SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



23 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Position at Noon. 

 1898. Rises. Sets. R.A. 



June. h.m. h.m. h.m. Dec. 



Sun ... 1 ... 3.49 a.m. ... 8.5 p.m. ... 4.38 ... 22 6' N. 

 11 ... 345 ... 8.14 ... 5.19 ... 23- 7' 



21 ... 3.43 ... 8.19 ... 6.0 ... 23 27' 



Rises. Souths. Sets. Age at Neon. 



June. h.m. h.m. h.m. d. h.m. 



Moon 1 ... 4.36 p.m. ... 9.17 p.m. ... 1.22 a.m. 11 23 2 

 11 ... 12. 11 ... 5.58 a.m. ... 0.18 p.m. 21 23 2 



21 ... 5.43 a.m. ... 1.53 p.m. ... 9.48 2 7 41 



Position at Noon- 

 SoutJis. Semi R.A . 



June. h. in. Diameter. h.m. Dec. 



Mercury... 1 ... 10.21a.m. ... 3" 8 ... 3.1 ... 13 44' N. 



11 ... 10.37 ... 3" 1 ... 3.57 ... 18 3 26' 



21 ... II. 16 ... 2" 7 ... 5.15 ... 22° 56' 



Venus ... 1 ... 1.53 p.m. ... 5" 7 ... 6.33 ... 24 42' N. 



11 ... 2.7 ... 6" o ... 7.26 ... 23° 42' 



21 ... 2.18 ... 6" 2 ... 8.17 ... 21° 35' 



Mars ... 11 ... 8.45 a.m. ... 2" 5 ... 2.5 ... n c 34' N. 



Jupiter ... 1 ... 7.22 p.m. ...18" 1 ... 12.4 ... i° 9'N. 



11 ... 6.44 ...17" 6 ... 12.5 ... i° o' 



21 ... 6.7 ...17" 1 ... 12.7 ... 0° 44' 



Saturn ... 11 ... 11.6 p.m. ... 8" 5 ... 16.27 ••• I 9° 48 S. 



Uranus ... 11 ... 10.33 p.m. ... 1" 9 ... 15.54 ... 20 9' S. 



Neptune... 11 ... 0.7 p.m. ... 1" 2 ... 5.26 ... 2i° 56' N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



Full ... June 4 ... 2. 11 p.m. yd Qr. ... June 11 ... 6.4 a.m. 

 Neui ... ,, 19 ... 4.19 a.m. 1st Qr 27 ... 4.54 „ 



In perigee June 5th, at 4 a.m., distant 222,300 

 miles ; and in apogee on 19th, at 2 p.m, distant 

 252,600 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon : 



June 4 ... Saturn* ... 7 a.m. ... planet 5 14' N. 



14 ... Mars* ... 12 p.m. ... ,, 6° 17' S. 



17 ... Mercury* ... 10 p.m. ... ,, 3 50' S. 



22 ... Venus* ... 4 a.m. ... „ 3° 18' N. 



27 ... Jupiter* ... 3 a.m. ... ,, y° 3' N. 

 * Below English horizon. 



Occultations and Near Approach : 



Dis- Angle Re- Angle 



Magni- appears. from appears. from 

 June Star. tude. h.m. Vertex, h.m. Vertex. 



4 ... o Scorpii ... 3 ... 2.52 a.m. ...332 ... Near approach. 



4 ... A Ophiuchi... 47 ... Below horizon ... 9. 11 p.m. ... 2900 



5 ... \ Sagittarii... 3"i ...10.15 P- m - ...105° ... 11.22 p.m. ... 293 



The Sun's surface is frequently showing a con- 

 siderable amount of disturbance, though the spots 

 themselves are usually small. On 21st, at 10 a.m., 

 the sun enters Cancer, and summer is said to 

 commence. 



Mercury is a morning star until its superior 

 conjunction with the sun at 8 a.m. on 30th. At 

 the beginning of the month it rises more than 

 three-quarters of an hour before the sun, and on 

 12th it is about 7 directly south of the Pleiades. 

 At 12 p.m. on 22nd Mercury is in conjunction with, 

 and i° 27' north of, Neptune. 



Venus is an evening star all the month, not 

 setting for at least about 2h. after the sun. On 

 12th it is a few degrees south of Castor and Pollux. 



Mars is a morning star, rising about 2h. 52m. 

 before the sun at the end of the month. 



Jupiter is a splendid object if looked for as soon 

 as it becomes visible. It sets about 1.40 a.m. at 



the beginning of the month and about 2I1 earlier at 

 the end. Near r\ Virginis. 



Saturn is a fine object, the Cassini division of 

 his rings being visible with anything over two 

 inches on a good night, with a power of 120 ; but 

 the great south declination is antagonistic to 

 definition. On June 9th the major axis of the 

 outer ring is ^2"-'j6, and the minor axis i8"*62, the 

 polar diameter of the planet being 17". 



Uranus suffers from its great south declination, 

 being a little south of Scorpii, otherwise it is 

 favourably placed for observation. 



Neptune being in conjunction with the sun at 

 7 a.m. on 13th cannot be observed. 



Meteors may be specially looked for on June 

 6, 7, 22, 29 and 30. 



The Red Spot on Jupiter. — In a paper on 

 " The Present Condition of Jupiter," contributed to 

 "Nature" by Mr. W. F. Denning, he tells us that 

 this object is still visible, but as a faint dusky 

 ellipse with a light interior, and that it is connected 

 on its south side with a grey belt. Comparing an 

 observation by himself on April 17th, 1898, with 

 F. C. Dennett's first observation, July 27th, 187&, 

 he finds it has made 17,414 rotations in 7,203 days, 

 with a mean rotation of gh. 55m. 39-45. This 

 period is not, however, constant. From 413 

 rotations, September 27th, 1880, to March 17th, 

 1881, the period was 9b. 55m. 35 - 6s. From 495 

 rotations, August 15th, 1892, to March 8th, 1893, 

 the period was gh. 55m. 42.3s. Whilst from 514 

 rotations between September 27th, 1896, and 

 April 25th, 1897, the resulting period is gh. 

 55m. 40'8s. 



Perrine's Comet b, 1898. — On June 1st its 

 place will be R.A. 3I1. 12m. 49s., and N. Dec. 

 56 20'- 5, its real distance from the earth being 

 about 214,000,000 miles, whilst its brightness will 

 have fallen to o - 22, that at its discovery being 10. 



Encke's Comet is due to pass its perihelion on 

 May 24th, which is the anniversary of its perihelion 

 passage in 1822, its first predicted return. M. 

 Iwanow, of Pulkowa, computes that it will not be 

 visible until after perihelion, and then only in the 

 southern hemisphere. It will be nearest to the 

 earth on July 7th, when its distance will be only 

 25,000,000 miles. 



Temple's Comet (Comet II., 1867) is due this 

 year, but may possibly not put in an appearance, 

 as it has not been since 1879, though it should in 

 the interval have made two returns, its period 

 being only six and a-half years. 



The singular " nebula" mentioned as discovered 

 by Rev. T. E. Espin, on p. 331 of last volume, is, 

 according to Dr. Isaac Roberts, only an opening 

 amongst the stars analogous to what Sir John 

 Herschel would have called a ■' coal-sack." 



Mr. John Hippisley, who was elected a Fellow of 

 the Royal Astronomical Society in 1849, and who 

 contributed several papers to its " Monthly Notices," 

 including a drawing of the great nebula in Orion 

 made in Malta whilst assisting his friend the late 

 Mr. William Lassell, has recently died at Bath, 

 aged ninety-three years, 



Has the Moon an Atmosphere. — In the 

 paper in last month's number, p. 339, column 2, 

 line 6 below block, omit "on " ; p. 340, column 1, 

 line 2 from bottom, for Pice read Pico, and column 2, 

 line 15, for Bert read Birt. These corrections are 

 necessary through a miscarriage of Mr. Dennett's 

 proof. — j.T.C. 



