346 



SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT. 











Position at 



Noon. 





1901 



Rise 



s. Sets. 



R.A. 



Dec. 





Apr. 



h.m 



h.m. 



h.m. 



o / 



Sun 



5 



.. 5.30 



a.m. .. 6.37 p.m. .. 



0.55 .. 



5.55 N. 





15 



.. 5.7 



a.m. . . 6.53 p.m. . . 



1.32 .. 



9.37 N. 





25 



.. 4.47 



a.m. .. 7.9 p.m. .. 



2.9 .. 1 



3.3 N. 







Rises. Souths. 



Sets. Age at Noon 





Vpr. 



h.m 



h.m. 



h.m. 



d. h.m 



Moon . 



. 5 



. 8.34 



p.m. . . 0.39 a.m. . . 



5.39 a.m. 



.. 15 23.7 





15 



. 3.11 



a.m. . . 8.50 a.m. . . 



2.42 p.m. 



.. 25 23.7 





25 



. 10.41 



a.m .. 6.15 p.m. .. 



1.5 a.m. 



.. 6 14.2c 











Position at Noon. 









Souths. Se?it 



- R.A. 



Dec. 







Apr. 



h.m. diameter, h.m. 



a , 



Mercui 



y •• 



5 .. 



10.23-9 a.m. .. 3-7' 



.. 23.16 



. . 6.47 S. 







15 .. 



10.31-2 a.m. .. 3"2' 



.. 0.3 



. . 2.31 S. 







25 .. 



10.48-7 ajn. .. 2-8' 



. . 1.0 



: . 3.48 N. 



Venus 





5 .. 



11.40-6 a.m. .. 4-9" 



. . 0.33 



. . 2.2 N. 







15 .. 



11.46-7 a.m. .. 4-9" 



.. '.19 



.. 6.57 N. 







25 .. 



11.53-7 a.m. .. 4-9" 



.. 2.5 



.. 11.37 N. 



Mars 





5 .. 



8.52-1 p.m. .. 5-6" 



. . 9.46 



. . 16.44 N. 







15 .. 



S.15-1 p.m. .. 5-1" 



.. 9.48 



.. 16.7 N. 







25 .. 



7.42-3 p.m. .. 47' 



.. 9.54 



. . 15.10 N. 



Jupiter 





15 .. 



5.24-3 a.m. .. 18-5" 



.. 18.55 



. . 22.40 S. 



Saturn 





15 . 



5.39-6 a.m. .. 7-8" 



.. 19.10 



. . 21.55 S. 



Uranu. 





15 .. 



3.31-6 a.m. .. 1-9' 



.. 17.2 



. . 22.47 S. 



Neptune . . 



15 .. 



4.13-9 p.m. .. 1-2' 



.. 5.46 



. . 22.14 N. 









Moon's Phases 













h.m. 





h.m. 



Full 



.. Apr. 4 . 



. 1.20 a.m. Zrd Qr. 



Apr. 12 . 



. 3.57 a.m 



New 



■■ , 



IS 



. 9.37 p.m. 1st Qr. 



„ 25 . 



. 4.15 p.m 



In apogee April 5th at 6 a.m. ; and in perigee 

 at 9 p.m. on the 18th. 





Meteors. 











h.m. 



o 



Mar. 11 to May 31 



Draconids Radiant E.A.17.32 



D3C. SON 



Apr. 5 „ 10 



Lyrids* „ ., 



18.8 



., 35 N. 



„ 9 „ 12 



(42 Herculis) ., 



16.36 



„ 51 N. 



„ 12 to June 30 



Ooronids „ „ 



15.40 



„ 23 N. 



„ L7 „ 25 



/3 SerpentiJs „• .. 



15.24 



., 17 N. 



„ 19 



(ju. Serpentis) ,, „ 



15.16 



2S. 



„ 20 



(f Herculis) ,, „ 



17.57 



., 32 N 



„ 29 to May 6 



7) Aquaridsf „ ,. 



22.28 



2 S. 



* Pi 



iiicipally visible April 17 to 



22. 





j- Ju 



st before sunrise. 







Conjunctions of Planets with 



THE 



Moon. 



April 11 .. 



Jupiter*! . . Noon 



Planet 3.50 S. 



„ 11 .. 



Saturnf . . 7 p.m. 





3.42 S. 



„ 17 .. 



Mercury* .. 9 a.m. 



,, 



7.5 S. 



„ 18 .. 



Tennsf . . 7 p.m. 



„ 



3.47 S. 



„ 27 .. 



Mars* .. 2 p.m. 



„ 



7.57 N. 



Daylight. 



Below English horizon. 



OCCULTATIONS, AND NEAR APPROACH. 







A mjle 



A mjle 



Magni- 



Dis- 



from 



Re- from 



Star. tude. 



appears. 



Vertex 



. appears. Vertex. 





h.m. 



° 



h.m. 



i Virginis 5-5 . 



. 7.39 p.m. 



.. 239 



near approach. 



or Scorpii 4-6 . 



. 3.59 a.m. 



.. 71 



. . 5.19 a.m . 267 



u' „ 4-1 . 



. 4.5 a.m. 



.. 5 



. . 4.20 a.m .. 342 



Apr. 



The Sun seldom has disturbances visible, but 

 still should be watched. A small interesting 

 group was on the disc early in March. 



Mercury reaches its greatest western elonga- 

 tion, 27° 48', at 6 a.m. on April 1th. and two hours 

 later attains the part, of its orbit most distant 

 from the Sun ; yet from the position of the two 

 bodies in the heavens, only 37 minutes elapse 

 between their rising, so that the planet cannot be 

 observed. 



Venus is too near the Sun for observation. 



Jupiter and Saturn are both near each 

 other in Sagittarius, and rise in the south-east 

 about two and a half hours before midnight 

 at the beginning of the month and about two 

 hours earlier at the end. Saturn's rings are still 

 open beyond his poles : on loth his diameter 

 is 15"'6, whilst the minor axis of his outer ring- 

 is 15"-96. 



Uranus, still in the southern part of Ophiuchus. 

 rises about two hours earlier than the two brighter 

 planets. 



Neptune is getting too far to the north-west 

 for very favourable observation, although he does 

 not set until after midnight. 



Mars is in Leo all the month, a little north-west 

 of Kegulns. Its apparent diameter is rapidly 

 decreasing. Two drawings, made by aid of 

 Wray's 3-inch Science-Gossip telescope and the 

 216 power, are appended to show how much a 

 small good instrument will deliueate of Mars, even 

 when unfavourably placed, as he has been dm - ing 

 this opposition. The long funnel-shaped dark 

 marking- on the second figure was called the Kaiser 



Sea by Proctor and Green, but is now known as 

 Syrtis Major. The dark patch nearest the central 

 meridian, in the southern part of the first figure, is 

 now known as Sinus Sabaeus. but was formerly 

 called Herschel II. Strait. The two long dark 

 markings in the eastern part of this figure are the 

 Indus and Hydaspes. The north Polar Cap is 

 readily visible in both figures. 



The New Star ix Perseus.— Particulars of 

 this interesting object will be found on page 324 

 in this number of Science-Gossip. 



The Leonids. — An observer at York Factory < 

 Hudson Bay, on November 15th, 1900, describes a 

 " very general display of shooting stars. Some 

 very big ones, north-west to south-east. Sky full 

 in shoals. November 16. shooting stars seen until 

 daylight." This communication has been sent to 

 the President of the Toronto Astronomical Society 

 through Mr. K. F. Stupart, Director, of the Toronto 

 Observatory and Superintendent of the Meteoro- 

 logical Service of Canada. 



Spectra of Sun and Jupiter on p. 318. The 

 double line in the diagram at 1000 should be 

 marked D and the line at 800 C. 



