26 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



COM>rCTEI> BY F. C. DENNETT. 



fSOQ 

 June 

 Sun ... 6 . 



i6 . 



26 



June 

 Moon 6 

 16 . 



36 . 



Rises. 



h.m. 

 . 3-47 i^-n 

 • 3-44 

 - -v46 



. 2.143.1 

 . o.ig p.r 

 . 10.7 



Sets. 



h m. 



&iop.ni. 



. 8. 17 



8. iq 



Souths 



h f/t. 

 . 10. 25 a.ni. 

 . 6.10 p.m. 

 2.27 a.m. 



Position at Xoon 



R A. 

 h,m. 

 4-57 - 

 S.39 • 

 6.20 . 

 Sets 



k 7lt. 



22.40 N. 

 23.22 



Mercury- 



Mars 

 Jupiter 

 Saturn 

 Craft us 



Neptune 



June 

 .. 6 .. 



16 .. 



26 .. 

 .. 6 .. 



16 . 



26 .. 

 ..16 .. 

 ..16 .. 

 ..16 .. 

 ..16 .. 

 ..16 .. 



Souths 



k.m. 

 ii.i&a.m. 

 0.9 p.m. 



1.2 



10.7 a.m. 

 10.16 

 10.27 



4-32 P-"i- 

 S.16 



11.59 a.m. 



Scttii- 



Diameter 



Age at Xoon. 

 d h. tri. 

 6.47 p.m. 27 18 31 

 11.4S p.m. S 5 40 

 7.26 a.m. iS 5 40 

 Position at J\'oon. 

 R.A. Dec. 



■ 5-6" 

 • 5'4 

 . 2-6" 

 .19-1" 

 - 8-5" 



■ **^V, 



k.m. 



7.19 . 



3-6 



3-55 ■ 

 4-45 ■ 



16.13 . 

 5-36 



. 20.48 N. 



24.S 

 15.50 N. 

 i9.a 



2..25 



12.32 ^. 



10.27 s. 

 21.36 s. 

 21.5 s. 



22.5 N. 



Moon's Phases. 



k.-m. k.m. 



Ncu; .. June 8 .. 6.20 a.m. 15^/ O'"* ■ -Juoe i6.. 9.46 a.m. 

 Full .. ,. 23 .. 2.20 p.m. ^rdQr... „ 3o..4.45a.n\ 



In apogee June 13th, at 3 a.ni., distant 251,800 

 miles; and in perigee on 25ih, at 5 a.m., distant 

 224.200 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



June 6 

 •• 7 

 .. 14 

 .. 19 

 • . 22 



Venus* 

 Mercun'' 

 Mars* ' 

 Jupiter^^f 

 Saturn* 

 Daylight. 



I p.m. 

 10 a-m. 



planet 5. 10 S. 

 ., 2..3 S. 

 .. 6.17 N. 

 .. 6.6 N. 

 N. 



^ Below English horizon. 



June Star. 



2 .. 19 Piscium 



25 .. y'Saspttarii. 



aiS . . V Piscium 



OCCULATION.S. 



Dis- Angle Re- 

 Magni- afifiears from appears, 

 iude. k.m. Vertex. h.m. 



Angle 



from 



Vertex. 



• 2.533.01. 

 . 1.17 

 .11.22 p.m. 



■ SS 



• 32 



. 3.40a.m. .. 317 

 .2.12 ..283 



.i2.iopm. .. 315 



Eci.ii'sEs OF THE Sun and Moon. 



In the early morning of June 8ih there will be small 

 partial eclipse of ihe sun. At Greenwich it begins, 

 (>' west of the \'ertex at 4.23 a.m., and ends 70^ 

 east of the \'ertex, at 5.53 a.m., so that the greatest 

 phase occurs at 5.17 a.m., when the magnitude of the 

 eclipse will l>c O'lg, taking the sun's diameter as 

 unity. Farther north the magnitude, and duration of 

 the eclipse is slightly increased. 



There will be total eclipse of the moon on the early 

 afternoon June 28th, quite invisible in England, but 

 in splendid position for our Australian brethren. 



The Sun should be watched for occasional out- 

 breaks of activity on his surface. Summer is said to 

 commence at 4 p.m. on the 2lsl June when the sun 

 enters the sign Cancer. 



Mercury is in superior conjunction with the sun 

 at 7 p.m. on 14th. afterwards becoming an evening 

 star, which, at the end of the month, docs not set 



until nearly an hour and a quarter after the sun. On 

 30th a line drawn through Castor and Pollux will 

 point almost exactly to it. In conjunction with 

 Neptune at 7 a.m. on 14th June. 



\"e\us is a morning star all the month, poorly 

 placed for observation, except by day. 



Mars has now become too small for useful observa- 

 tion, besides having to be looked for as soon as possible 

 after sunset. 



JUfiTER is still well placed for obsen-alion. It is 

 a ver)- interesting object this season, from the broken 

 stale of the north equatorial belt. 



Saturn being in opposition at 2 p.m. on nth is 

 at its best this month. On the 4th the major axis of the 

 outer ring is 42.64", and the minor axis 19. 12", whilst 

 the diameter of the planet is only 17", so that the 

 whole object is very beautiful, notwithstanding its 

 low altitude. 



Ura.nus is still as well placed for observation as 

 its southern declination » ill permit. 



Nei'Tune is in conjunction with the sun at 9 p.m. 

 on 15th, and so cannot be observed. 



Meteors may be looked for specially on 

 6th, 7th, 22nd, 29th, and 30th. 



Swift's Comet, 1899a, may be obser\ed. Its path 



takes it through Draco, Hercules, and Bootes. 



May 31 .. R.A. iSh. 22m. .. Dec. s6°56' N. .. Brigflitness 1-5 



June 5 .. ,, 16 40 .... 51*10 .. 1*2 



.. 10 .. ,. :5 39 .. ., 4.V2 .. ,. 0-8 



New Minor Planet was discovered by M. 

 Coggia of Marseilles, on 31st March. Over thirty- 

 one years have elapsed, since his first similar dis- 

 covery was made. 



Saturn's Ninth Satellite has had the namt; 

 Phoebe, one of Saturn's sisters, proposed for its 

 designation by its discoverer. Professor W. H. 

 Pickering. Its diameter is probably not over 200 

 miles, and as seen from Saturn, does not probably 

 exceed a 6th magnitude star. 



"The Cambrian Natural Observer." — The 

 quarterly journal of the Astronomical .Society of 

 Wales has come to hand, and contains as a frontis- 

 piece a very fine drawing of Mars by Rev. Theodore 

 E. R. Phillips, as well as 32 pp. of interesting 

 matter. It may be obtained from Mr. A. Mee, 

 41, Hamilton Street, Cardiff. 



Rotation of Mars. — The latest determination 

 by Professor H. G. \"an de Sande Bakhuyzen, from 

 all available data, is 24h. 27m. 22'66s., the mean 

 error + 0.0 132s. He finds that in Heischel and 

 Schroter's time a very dark spot similar in form 

 to the Kaiser Sea, existed 50° or 55". preceding 

 that object, north of the Maraldi Sea. 



Jui'lTER I.N 1899. — Reference is made above to 

 the broken state of the north equatorial belt of this 

 planet, which may in part be seen with even a three- 

 inch telescope. It is beautifully shown in the two 

 splendid drawings kindly .sent by the Rev. Theodore 

 E. R. Phillips of Hendford Vicarage, Yeovil, as seen 

 with his 9}in. with reflector. Mr. i'hillips says: 

 "The dark north tropical spot in the first drawing is 

 a vcrv' rapidly moving spot," having a mean rotation 

 period of 9h. 55m. I3'3n. . and which .seems to be now 

 in more rapid motion than when first observed. He 

 continues: "'The red spi^it is still visible in good air, 

 though very faint. To me it has lost all trace of red, 

 and is now quite grey. The dark material immediately 

 south of the red spot in the second drawing hais 

 apparently been drifting rather moie quickly than is 

 usual «iih objects in that latitude. You will see the 

 shallow elf Satellite II. just coming on the disc." For 

 these drawings, see next (Kige. 



