SCIENCE- G OS SI P. 



ASTRONOMY, 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT. 



1900 



Dec. 



.. 6 , 



16 



26 



16 .. 

 26 . 



Rises. 



Ii.m. 



, 7.51 a.m. 

 . 8.2 a.m. 

 . 8.7 a.m. 



Rises, 

 ii.m. 



4.9 p.m. 

 2.13 a.m. 

 10.18 a.m 



Sets. 



h.m. 

 . 3.51 p.m. 

 . 3.49 p.m. 

 . 3.54 p.m. 



Souths. 



Position at Soon. 

 R.A. Dec. 



h.m. 

 16.50 

 17.34 

 18.19 



22.29 S. 

 23.19 S. 

 23.23 S. 



Sets. Age at Noon. 



h.m. h.m. d. h.m. 



— . . 7.40 a.m. . . 14 4.43 



7.29 a.m. . . 0.36 D.rn. . . 24 4.43 



3.53 p.m. .. 9.40 p.m. .. 4 11.59 



Mars 

 Jupiter . . 

 Saturn . . 

 Uranus . . 



Neptune . . 



Full 

 New 



Dec. 



, 6 . 



16 . 



26 . 

 6 . 



16 . 



26 . 



16 . 



16 . 



16 . 

 . 16 . 



16 . 



Souths. 



h.m. 



10.27 a.m. 

 10.35 a.m. 

 10.56 a.m. 



9.31 a.m. 



9.40 a.m. 



9.51 a.m. 



5.6 a.m. 

 11.48 a.m. 



0.47 p.m. 

 11.9 a.m. 



0.14 a.m. 



Semi- 

 diameter. 

 . 3-4" .. 

 . 2-8" .. 

 . 2-5" .. 

 . 6-7" .. 

 . 6-4'' .. 

 . 6-1" .. 

 . 4-4" .. 

 . 14-5" .. 

 . 7-0" .. 

 . 1-8" .. 

 . 1-2" .. 



Position at Noon. 



R.A. Dec. 

 h.m. 

 15.2ft v. 

 16.14 .. 

 17.14 .. 

 14.30 .. 

 15.18 .. 

 16.9 .. 

 10.44 .. 

 17.27 .. 

 18.26 .. 

 16.48 .. 



5.51 .. 



16.14 S. 

 19.49 S. 

 22.57 S. 

 12.45 S. 

 16.28 S. 

 19.30 S. 

 10.59 N. 

 22.54 S. 

 22.42 S. 

 22.25 S. 

 22.11 N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. 



. 10.38 a.m. %rd Qr. Dec. 13 .. 



0.1 a.m. 1st Qr. 



29 



h.m. 



10.42 p.m. 

 1.48 a.m. 



In perigee December 3rd at 8 p.m. ; in apogee 

 on 15th at 1 p.m. ; and in perigee again at 4 p.m. 

 on December 30th. 



Meteors, 



, 1-14 



7-10 

 22-29 



Geminids 

 a Germinid 

 Canes Yenaticids 



Radiant R.A. 



7.12 

 7.56 



12.56 



33 N. 

 32 N. 

 32 N. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Dec. 13 

 „ 19 

 „ 20 

 „ 21 

 „ 22 



Mars 



Venus 



Mercury* 



Jupiter* 



Saturn* 



1 a.m. 

 7 a.m. 



noon 



1 p.m. 

 1 p.m. 



Planet 8.26 N. 

 „ 2.19 N. 



0.2 N. 

 „ 1.38 S. 



„ 2.24 S. 



Daylight. 



OCCULTATIONS AND NEAR APPROACHES. 



Dec. 



5 .. 



7 .. 

 10 .. 

 31 .. 



Star. 



arTauri 



<r „ 



xCancri 

 p 3 Arietis 



Magn i- 

 lude. 



4-6 .. 



3-0 .. 



5-0 . 



5*5 . 



Dis- 

 appears. 



h.m. 



6.11 p.m. 

 3.27 a.m. 

 8.56 p.m. 

 7.22 p.m. 



Angle 

 from 

 Vertex. 



. 67 .. 



.. 330 ., 



.. 148 . 



.. 355 . 



Angle 

 Re- from 

 appears. Vertex. 

 h.m. ° 



6.46 p.m. . . 353 

 Near approach. 

 9.52 p.m. .. 317 

 Near approach. 



The Sun should be watched for any outbreaks 

 of activity. 



Mercury is a morning star all the month, 

 reaching its greatest elongation west, 20° 50', at 

 3 a.m. on December 8th. At the beginning of the 

 month it is well placed for observation in Libra. 

 During the first third of the month it rises about 

 two hours before the sun, at 5.50 a.m. on Decem- 

 ber 6th. Mercury is in conjunction with Uranus 



at 3 p.m. on December 22nd, being 34' north ; on 

 30th at 4 p.m. it is in conjunction with and 43' 

 south of Jupiter. 



VENUS is also a morning star, decreasing in 

 apparent diameter, rising some time before Mer- 

 cury. On December 24th and 25th it will be 

 travelling just north of )3 Scorpii. 



Mars is in Leo, rising at 10.34 p.m. on Decem- 

 ber 1st and at 9.21 on 31st. Its path is from a 

 point just north of p Leonis to nearly north of 

 X Leonis. Its diameter increases to 10" by the 

 end of the month. 



Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus are all too close 

 to the sun for observation, coming into conjunction 

 with the sun on December 14th at 9 a.m., 29th at 

 1 p.m., and 5th at 7 a.m. respectively. 



Neptune comes into opposition at 4 a.m. on 

 December 20th, and is therefore at its best for 

 observation. It retrogrades through a short path 

 about 54' in length. The nearest bright star is v 

 Geminorum, about 4° 30' east of the planet. Its 

 apparent stellar magnitude is only about 8th 

 magnitude. 



Brussels Observatory. — M. Lagrange, having 

 resigned the directorship of the astronomical work, 

 has been succeeded by Lieutenant C. Lecointe, who 

 was second in command of the Belgian Antarctic 

 Expedition. 



Lick Observatory.— Professor W. W. Campbell 

 has been appointed Acting Director, in place of the 

 late Professor Keeler, until final arrangements can 

 be made. 



A Brilliant Meteor was seen on Sunday 

 evening, October 21st, at 9.40. at places so far 

 separated as Tewkesbury. Stafford, and London. 

 At the first-mentioned place it was seen to pass 

 through the north-western sky. Its colour was 

 bluish white, but it left a trail of red. About three 

 minutes later a sound like the boom of a heavy 

 gun at a great distance was heard. 



New Nebula. — Whilst Mr. E. G. Aitken was 

 watching Comet b, 1900, with the Lick telescope 

 he found an object marked as a star of 9-5 magni- 

 tude in the " Durchmusterung " to be a planetary 

 nebula with a stellar nucleus. The nebulous 

 envelope has a diameter of some 5" or 6". Its 

 position is E.A. 12 h. 29 m. 10 s., N., Declination, 

 83°21-8', and therefore in the constellation of Ursa 

 Minor. 



New Minor Planets. — Professor Max Wolf, of 

 Heidelberg, reports the discovery of seven more 

 of these little bodies. One on September 26th, five 

 on October 22nd, and another on the following 

 night, which, however, may prove to be Irina 

 (No. 177), discovered by M. Paul Henry in 1877. 



Mr. W. F. Denning has, we are sorry to hear, 

 been obliged to resign the directorship of the 

 Meteoric section of the British Astronomical 

 Association owing to the failure of his health. 

 Mr. W. Besley is his successor. 



The " Cambrian Natural Obseryer " for 

 October has come to hand. It contains a coloured 

 plate of the great meteor of January 4th, 1900, by 

 Mr. Norman Lattey, beside a number of interesting 

 observations. It is the journal of the Astronomical 

 Society of Wales. 



Dr. Ferdinand Anton, the director of the 

 astro-meteorological observatory at Trieste, died on 

 October 3rd, in his fifty-seventh year. 



