122 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Sun 



Sept 



.. 9 . 



19 • 



29 . 



Sept. 



Moon 9 ... 



19 ... 



29 ... 



h.m. 

 . 5.27 a.m 

 • 543 

 . 6.0 



Rises. 



h.m. 

 11.11 p.m. ... 

 10.10 a.m. ... 



5-3 P.m. ... 



Sets, 

 h.m. 



. ... 6.2S p.m. . 

 ... 6.5 

 ... 542 

 Souths, 

 h.m. h 



6.52 a.m. ... 3 

 2.36 p.m. ... 6 



11.43 .» 5 



Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



Dec. 



5° 13' N. 



h . m 

 ..11. 11 

 ..11.47 

 ..12.23 

 Sets. 



s. 



m. 



>.6 p.m. 23 



Mercury 



Venus 



Mats 



Jupiter 



Saturn 



Uranus 



Neptune 



Sept. 

 .. 9 ... 



19 ... 



29 ... 

 .. 9 ... 



19 ... 



29 ... 

 .. 19 ... 

 .. 19 ... 

 .. 19 ... 

 .. 19 ... 

 .. 19 ... 



Souths. 



h.m. 

 11.27 am. 

 10.49 

 10.5S 



2.45 p.m. 



245 



243 



6.49 a.m. 



1.5 p.m. 



4.27 p.m. 



3o8p.m. 



5.45 a.m. 



Semi 

 Diameter. 

 ... 5" o 

 ... 3" 8 

 ... 2" 9 

 ...10" 9 

 ...12" 1 

 ...13" 6 

 ... 3" 4 

 ...14" 2 

 ... 7" 4 

 ... 1" 8 

 ... I" 3 



Age at Noon 



d. h. vi. 



1 25 



3 11 50 



a.m. 13 11 50 



Position at Noon 



P.. A. 



h.m. 

 ... 10.41 

 .. 10.43 

 .. 11.32 

 .. 13-59 

 ... 14-38 

 .. 15-16 

 .. 6.43 

 .. 12. =8 

 .. 16.22 

 -• 15-52 

 .. 5-37 



Dec. 



5° 26' N. 

 8 3 3 2' 

 5° 4' 



u J 26' S. 



8' 

 27' N. 



2' S. 

 56' S. 



5'S. 



2'N. 



20" 



22 J 



I p.m. . 



.. pi 



met o° 54' 



S. 



9 p.m. . 





,. 3° 20' 



N. 



9 p.m. . 





>, 6° 39' 



N. 



7 p.m. . 





,, I a 28' 



N. 



1 p.m. . 





4° 39' 



N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



yd Qr. ... Sept. 7.. .10.51 p.m. New ... Sept. 16... 0.10 a.m. 

 1st Qr. ... ,, 23... 2.39 a.m. Full... ,, 29. ..11. 11 p.m. 

 In apogee September gth, at 9 p.m., distant 251,400 

 miles ; and in perigee on 25th, at 6 a.m, distant 

 229,300 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Sept. 9 ... Mars* 



14 ... Mercuryt 

 17 ... Jupitert 

 19 ... Venus 

 21 ... Saturn* 



* Daylight. f Below English horizon. 



The Sun had been showing less and less signs 

 of activity, but during the last day or two of July 

 and early in August there were some large spots 

 visible. 



Mercury is in inferior conjunction with the sun 

 at 5 p.m. on September 5th, and after that date is 

 a morning star throughout the month, reaching 

 greatest elongation west (i7°5i') at 3 p.m. on 21st, 

 near which date it rises about ih. 40m. before 

 the sun. 



Venus is an evening star, reaching its greatest 

 eastern elongation (46 27') at 5 p.m. on 21st. It 

 sets at this time about an hour after the sun, and 

 is not well placed for the observer. The best time 

 to observe it is near the time of southing, if care- 

 fully " swept " up or found by aid of an equatoreal 

 and circles. 



Mars rises a few minutes before 11 at the 

 beginning and about 10.15 at tne en d of the 

 month. Its tiny disc is not a very satisfactory 

 object at present, with a telescope of common 

 dimensions. At the time of its occultation by the 

 moon, on September 9th, it will not only be broad 

 daylight, but the planet will be getting low in 

 north-western heavens. Disappearance occurs at 

 1. 31 p.m., 95 from the vertex, and the reappearance 

 at 2.19 p.m., 215 from the vertex. 



Jupiter is too near the sun for observation. 



Saturn must be looked for as soon as it is dark. 

 At the beginning of the month it sets about three 

 hours after the sun. 



Uranus cannot be well observed. 



Neptune follows the " crab "nebula in Taurus, 

 and comes to the meridian about 7 minutes after 

 that object. 



Meteors may be looked for on September 1st, 

 2nd, 6th, 7th, nth to 13th and 25th. 



Comets. — It now appears that Mr. John Grigg, 

 of Thames, New Zealand, was the first to recover 

 Encke's comet, on June 7th ; it should therefore be 

 called c 1S98. Coddington's new comet is properly 

 d 1898", and is remarkable as being the second dis- 

 covered by photography. The first being that 

 found by Barnard, in 1S92, the fifth of that year. 

 More extended observation has led to a re- 

 determination of the orbits of Perrine's comet, e 

 1S9S, and Giacobinrs comet, g 1S98. Herr Ber- 

 berich finds that the former did not reach its 

 perihelion until August 16th, at a distance 0^64 

 from the sun — the earth's distance = i-o. M. St. 

 Javelle, of the Nice Observatory, gives in the 

 " Astronomische Nachrichten," No. 3,505, a new 

 determination of the orbit of the latter, finding that 

 the perihelion passage was not made until July 

 25th, at a distance from the sun equal to one and a- 

 half times as great as the earth's mean distance, 

 having been nearest to the earth at the end of 

 June. 



A Brilliant Meteor, green in colour, and 

 having a red trail about 4 in length, passed about 

 io° east of the zenith, as seen from Dalston, with 

 a motion from south to north, nearly parallel to the 

 meridian, at about 9. n p.m. on July 26th. The 

 colours were not perhaps so intense as those of the 

 meteor on January 21st. Mr. W. F. Denning, of 

 Bristol, writes: " I have two other observations, . . . 

 and I am only able to derive a very approximate 

 path. The fireball seems to have fallen from 73 

 miles to 27 miles, and to have had a length of 

 flight = 191 miles. It first appeared over a place 

 in latitude 49 49' N., longitude o° 32' E. (25 

 miles west of Dieppe, France), and disappeared 

 over Chatteris, Cambridgeshire. Radiant point in 

 about 269°, — 23 at the bow of Sagittarius. I 

 cannot give any value for the velocity, as I have 

 no estimates of the duration of flight." 



William R. Brooks. — Prof. Brooks, Director of 

 the Smith Observatory, Geneva, New York, who 

 has discovered so many comets and was one of the 

 earliest workers in astronomical photography, has 

 had the degree of Doctor of Science conferred 

 upon him by Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, 

 attending personally, by request, .to receive the 

 distinction. 



A New Minor Planet, the first this year, was 

 photographically discovered by M. Charlois, at 

 Nice, on July 16th. Prof. Millosevich observed 

 it at Rome, visually, on July 20th. 



Ben Nevis Meteorological Observatories. 

 — It was feared that after seven years' good work 

 these observatories would have to be closed in 

 October next for lack of funds, but we understand 

 that the difficulty has been warded off for at least 

 another year. 



Jupiter. — "Nature" for August 4th, contained 

 a most interesting article on Jupiter's red spot, by 

 Mr. W. F. Denning, who for twenty years past has 

 been studying this remarkable object. 



