26 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT. 













Po 



ntion at Soon. 



1900 



Rises 





Sets. 





R.A 



Dec. 



June 



h.m. 





h.m 





h.m 



O 1 



Sun .. 9 . 



. 3.46 



a.m. . 



. 8.12 



p.m. .. 



5.9 



.. 22.55 N. 



19 . 



. 3.44 





. 8.18 





5.50 .. 23.26 



29 . 



. 3.47 





. 8.19 





6.3i 



. . 23.15 





Rises 





South 





Sell 



Age at Moon. 



June 



h.m. 





h.m. 





It. » 



tl. h.m. 



Moon . . 9 . . 



4.36 



p.m. . 



. 9.14 



p.m. . . 



1.17 



a.m. .. 11 21.10 



19 .. 



11.35 





. 5.14 



a.m. .. 



11.31 



a.m. .. 21 21.10 



29 .. 



6.32 



a.m. . 



. 2.5 



).m. . . 



9.25 



p.m. .. 2 10.23 

 Position at Xoon. 







South 



«. 



Semi- 



R.A. Dec. 





June 



h.m. 





Diame 



er. 



h.m. ° ' 



Mercury . 



9 .. 



0.52 



p.m. 



. 2.7" 





6.1 .. 25.18 N. 





19 .. 



1.32 





. 3.1" 





7.21 .. 24.3 





29 .. 



1.52 





. 3.6" 





8.21 .. 20.23 



Venus 



9 .. 



2.31 



p.m. 



. 21.1" 





7.40 . . 23.10 N. 





19 . 



1.54 





. 24.6" 





7.43 .. 21.21 





29 .. 



1.0 





. 27.8" 





7.29 .. 19.37 



Mars 



19 .. 



9.39 



a.m. 



.. 2.2" 





3.28 . . 18.31 N. 



Jupiter 



19 .. 



10.15 



p.m. 



. 20.7" 





16.6 .. 20.0 S. 



Saturn 



19 .. 



0.22 



a.m. 



. 8.5" 





L8.9 .. 22.26 S. 



Uranus 



19 .. 



10.42 



p.m. 



.. 1.9" 





L6.32 .. 21.53 S. 



Neptune 



19 .. 



11.57 



a.m. 



. 1.2" 





5.46 .. 22.13 N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



1st Qr. . . June 5 .. 6.39 a.m. Full .. June 13 .. 3.38a.m. 

 3rd Qr. .. „ 20 . . 0.57 a.m. Seic .. ,, 27 . . 1.27 a.m. 



In apogee June 5th at 9 p.m. ; and in perigee on 

 19th at 2 a.m. 



Meteors. 



h.m. 

 May29-June 4 ..ijPegasids .. Radiant R.A. 22.12 Dec. 27 c N. 

 June 10-28 ..SCepheids . .. „ 22.20 „ 57° N. 



„ 13- July 7 ..Vulpeculids,. ., ., 20.8 „ 24° N. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



June 11 



Jupiter 



.. 8 p.m. 



. Planet 1.29 N. 



„ 13 



Saturn 



. . 11 p.m. . 



„ 0.56 S. 



„• 24 



Mars- 



.. 8 a.m. 



„ 1.31 S. 



„ 28 



Venus* 



. . 9 a.m. 



„ 1.29 X. 



» 29 



Mercury* 



i a.m. 



„ 5.9 N. 



Daylight. 



All are above the Ens-lUh horizon. 



OCCULTATIONS. 



June Object. 



2..k Cancri 

 13.. Saturn 



Marin i- 

 tuile. 



Dis- 

 appears 

 h.m. 



5.0 . . 8.33 p.m. 

 — . . 9.40 p.m. 



Angle 

 from 

 Vertex. 



.. 82 . 

 .. 116 . 



Re- Angle 



appears, from 



h.m. Vertex. 



9.35 p.m. . . 247 

 10.52 p.m. . . 283 



The Sun should be watched, as spots are ap- 

 pearing more frequently on the disc. Summer is 

 said to commence at 10 p.m., June 21st, when the 

 sun enters the sign, not the constellation, of Cancer. 



Mercury is an evening star all the month. 

 Starting from close proximity to the sun, it is in 

 conjunction with Neptune at 3 p.m. on June 7th, 

 being 2° 54' to the north. At 7 p.m. on 13th it is 

 only 3' south of e Geminorum. At 10 a.m. on 22nd 

 it is in conjunction with Venus, being 2° 19' to the 

 north. 



Venus is also an evening star all the month, 

 being at the point of its greatest brilliancy at 

 6 a.m. on 1st. 



Mars is a morning star, rising less than two 

 hours before the sun all the month. 



Jupiter is well situated for the observer, save 

 for its great south declination. It rises closely east 

 of $ Scorpii at 7.17 p.m. at the beginning, and 

 5.10 p.m. at the end of the month. 



Saturn comes into opposition at 5 p.m. on 

 June 23rd, and so is best situated for observation 

 this month, although English observers will find its 

 great south declination detrimental to good defini- 

 tion. It is a magnificent object. The major axis 

 of the outer ring is, on June 19th, 42-61", and the 

 minor axis 18-87" ; so that the southern pole of 

 the planet will be hidden behind the rings, and 

 the northern pole will be apparently lying upon 

 the rings. It will be near /j. Sagittari. 



Uranus is in opposition at 11 a.m. on June 1st, 

 and so is in the best position for observation. It 

 appears as a 5-5 magnitude star to the naked eye, a 

 little east-south-east of the 4-6 magnitude star w 

 Ophiuchi. 



Neptune, being in conjunction at 11 a.m. on 

 June 18th, is too near to the sun for observation. 



Eclipse of the Moon, June 13th. 

 slight partial eclipse commencing with :- 



-A very 



Angle from 

 X. point. 



h. m. 



First contact with penumbra . . . . 1 16-2 a.m. 

 ,, „ „ shadow .. ..3 24*2 a.m. 176° 



Middle of eclipse 3 27-6 a.m. — 



Last contact with shadow .. ..3 31-0 a.m. 180° 



Moon sets 3h. 54m. The eclipse is so slight that 

 the shadow only grazes the limb. 



The Bruce Gold Medal of the Astronomical 

 Society of the Pacific has been awarded to David 

 Gill, C.B., LL.D., F.R.S., Her Majesty's Astronomer 

 at the Cape of Good Hope. 



Minor Planets. — According to Professor Bau- 

 schinger, the total number which have been 

 certainly discovered hitherto now reaches 451. 



The Paris Exhibition Telescope, which is 

 being belauded before the public as if it were the 

 greatest telescope of the age, is only so by reason 

 of its focal length. The great telescope of the Paris 

 Observatory should be its equal in definition and 

 light-grasping power, whilst Dr. A. A. Common's 

 five-foot silvered-glass Newtonian ought to be a 

 long way its superior in both these respects. The 

 announcements recently published about the ob- 

 servations on the sun were peculiar reading. It is 

 hardly necessary to say that the spectroscope is 

 necessary to see the prominences on the limb. 



Comets. — Mr. W. F. Denning has been drawing 

 attention to the remarkable fact that during the 

 present century large comets have appeared at 

 intervals of about nineteen and a half years : 1823, 

 1843, 1862, 1881. The next period falls at the end 

 of the present year ; so far no comet has appeared 

 to keep up the succession. Giacobini's comet has 

 been a very small one, its total light being equal to 

 between 12 and 13 magnitudes. At the end of 

 June, when its distance will be 128 millions of 

 miles, its R.A. will be about 23h. 47m. and its 

 North Declination 41° 31', near the centre of the 

 triangle formed by f$ Andromedaea, £ Cassiopeia 

 and /8 Pegasi, and having a motion towards the 

 west. 



