SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



261 



Conducted by Alice Everett, M.A. 

 (Hon. Secretary oj the British Astronomical Association.) 







Rises. 



Sets. 



Position at Noon. 







h.m. 



h.m. 



R.A . 



Dec. 





1894-5. 



A.M. 



P.M 



h.m. 





Sun 



Dec. 31 



.. 8.9 



•• 3-57 



.. 18.43 .- 



23 1' S. 





Jan. 13 



• • 8.3 



.. 4.14 



.. 19.39 ... 



21° 29' 





■ 1 20 



•• 7-57 

 Souths. 



P.M. 



• • 4-25 

 Sets. 

 P.M. 



... 20.10 .. 



20° }' 



Moon 



Dec. 31 



.. 3.29 



.. 8.29 

 A.M. 









Jan. 6-7 



■• 745 

 Rises. 



P.M. 



.. 4 I 



Soutlis. 



A.M. 









,, 13-14 • 



.. 7-28 



A.M. 



.. 2.52 









,, 20 



• • 3-50 

 Soutlis. 



A.M. 



.. 7-41 

 Sets. 



P.M. 







Mercury... 



11 2 



.. 11-45 

 P.M. 



.. 3-28 



... 18.25 •• 



24° 43' S. 





,, 11 



.. 12.13 



.. 4.4 



.. 19.36 .. 



23 38' 





i) 21 



.. 12.45 



.. 5'° 



... 20.47 ••• 



20° I' 



Venus ... 



11 1 



.. 12.37 



.. 4-32 



... 19.21 .. 



23° IO' 





11 11 



.. 12.51 



.. 4-59 



... 20.14 .. 



21° IO' 





„ 21 



.. I.4 



.. 5-3i 



A.M. 



.. 21.6 .. 



I8' J 7' 



Mars 



„ 1-2 



.. 7-7 



.. 2,l6 



... 1.52 .. 



12° 38' N. 





,, 11-12 



.'. 6.44 



.. 2.2 



... 2.8 .. 



14° 12' N. 





11 21-22 



.. 6.22 

 Rises. 



P.M. 



.. I.49 



Soutlis. 



P.M. 



.. 2.25 ... 



15° 50' N. 



Jupiter ... 



11 I 



■ ■ 2.59 



.. II. 14 



... 6.0 .. 



23° 15' 





,, 21 



.. 1. 31 



A.M. 



.. 9.46 

 A.M. 



• ■ 5-50 •• 



23° 17' 



Saturn ... 



,. 2 



.. 2.24 



• • 7-30 



.. 14.16 .. 



n° 9' S. 





11 22 



.. I. IO 



.. 6.15 



... 14.21 .. 



u° 27' 



Uranus ... 



11 2 



• • 3-45 



P.M. 



... 8 19 



P.M. 



... 15 5 •• 



17° 5' S. 



Neptune ... 



11 1 



.. 2.5 



.. 10.5 



.. 4-50 ... 



20° 57' N. 





Moon's 



Phases. 





New ... Dec 



. 27 ... 2.20 



a.m. 1st Qr. .. 



Jan. 4 .. 



7.52 a.m. 



Full ... Jan. 



11 ... 6.50 



a.m. Last Qr.... 



„ 17 ... 



10.55 P-m- 



Meteors. — A large meteor shower is due on 

 January 2nd. Radiant point at a 230 8+ 53 . 



The Norwegian Stations for the Total 

 Solar Eclipse of August, 1896. — At the meetings 

 of the Royal Astronomical Society on December 

 14th, and of the British Astronomical Association 

 on December 19th, Colonel Burton Brown, R.A., 

 F.R.A.S., F.G.S., gave an account of his recent 

 explorations in Northern Norway, with a view to 

 looking for observing-stations for the 1896 eclipse. 

 The interior of the country was practically trackless 

 and inaccessible. Accommodation was very scarce, 

 and no reliance could be placed upon guide-books. 

 Those who desired to climb to mountain sites would 

 find it difficult to obtain assistance in carrying 

 impedimenta, and conveyance of heavy instruments 

 to stations far from a village or road would be out 

 of the question. A mountain site, however, in any 

 case, would probably not be advantageous, as cloud 

 banks seemed to collect about the summits. There 

 were several feasible stations on the west coast, 

 where, however, the sun would be very low at the 

 time of the eclipse. But the western stations were 

 considerablv nearer England than the eastern, and ■ 

 probably those who did not wish to make accurate 



scientific observations would find it their best plan 

 to take a steamer and cruise about in the region of 

 the track of totality. On the east coast, beyond the 

 North Cape, there was a town, Vardo, where the 

 conditions were nearly as good as on the central 

 line, and where second-class hotel accommodation 

 could be obtained. Vadso, further south on the 

 Vavanger Fjord, was on the central line, but was 

 merely a fishing village. Probably, however, by 

 arrangement beforehand, some temporary structure 

 might be erected to serve as an hotel. 



Instrument for the Photography of 

 Meteors. — The incomparably greater accuracy 

 with which the direction and radiant point of a 

 meteor can be obtained by photography as com- 

 pared with eye observation, has led the authorities 

 of Yale University Observatory to have an instru- 

 ment made for the purpose. It consists of a 

 tubular axis about twelve feet long with cross-axes 

 carrying four or more cameras which can be 

 directed to different parts of the sky, the whole 

 being driven by clockwork to counteract the 

 Earth's diurnal rotation. 



" What shall we do with our Photographs ? " 

 — This question, which in view of the rapid pro- 

 gress of celestial photography is becoming a very 

 important one, has been recently discussed by 

 Professor Turner in "The Observatory." To 

 explore a photograph fully two elements must be 

 measured, the position of any point and the density 

 of the photographic deposit at that point. For 

 determinations of position a micrometer is used, 

 for determinations of density some kind of photo- 

 meter or light-measurer, such as Captain Abney's, 

 which measures the amount of light obstructed by 

 the photographic deposit at any point of a negative, 

 by the method of revolving sectors. An account 

 of this instrument, in whose powers Professor 

 Turner has strong faith, is given in his article, and 

 he considers it to be certainly the instrument with 

 which to explore photographs of nebulae, and 

 possibly thus to obtain some information as to 

 changes in these wonderful bodies. Professor 

 Turner concludes his article with the following 

 remarks : " There is abundance of work for any 

 number of these instruments, with the certain tv of 

 reward in results of great interest. . . . New- 

 work is not only possible, but is urgent. There 

 are plenty of people taking photographs — nay, there 

 are plenty of photographs already taken — to keep 

 employed a whole army of workers for years to 

 come. Man)', who cannot afford an observatory or 

 even a large telescope, may be able to afford a 

 micrometer or photometer, or both, and mav 

 measure some of the photographs which others 

 have taken. The amateur of moderate means may 

 do work of the greatest value without the necessity 

 for great expense and without the discomforts of 

 open-air observing to which Dr. Roberts refers so 

 feelingly in his beautiful book of photographs. 

 Surely it is time to think seriously of these 

 things ! " 



A fropos of recent metropolitan events, it is 

 curious to read that a well-known German astro- 

 nomer has been obliged to move his observatory 

 on account of the distraction caused by a neigh- 

 bouring music-hall. Apparently no less a move 

 would suffice than one to another and distant town : 

 so things must have been pretty bad, though historv 

 does not state whether it was in the observations 

 or their makers that the regrettable disturbance of 

 equilibrium occurred. 



