SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



187 



ASTRONOMY, 





OCCULTATIONS AND NEAH APPBOACHES. 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT. 











Position at Noon. 



1900 



Pises 



Sets. 





It. A. Dec. 



Nov. 



li.in. 



h.m. 





h.m. 



Sun . . 6 . 



. 7.4 



a.m. . . 4.24 p.m. . . 



14.45 .. 15.56 S. 



16 . 



. 7.21 



.. 4.9 





15.25 .. 18.42 



2G . 



. 7.37 



.. 3.57 





16.7 .. 20.35 





Rises 



Souths 





Sets. Age at Noon. 



Nov. 



h.m. 



h.m. 





h.m. d. h.m. 



Moon .. . . 



4.0 



p.m. . . 11.44 



p.m. . 



6.20 a.m. . . 13 22.33 



18 . 



1.13 



a.m. .. 7.28 



a.m. . 



1.31 p.m. . . 23 22.33 



2G .. 



10.51 



a.in .. 3.24 



p.m. . 



8.5 p.m. .. 4 4.43 

 Position at Noon. 







Souths. 



Semi 



R.A. Dec. 





Nov. 



h.m. 



diameter, h.m. ° ' 



Mercury.. 



6 .. 



1.11 p.m. . 



. 3-8" 



.. 16.12 .. 23.53 S. 





16 .. 



0.22 p.m. . 



. 4-8" 



...16.2 .. 21.29 S. 





26 .. 



10.57 a.m. . 



. 4-5" 



.. 15.17 .. 15.57 S. 



1'eiuts 



6 .. 



9.13 a.m. . 



. 7-9" 



.. 12.14 .. 0.13 N. 





16 .. 



9.18 a.m. . 



. 7-4" 



.. 12.58 .. 4.12S. 





26 .. 



9.23 a.m. . 



. 7-0" 



. . 13.43 . . 8.36 S. 



Mars . . . 



16 .. 



6.20 a.m. . 



. 3-5" 



.. 10.0 .. 14.21 N. 



Jupiter 



16 .. 



1.17 p.m. . 



. 14-7" 



.. 16.58 .. 22.18 S. 



Saturn .. 



16 .. 



2.30 p.m. . 



. 7-1" 



.. 18.11 .. 22.46 S. 



Uranus .. 



16 .. 



1.0 p.m. . 



. 1-8" 



.. 16.40 .. 22.10 S. 



Neptune.. 



16 .. 



14.0 a.m. . 



. 1-3" 



.. 5.54 .. 22.12 N. 







Moon's Phases 









h.m. 





h.m. 



Full .. No 



•. 6 



.. 11.0 p.m. 



Zrd Qr 



Nov. 14 .. 2.38 a.m. 



New . . „ 



22 



. 7.17 a.m. 



1st Qr. 



„ 29 . . 5.35 p.m. 



In perigee November 5th at 4 p.m. 

 apogee on 17th at 7 a.m. 



and in 







Meteors. 



h.m. 









No\ 



. 2-3 . 



e Taurids Radiant R.A. 



3.40 



Dec. 9 



N 



„ 



10-23. . 



v Canerids „ „ 



8.52 



„ 31 



N 



„ 



13-16 . 



Leonids „ „ 



10.0 



„ 23 



N 



„ 



13-28 . 



Leo Minorids „ „ 



10.20 



„ 40 



N 





20-28 . 



e Taurids „ ., 



4.12 



„ 22 



N 



„ 



23-27 . 



Andromedids „ „ 



1.40 



„ 43 



N 



Leonids. — In spite of the brilliant moonshine, 

 watch should be kept from 11 p.m. on November 14th 

 until sunrise on loth, and also from 11 p.m. on 

 15th till sunrise on 16th. in the hope that the 

 Leonids may make an appearance this year. The 

 Radiant point near the middle of the " sickle " in 

 Leo rises in the north-eastern heavens at about 

 10.15 p.m. and reaches the meridian at about half- 

 past 6 in the morning. A star map, such as 

 " The People's Atlas of the Stars," published by 

 Gall & Inglis, and costing only one shilling, or 

 some such cheap one, should be on a table at hand, 

 with a pencil and ruler to mark down the paths of 

 any meteors observed, and the exact time of each 

 should also be noted. 



Conjunctions op Planets with the Moon. 



Nov. 14 



Marsf 



5 p 111. 



Planet 7.39 N 



„ 19 



Venusf 



1 a.m. 



„ 5.51 N 



„ 22 



Mercian f 



1 a.m. .. 



„ 1.39 N 



.. 23 



Jupiterf 



.. 5 p.m. .. 



1.3 S 



„ 24 



Saturnt 



. . 12 p.m. . . 



2. s g 





t Below the 



English horizon. 







Magni- 



/>,.<- 



Angle 



Angle 



Star. 



tude. 



d/l/h ill'. . 

 1 I.I II. 



Vertex. 



. Pi rtei . 

 h.m 



a 3 \nwi- 



5'5 . 



.■ 1.17.1. 111. 



.. 1 . 



2.31 p.m. .. 27:! 



13 Tauri 

 x'Orionis 



x' .. 

 /cPiscium 



5-4 . 

 47 . 

 4-8 . 

 5-0 . 



. 6.21 p.m. 



. 9.53 p.m. 



. 2.51 a.m. 



6.11 p.m. 



'.'. 220 . 

 .. 184 . 

 .. 28 . 



Near ap 

 Near approach. 

 Near approach. 

 7.7 p.m. .. 277 



10 .. 



The Sun has during October been showing 

 greater activity. On 22nd the disturbed area was 

 1 21 i.OOO miles in length, and covered no less than 

 2,500,000,000 square miles. 



Mercury is an evening star at the beginning of 

 the month, but rapidly nears the sun, coming into 

 inferior conjunction at noon on 20th, after which it 

 becomes a morning star. 



Venus is a morning star all the month, rising 

 near 3 a.m. at the beginning of the month, and a 

 little over an hour later at the end of November. 



Mars rises about 11.18 at the beginning of the 

 month, and nearly three quarters of an hour earlier 

 at the end, but its apparent diameter, though in- 

 creasing, is only 7 r "8 on the 30th, and therefore 

 not much can be seen with ordinary telescopes. 



Neptune is now becoming favourably placed 

 for observation, rising a little after 7 p.m. at the 

 beginning, and a little after 5 at the end of the 

 month. 



Annular Eclipse op the Sun.— On the early 

 morning of November 22nd there is an eclipse, 

 unfortunately invisible at Greenwich. The line of 

 central eclipse begins in the South Atlantic Ocean. 

 ' crosses Southern Africa, the Southern Indian 

 Ocean, and a portion of Australia. 



A Remarkable Sunset was noted on Septem- 

 ber 5th by observers in places so far separated as 

 Barnsbury (London), Bridport, Oxford, the South 

 Coast of England, and Criccieth in Wales. Just 

 after sunset a column of rosy light rose vertically 

 some 20° or 30° above the horizon just ahead of 

 the place where the sun had sunk. The width of 

 the column along its entire length was about 30' 

 or 40', and it remained visible for more than half an 

 hour. The observer on the Welsh mountains saw 

 most of the phenomenon, a second bright ray 

 crossing the first at right angles, doubtless form- 

 ing part of a circle or halo around the sun. 



Opposition of Eros. — The distance separating 

 the sun and earth is now known with great exact- 

 ness, but it is hoped that the observations now 

 being made on Eros, the new minor planet 

 whose orbit lies in great part within that of Mars, 

 will give still more accurate knowledge. When in 

 opposition, on November 12th, he will be some 

 39,000,000 miles from us, but, from the great 

 eccentricity of its orbit, it will not be so near to 

 us then by about 10,000,000 miles as it will be at 

 the beginning of the new century. Measurements 

 are being attempted with the micrometer, the 

 heliometer, and by aid of photography. Observa- 

 tions are being made in Europe and America, as 

 well as in the Southern Hemisphere. 



A New Variable Star. — Mrs. Fleming, ex- 

 amining the Draper Memorial photographs, has 

 found a previously unknown variable in the con- 

 stellation Aquila, E.A. 19 h. 15 m.. X Dec. 9 C VI'. 

 It varies from 7th magnitude to 11*5 in aboul a 

 year. Its spectrum has been found by Professors 

 E. C. Pickering and Wendell to be monochromatic, 

 like those of the gaseous nebulae. 



