250 



SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT. 



1901 



Jan. 



.. 5 



15 



25 



Jan.. 

 .. 5 .. 

 15 .. 

 25 . 



Rises, 

 h.m. 



8.7 a.m. 

 8.1 a.m. 

 7.51 a.m. 



Rises, 

 h.m. 



5.9 p.m. 

 3.12 a.m. 



Sets. 



h.m. 

 . 4.3 p.m. 

 . 4.17 p.m. 

 . 4.33 p.m. 



Souths, 

 h.m. 

 . 0.3 a.m. 

 . 7.38 a.m. 



Position at Noon. 

 Dec. 



R.A. 



h.m. 

 19.3 .. 

 19.46 .. 

 20.29 .. 



Sets. Age at Noon. 

 h.m. d. h.m. 



7.57 a.m. . . 14 11.59 

 11.59 a.m. . . 24 11.59 



22.40 S. 

 21.12 S. 

 19.4 S. 



9.35 a.m. .. 4.22 p.m. .-. 11.25 p.m. 



4 21.24 



Mercury . 



Venus 



Mars 



Jupiter .. 

 Saturn 

 Uranus .. 

 Neptune .. 



Jan. 

 . 5 . 



15 . 



25 . 

 . 5 . 



15 . 



25 . 

 . 5 . 



15 . 



25 . 

 , 15 .. 



15 .. 

 , 15 ., 

 , 15 ., 



Souths. 



h.m. 



11.23 a.m. 

 11.53 a.m. 



0.24 p.m. 

 10.4 a.m. 

 10.18 a.m. 

 10.32 a.m. 



4.3 a.m. 



3.26 a.m. 



2.44 a.m. 

 10.20 a.m. 

 11.4 a.m. 



9.18 a.m. 

 10.9 p.m. 



Semi- 

 diameter. 

 ,. 2-4" .. 

 .. 2-3" .. 

 . . 2-4" .. 

 .. 5-9" .. 

 .. 5-7" .. 

 . 5-6" .. 

 . 5-2" .. 

 ,. 5-6" .. 

 .. 6-1" .. 

 . 14-8" .. 

 . 7-0" .. 

 . 1-8" .. 

 . 1-2" .. 



Position at Noon. 

 R.A. Dec. 

 h.m. ° ' 



18.20 .. 

 19.30 .. 

 20.41 .. 

 17.1 .. 



17.55 .. 

 18.49 .. 

 10.59 .. 

 11.1 .. 

 10.58 ., 



17.56 .. 

 18.41 .. 

 16.55 .. 



5.48 .. 



22.24 S. 

 23.41 S. 

 20.30 S. 

 21.40 S. 

 22.47 S. 

 22.46 S. 

 10.6 N. 

 10.17 N. 

 10.56 N. 



23.10 S. 

 22.32 S. 

 22.37 S. 



22.11 N. 



Full 

 New 



Jan. 5 



„ 20 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. 

 . 0.14 a.m. 3rd Qr. Jan. 12 

 . 2.36 p.m. 1st Qr. „ 27 



In apogee January 12th at 11 a.m. 

 on January 24th at 11.30 a.m. 



h.m. 



8.38 p.m. 



m perigee 



Jan, 



2-3 



2 



5 



17 

 18-28 



Meteors 



Quadrantids Radiant R.A. 



k Cygnids 

 6 Coronids 



h.m. 



15.28 Dec. 



15.20 „ 



9.20 „ 



19.40 „ 



15.32 „ 



49 N. 

 53 N. 

 57 N. 

 53 N. 

 31 N. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Jan. 9 

 » 18 

 ,, 18 

 „ 19 



„ 20 



Mars f 



Jupiter* 



Venus* 



Saturnf 



Mercury 1 



8 p.m. 



9 a.m. 



2 p.m. 

 4 a.m. 



3 p.m. 



Daylight. 



Planet 9.10 N. 



2.13 S. 



„ 2.12 S. 



„ 2.41 S. 



" 6.34 S. 



t Below English horizon. 



OCCULTATIONS AND NEAR APPROACHES. 



Angle Angle 



Magni- Dis- ' from Re- from 



Star. lude. appears. Vertex, appears. Vertex. 



h.m. ° h.m. ° 



arTauri 4-6 . . 5.1 a.m. . . 325 . . Near approach. 



X'Orionis 4-7 .. 5.55 p.m. . . 220 . . 



X" .. 4-8 ..10.47p.m. .. 191 .. 



13 Tauri 5-4 . . 8.3 p.m. . . 354 



4-7 . . 2.41 a.m. . . 69 



8.28 p.m. 

 3.36 a.m. 



310 



229 



31 .. x'Orionis 



The Sun needs careful watching for sudden out- 

 breaks of activity. At 9 p.m. on January 2nd the 

 Earth passes that portion of its orbit which is 

 nearest to the Sun. 



Mercury is a morning star until 2 a.m. on Jan- 

 uary 22nd, when it is in superior conjunction- with 



the Sun. after which it becomes an evening star. 

 At no time is it in good position for observation. 

 At 11 p.m. on the 7th Mercury is in conjunction 

 with Saturn, being 1° 51' south of that planet. 



Venus is also a morning star badly placed for 

 observation. At 9 p.m. on January 3rd she is in 

 conjunction with Uranus, being 1° 10' north of that 

 planet. At 9 p.m. on the 15th she is in conjunc- 

 tion with, and only 22' north of, Jupiter ; whilst at 

 8 p.m. on the 24th she is in conjunction with, and 

 only 20' south of, Saturn. 



Mars is in Leo all the month, rising at 9.17 p.m. 

 on the 1st, and at 7.7 p.m. on January 31st. It is 

 well placed for observation, but its apparent dia- 

 meter is only 12.8" at the end of the month. 



Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus are all too near 

 the Sun for successful observation. 



Neptune is well placed for observation all the 

 month. 



The Leonids. — So far as a great shower was 

 concerned, the Leonids were not seen this year, 

 only a few meteors from this radiant being re- 

 corded. It seems certain that their orbit has 

 become changed. 



Minor Planets. — Another was discovered by 

 ' Professor Max Wolf, on October 31st, at Heidelberg. 

 One of the supposed recent discoveries appears to 

 be an observation of No. 244 Sita. The two 

 found in Japan in March last have not been again 

 seen. 



The Moon. — We are very glad to hear that the 

 members of the British Astronomical Association 

 are now going to make the attempt to construct 

 a trustworthy map on a scale of 200 inches to the 

 Moon's diameter. This was the scale adopted by 

 the Lunar Committee of the British Association 

 for the Advancement of Science in 1864-1869. If 

 any of our readers would like to assist in the 

 good work, Mr. W. Goodacre, F.R.A.S., Director of 

 the Lunar Section, 1 Birchington Road, Crouch 

 End, N., would be glad to hear from them. It is 

 not so much the size of the instrument, as persistent 

 observation, which is useful in this work. 



The Nineteenth Century, with its wonderful 

 discoveries and advances, has passed away, leaving 

 us on the threshold of the new era, the history of 

 which is as yet all unknown. The openingday of the 

 nineteenth century was marked by the discovery 

 of the first of the minor planets by Piazzi, and 

 to-day the number known is over 460. The next 

 year, 1802, was marked by Wollaston's discovery 

 of gaps in the solar sioectrum, being the first step 

 towards spectrum analysis, by the aid of which not 

 only the atmospheric constituents of the heavenly 

 bodies can be known with certainty, but move- 

 ments, otherwise invisible, are measured. Binary 

 stars beyond the power of the greatest telescopes 

 are now not only discovered, but their movements 

 are studied. Photography, too, has come, making- 

 records otherwise utterly beyond the power of 

 man, besides revealing the secrets of the heavens 

 untraceable by the most delicate eye, even when 

 aided by the largest telescopes. Saturn and 

 Jupiter are now each known to have an additional 

 satellite to those previously recognised. Mars has 

 had two revealed, and two more have been found 

 accompanying Uranus. Neptune^ with his moon 

 has also been found, the former by the mathematical 

 skill of Leverrier and Adams. These are but a 

 few of the discoveries of the past. What shall be 

 those of the new century 1 



