SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



3i7 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT. 











Position at Noon. 





1901 



Rise. 



Sets. 



R.A. 



Bee. 





Mar. 



h.m 



h.m. 



h.m. 



/ 



Sun 



. 6 . 



. 6.38 



a.m. . . 5.46 p.m. .. 



23.6 .. 



5.49 S. 





16 . 



6.14 



a.m. . . 6.4 p.m. . . 



23.42 .. 



1.54 S. 





26 . 



. 5.52 



a.m. . . 6.20 p.m. .. 



0.19 .. 



2.3 N. 







Rises 



Souths. 



Sets. Age at Noon. 



Mar. 



h.m. 



h.m. 



h.m. 



d. h.m. 



Moon . . 



6 .. 



7.31 



p.m. . . 0.33 a.m. . . 



6.31 a.m 



.. 15 9.15 





16 .. 



3.-16 



a.m. . . 8.26 a.m. . . 



1.13 p.m 



.. 25 9.15 





26 .. 



9.36 



a.m. . . 5.45 p.m. . . 



1.0 a.m 



.. 5 23.7 











Position at Noon. 









Souths. Sem 



- R.A. 



Dec. 







Mar. 



h.m. diameter, h.m. 



' 



Ate r cur 1 





6 . 



0.15 p.m. .. 5-3" 



.. 23.9 



. . 1.30 S. 







16 .. 



11.7 a.m. .. 5-2" 



.. 22.40 



. . 6.12 S. 







26 .. 



10.32 a.m. .. 4-4" 



.. 22.45 



. . 8.18 S. 



Veil US 





6 . 



11.20 a.m. .. 5-1" 



.. 22.14 



.. 12.15 S. 







16 . 



11.28 a.m. .. 5-0'' 



.. 23.2 



. . 7.46 S. 







26 . 



11.35 a.m. .. 5-0" 



.. 23.47 



. . 2.56 S. 



Mars 





6 . 



. 11.11 p.m. .. 6-8" 



.. 10.8 



.. 16.0 N. 







16 . 



. 10.20 p.m. . 6-4" 



.. 9.56 



.. 16.44 N. 







26 . 



9.34 p.m. .. 6 0" 



. . 9.48 



. . 16.58 N. 



Jupiter 





16 . 



. 7.11 a.m. .. 16-9" 



.. 18.43 



.. 22.51 S. 



Saturn 





16 . 



. 7.32 a.m. .. 7-4" 



.. 19.5 



.. 22.3 S. 



Uranus 





. 16 . 



. 5.30 a.m. .. 1-8" 



.. 17.3 



.. 22.49 S. 



Neptune 





16 . 



. 6.10 p.m. .. 1-2" 



Moon's Phases 



h.m. 



.. 5.45 



. . 22.12 N. 

 h.m. 



Full 



. Mai 



. 5 . 



. 8.4 a.m. Zrd Qr. 



Mar. 13 



.. 1.6 p.m. 



Xeir 



>! 



20 . 



. 0.53 p.m. 1st Qr. 



„ 27 



. 4.39 a.m. 



In apogee March 9th at 10 a.m. ; and in perigee 

 on 21st at 10 a.m. 





Meteors. 













h.m. 







Mar. 1 /. 



(k Persei) Radiant R.A. 



3.10 



Dec. 45 N 



1-4 



t Leonids 



11 



11.4 



5 N 



1-28 



k Cepheids 





20.32 



„ 78 N 



11 to May 31 



Draconids 





17.32 



„ 50 N 



14 



(v Virginis) 



., „ 



11.40 



„ 10 N 



24 



/3 Lrsids 



51 



10.44 



,. 58 N. 



27 



(>) Cor. Bor.) 



., 



15.16 



„ 32 N 



2S 



(26 Draconis) 



„ 



17.32 



„ 62 N 



Conjunctions op Planets with the 



Moon. 



.Mar. 4 .. 



Mars*f 



10 a.m. . 



Planet 9.53 N. 



,. 14 .. 



Jupiterf 



11 p.m. . 





3.25 s. 



,. 15 .. 



Saturn* 



9 a.m. . 



)5 



3.26 S. 



,. 19 .. 



Mercury* 



6 a.m. .. 





3.47 S. 



,. 19 .. 



Venusf 



11 p.m. . 



, 



6.31 S. 



,. 31 



Mars 



3 a m. 



„ 



8.56 N. 



Daylight. 



t Below English horizon. 



OCCULTATIONS, AND NEAR APPROACH. 











Annie 



A mile 







Magni 



Dis- 



from 



Re- from 



Mar. 



Star. 



tilde. 



appears. 



Vertex. 



appears. Vertex. 









h.m. 



° 



h.m. ° 



2-3 



. . k Caucri 



5-0 . 



.10.46 p.m. 



.. 116 . 



0.3 a.m. .. 267 



2a 



. . / Tauri 



3 - . 



. 6.32 p.m. 



.. 58 . 



. 7.12 p.m .. 245 



26 



. . 1 1 Orionis 



5-1 



.11.11 p.m. 



.. 150 . 



Near approach. 



The Sun now appears in a very quiescent state, 

 but observation should not be reiaxed. Spring is 

 said to commence at 7 a.m. on March 21st, when 

 the Sun crosses the equator and enters sign Aries. 



MERCURT is in inferior conjunction with the 

 Sun at ."» p.m. .on March 7th. after which it be- 

 comes a morning star, but is poorly placed for 

 observation. 



Venus too near the Sun for observation. 



MARS in Leo is well placed for observation all 

 night, but its diameter is only 138" at the be- 

 ginning, decreasing to 11 G" at the end of the 

 month. 



Jupiter and Saturn are near together, in 

 Sagittarius, both morning stars rising in the south- 

 east about three hours before sunrise. 



Uranus is at a similar low declination, preceding 

 Saturn by about two hours. 



Neptune must be looked for early in the 

 evening, as it is on the meridian at sunset near 

 the middle of the month. 



Comet e 1900 was only visible with quite large 

 telescopes on favourable occasions, its faint nucleus 

 being less than twelfth magnitude. It must have 

 passed its perihelion on December 3rd, 91,000.000 

 miles from the Sun. Its orbit is elliptical, and its 

 period about seven years. 



New Minor Planets. — Already five have been 

 discovered this century by Professor Max Wolf of 

 Heidelberg, on January 9th, 16th, 17th, and 18th. 

 Herr Camera was assisting on the 17th at the time 

 of the discovery. There is thought to be a mistake 

 about those reported to have been discovered by 

 Professor W. E. Brooks. 



Two new variable stars have been discovered by 

 Mr. E. T. A. Innes at the Cape Observatorv, to be 

 called 24,1900, Arae, and 25.1900, Octantis. The 

 former is remarkable for the shortness of its period, 

 which amounts to only a -3115, or 7 h. 28 m. 31s. : 

 its magnitude changes from 8'9 to 975. The 

 magnitude of the latter varies between 77 and 

 10-3. 



The Gold Medal of the Eoyal Astronomical 

 Society was this year awarded to Professor E. C. 

 Pickering, of Harvard College Observatorv. and 

 presented to the American Ambassador. Mr. 

 Choate, on behalf of the recipient, at the annual 

 general meeting at Pmrlington House on Feb- 

 ruary 8th. 



Moon's Path. — There are some phenomena 

 connected with the earth and moon which, as 

 popularly understood, are not correct, and with the 

 favour of your permission are thei-efore open to 

 discussion. The moon does not describe a circular 

 path in revolving round the earth, but an irregular 

 zig-zag track ; and, in consequence, this irregular 

 movement is at variance with the law affecting the 

 inertia of matter. The earth, in its annual circuit 

 round the sun, has in round numbers a daily course 

 of about 2,000,000 miles, and the moon has a 

 daily course of about 56.000 miles round the earth. 

 Now at full moon the moon is carried forward in 

 space the sum of these two velocities, while during 

 the last quarter it is propelled in front of the 

 earth's path 2,000,000 miles a day. and has at the 

 same time a lateral motion of its own of 56,000 

 miles a day. Again, at new moon its direction is 

 changed, and has now a retrograde motion of 

 2,000,000 miles a day. less its own circuit motion 

 of 56,000 miles. If a line be traced showing the 

 path of the moon in its orbit round the earth, it 

 will be seen to be a zig-zag course. The only force 

 of which we know connecting the moon to the 

 earth is the force of gravity, which acts in a straight 



