, as he 

 does not pass the meridian till after midnight, 

 Jupiter becomes conspicuous. This planet is the 

 most brilliant object in the heavens at present, 

 shining with a brightness only equalled by Venus. 

 He rises about dusk in the north-east, near the 

 star 77 Geminorum, and will be in conjunction with 

 the 3rd magnitude star fx Geminorum on December 

 3rd, the planet being 34' north of the star. Jupiter 

 attains his shortest distance from the Earth 

 in December, being in opposition on December 

 23rd, at 2 a.m. 



Saturn is a morning "star," and may be seen east 

 of the bright star Spica in the Virgin. With its 

 beautiful ring this planet, as seen in a telescope, is 

 perhaps the most striking of all celestial objects. 



Uranus is invisible. 



Neptune (a telescopic object) is in Taurus, near 

 106 Taiiri. 



Shooting Stars. — As stated last month, there is 

 an important shower from November 23rd to 27th, 

 characterised by slow-moving meteors. Another 

 leading shower is due on December 10th, its 

 meteors exhibiting a short, swift flight. 



Transit of Mercury on November 10. — Few 

 observations have as yet come to hand. At 

 Greenwich, and several places on the South Coast, 

 clouds prevented the transit from being seen, but an 

 observation of the time of ingress was secured by 

 an Oxford astronomer at Sidmouth. We learn 

 that it was also observed at Belfast. 



Nebula near the Pleiades. — In addition to 

 the nebulous matter in which the group of the 

 Pleiades itself has for some time been known to be 

 involved, Prof. Barnard, of the Lick Observatory, 

 California, has discovered that masses of faint 

 nebulosity exist in the neighbourhood of the group 

 at some distance outside it, he having secured a 

 record by a photograph of very long exposure. 



Present-day Astronomers must be glad that 

 fate did not make them subjects of the Chinese 

 Emperor Chun King, when they read that he put 

 to death Hi and Ho, the astronomers, on account 

 of their neglect in observing the eclipse of the Sun. 

 It seems that very severe punishments were inflicted 

 by the ancient Chinese rulers upon calculators 

 who made mistakes. 



Comet on Eclipse Photographs of 1S93. — 

 Closer examination of the English photographs 

 taken in Brazil and Africa of the solar eclipse of 

 April 16th, 1893, have verified Prof. Schaeberle's 

 discovery of a comet near the Sun, shown on the 

 Chile photographs of the expedition from the Lick 

 Observatory. On the English plates the comet is 

 very faint, being more or less lost in the coronal 

 rays, and would have escaped observation, but on 

 the Chile negatives it is quite obvious, and the 

 evidence of motion relatively to the Sun given by 

 the comparison of the plates taken at the three 

 stations, seems to place the nature of this in- 

 teresting discovery beyond a doubt. 



