SCIENCE GOSSIP. 



375 



ASTRONOMY 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT. 











Position at Noon. 





1901 



Rises. 



Sets. 



R.A. 



Dec. 





May 



h.m. 



h.m. 



h.m. s. 



O I ii 



Sun 



. . 5 . . 



4.28 a.m. 



.. 7.26 p.m. . 



2.47.16 . 



. 1G. 7.54 N- 





15 .. 



4.10 a.m. 



. . 7.42 p.m. . 



3.26.14 . 



L8.45.69 N. 





25 .. 



3.58 a.m. 



. . 7.56 p.m. . 



4. 6.10 . 



20.52.30 N. 







Rises. 



Souths. 



Sets. 



Age at Noon 





May 



h.m. 



h.m. 



h.m. 



d. h.m. 



Moon . 



6 .. 



9.26 p.m. 



. . 0.53 a.m. . 



. 5.15 a.in 



. . . 16 14.23 





15 .. 



2.27 a.m. 



.. 9.16 a.m. . 



. 4.21 p.m 



. .. 26 14.23 





25 .. 



11. 5G a.ui 



. . 6.2S p.m. . 



. U.2U a.u 

 Posit 



... 7 6.22 

 on at Noon. 







South 



«. Semi- 



R.A. 



Dec. 





May h.m. 



diameter, h.tn.s. 



° ' " 



Mercur 



J.. 5 



. 11.17-3 



a.m. .. 2-6" . 



. 2. 8. . 



.11.30.33 N. 





15 



..11.59-7 



a.m. . . 2'5" . 



. 3.29.48 . 



.19.17.55 N. 





25 



.. 0.49-8 



p.m. .. 2-7" . 



. 4.59. 9 . 



.24.29.15 N. 



Venus 



5 



.. 0. 2-1 



p.m. . . 4-9" . 



. 2.52.45 . 



.15.49.22 N. 





15 



.. 0.12-2 



p.m. .. 4-9" . 



. 3.42.17 . 



.19.22. 6 N. 





25 



.. 0.24-2 



p.m. .. 4-9" . 



4.33.40 . 



22. 3.16 N. 



Mars 



5 



.. 7.12-7 



p.m. .. 4-4" . 



10. 4.10 . 



.13.57.19 N. 





15 



.. 6.45-6 



p.m. 4-0" . 



10.10.26 . 



12.30.15 N. 



Jupiter 



.. 15 



.. 3.26-7 



a.m. ..20-2" . 



18.55.15 . 



.22.42.26 S. 



Saturn 



.. 15 



. 3.40-9 



a.m. .. 8-2" . 



.19. 9.34 . 



.21.57.44 S. 



Uranus 



.. 15 



.. 1.29-9 



a.m. .. 1-9" . 



16.58. 7 . 



22.42.13 S. 



Neptune 



.. 15 



.. 2.194 



p.m. .. 1"2" . 



5.49.52 . 



.22.16.22 N. 







Moon's Phases 











h.m. 





h.m. 



Full 



. May 



3 .. 0.19 p.m. 3rd Qr 



May 11 



. 2.38 p.m. 



New 



» 



18 . , 5.3S a.m. 1st Qr 



„ 25 



. 5.40 a.m. 



In apogee May 2nd at 8 a.m. ; in perigee 17th 

 at 7 a.m. ; and in apogee again on 29th at 5 p.m. 



Meteors. 









h.m. 



o 



Mar. 11 to May 31 



Draoonids Radiant R.A.17.32 



Dec. 50 N 



Apr. 5 „ 



10 



Lyrids „ „ 



18.8 



„ 35 N 



,, 12 to June 



30 



Coronids „ „ 



15.40 



„ 23 N 



May 6 





y; Aquarids* „ „ 



22.28 



» 2S 



» 1 





(v Herculis) „ „ 



15.56 



» 46 N 



„ 3 to 9 





a Serpen tids „ ., 



15.36 



„ KIN 



» 11 





(a Cor. Bor.) ., 



15.24 



„ 27 N 



„ 15 





r) Aquilids „ „ 



19.36 







„ 29 to June 



1 



r) Pegasids ,. ,, 

 ■ ; .Inst before sunrise. 



22.12 



„ 27 N 



Conjunctions of Planets with 



THE 



Moon. 



May 8 .. 





.Tupiter*t . . 7 p.m. . . 



Plane 



t 3.59 S. 



9 .. 





Saturn .. 1 a.m. 





3.48 S. 



„ IS .. 





Mercury* .. 1 p.m. 





1.39 N. 



., 18 .. 





Venus* .. 1 p.m. 





0.38 N. 



■i 25 . 





Mars' .. 3 p.m. 



„ 



6.59 N. 



Daylight. 



|- Below English horizon. 



OCCULTATIONS AND NEAR APPROACHES. 



May 



14 . 

 31-1. 



Mayni- 

 Star. tude. 



. i Virginis 5-6 .. 

 . A Librae 5-0 . . 

 . 21 Sagittarii 4-9 . , 

 . d „ 4-9 .. 



. A Piscium 4-7 . . 

 . B.A.O. 5109 5.4 .. 



Alhtlr 



from 

 Vertex 



Dis- 



ii/i/n firs. 

 h.m. 



3.18 a.m. 

 4.1 G a.m. 

 0.39 a.m. 

 0.26 a.m. 



below horizon 

 11.49 p.m. .. 34 



A inile 

 Re- from 

 appears. Vertex. 

 h.m. ° 



50 below horizon. 

 334 near approach. 

 86 .. 1.51 a.m. .. 

 15:! . . 1.23 a.m. .. 

 2.48 a.m. .. 

 0.36 n.m. .. 



305 

 247 

 266 

 319 



The Sun continues very free from distmbances 

 either bright or dark, but should be ■watched. 



There is no real nighl from May 21s1 to July 23rd, 

 bwilighl lasting all the time the Sun is below the 



horizon. 



Mercury is in superior conjunction with the 

 Sun al <> p. in. on .May 1 hh. alter which it becomes 

 an evening star, and a1 6 p.m. on L8th is in con- 

 junction with and 1° V north of Venus. Dui 



the last week of the nth Mercury does nol sel 



until more than one hour after the Sun, and will 

 be within the view of I he observer in I he consl ella- 

 tion Taurus, near Gemini. 



Venus is in superior conjunction with the Sun 

 at 1 a.m. on May 1st. bu1 is too near the Sun 

 observal ion. 



Mars passes the meridian in daylight all the 

 month, and so must be Looked for as soon as it is 

 sufficiently dark. His apparent diameter deen-ase- 

 apace, but at this time the details of bis surfaci 

 often seem better defined, and he bears high 

 magnifying powers well. 



JUPITER AND SATURN remain near each other 

 in Sagittarius, rising just after midnight at the 

 beginning of the month, and about an hour and a 

 half earlier at the end. Their low altitude is not 

 helpful to good observation. 



Uranus, in the .southern part of Ophiuchus, pre- 

 cedes Jupiter by nearly two hours, and so is nearly 

 as well placed for observation as he will be this 

 year. 



Neptune is too close to the Sun to be seen. 



Eclipse of the Moon. — When the Moon rises, 

 at 7.28 p.m., on May 3rd, she will be wholly 

 covered by the penumbra of the earth's shadow, 

 the last contact with the same taking place at 

 8.55 p.m., 38° west of the north point. It will be 

 barely noticeable. 



Eclipse of the Sun.— This will be total across 

 the Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Borneo, and tin- 

 southern part of New Guinea, in the early morning 

 of May 18th, but will be quite invisible in England, 

 or, indeed, in Europe. 



A New Variable Star, near Nova Persei. 

 known as B.D. + 43° 726, has had its character 

 defined by Mr. A. Stanley Williams, who has 

 favoured us with a rough diagram, which is re- 

 produced, to aid in identification. " Its visual 



$ 



Jtc 



•CL 





j\r 



Diagram of New Variable Star near Nova Persei. 



magnitude at present is about 8J. The period of 

 variation is probably long ; {>ossibly a year or 

 more. It is probably nearly at a maximum now." 

 It is catalogued as 8 - 9 magnitude. Photographi- 

 cally its magnitude is less than when observed 

 visually. On January 11th it was photographi- 

 cally 11-47 magnitude, but by February 28th had 



