SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



153 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 









Position at Noon. 





1898. 



Rises. Sets. 



R.A. 





Oct. 



h.m. h.m. 



h.m. Dec. 



Sun 



9 ..: 



6.17 a.m. ... 5.19 p.m 



. ...13.0 ... 6° 23' S. 





19 ... 



6.33 — 4-57 



...13.37 — 10° 6' 





29 ... 



6.50 ... 4.38 



...14.15 ... 13° 34' 





Rises. Souths. 



Sets. A ge at Noon. 



Oct 



h.m 



h.m. 



h.m. d. h. 111. 



Moon 9 



... — 



... 7.7 a.m. ... 



2.46 p.m. 23 11 50 



19 



... 11.41 



a.m. ... 3.24 p.m. ... 



7-8 3 23 23 



29 



.. 4.8 



p.m. ...12. 1 



6.56 a.m. 13 23 23 

 Position at Noon- 







Soutlis. Semi 



R.A. 





Oct. 



h.m. Diameter. h.m. Dec. 



Mercury . 



• 9 .. 



. 11.22 a.m. ... 2" 5 



... 12.35 - 1° 57' S. 





19 .. 



11.46 ... 2" 4 



... 13.38 ... 9° 11' 





29 .. 



0.8 p.m. ... 2" 3 



... 14.39 - 15° 53' ^ 



Venus 



. 9 .. 



2.40 p.m. ... 15" 6 



... 15.53 - 24 54' S. 





19 .. 



2.32 ... 18" 



... 16.25 ... 26° 50' 





29 .. 



2.18 ... 21" I 



... 16.49 •■■ 27° 50' 



Mars 



. 19 .. 



5.58 a.m. ... 4" I 



... 7.49 ... 22"^ 10' N. 



Jupiter . 



. 19 .. 



11.30 a.m. ... 14" I 



... 13.22 ... 7° 30' S. 



Saturn . 



. 19 .. 



2.39 p.m. ... 7" 2 



... 16.32 ... 20° 24' S. 



Uramis . 



. 19 .. 



2.4 p.m. ... i" 8 



... 15.58 ... 20° 22' S. 



Neptune . 



. 19 .. 



3.46 a.m. ... I" 3 



... 5-37 ... 22'^ o'N. 







Moon's Phases. 







h.m. 



h.m. 



Srd Qr. ... 



Oct. 7 



... 6.5 p.m. New 



.. Oct. 15 ... 0.37 p.m. 



istQr. ... 



.1 22 



... 9.9 a.m. FuU 



.. „ 29 ... 0.18 p.m. 



In apogee October 7th, at 5 p.m., distant 251,200 

 miles ; and in perigee on 20th, at 2 a.m, distant 

 229,300 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Oct. 



8 



Mars 



5 a.m. ... planet 1° 25' N. 





15 



Mercur 



yi- ... p.m. ... ,, 6° 37' N. 





15 



Jupiter^ 



3 p.m. ... ,, 6° 28' N. 





18 



Venust 



7 p.m. ... ,, 2° 19' S. 





18 



Saturn 



... 10 p.m. ... „ 4° 11' N. 





* Daylight. 



f Below English horizon. 





Occultations 



AND Near Approaches : 









Dis- Angle Re- Angle 







Magni- 



appears. from appears, from 



Oct 



Star. 



tude. 



h.m. Vertex, h.m. Vertex. 



6 .. 



132 Tauri 



... 5'i • 



. 4.6 a.m.... go" ... 5.27 a.m. ... 276° 



8.. 



C Cancri 



... 3'0. 



.12.0 p.m... .228° ... Near approach. 



22 .. 



. P Capricorni... 5'o . 



. 5.5 p.m.... 28° ... 5.51 p.m. ... 3030 



24.. 



S Aquarii 



...4'3 •• 



. 5.27 p.. m... 175° ... Near approach. 



The Sun has large, but not numerous, spots 

 occasionally on his disc. 



Mercury is a morning star at the beginning of 

 the month, rising ih. 23m. earlier than the sun on 

 the ist. On the i6th, at 4 p.m., he is in con- 

 junction with, and only 0° 2' south of, Jupiter, the 

 two planets being little more than 2° north-west of 

 the sun. Mercury is in superior conjunction with 

 the sun at 3 p.m. on the igth. 



Venus, notwithstanding that she attains her 

 greatest brilliancy at 5 p.m. on the 27th, is very 

 badly placed for observation, owing to her great 

 south declination, and setting about an hour only 

 after the sun. 



Mars is increasing in apparent diameter, and 

 rises in the north-east about 10.15 P-m. at the 

 beginning of the month, and before g.30 at the 

 end of the month. His path takes him from a little 

 north of 5 Gemini, 3rd-magnitude, to east of the 

 5th-magnitude ^2 Cancri. 



Jupiter is too close to the sun for observation, 

 being in conjunction with him at 11 p.m. on the 

 13th. 



Saturn may be looked for as soon as it becomes 

 dark enough. It sets about 2h. 22m. after the sun 

 at the beginning of the month. 



Uranus is too near the sun for observation. 



Neptune is still about 1° 45' east of the " crab " 

 nebula in Taurus. The nebula is about a degree 

 and a-half north-west of the 3rd-magnitude ^ 

 Tauri. 



Meteors may be looked for on October 13th, 

 15th, 17th, i8th, 22nd, 24th and 29th. 



The August meteors seem to have been very 

 numerous this year. Mile. Klumpe, of the Paris 

 Observatory, noted 200 on August loth, whilst the 

 number seen is estimated to reach fully 600. 



A brilliant meteor was observed by many on 

 August nth, at 8.58 p.m., at places so far separated 

 as Somerset, Straits of Dover and Birmingham. 

 The motion was not very swift, and the direction 

 south-western. 



Ben Nevis observatories will be sustained for 

 another year, as mentioned on page 122, through 

 the kindness of Mr. J. Mackay Bernard, of Kip- 

 penross, who has promised to give ;^5oo for the 

 purpose. 



Comet b 1898, Perrine, discovered March 19th, 

 has a period of 322-56 years, according to Herr 

 Berberich and Professor Pokrowskij. 



Professor J. R. Eastman has retired from the 

 United States Naval Observatory, after thirty-six 

 years' connection therewith. 



A new minor planet has been discovered, 

 August 13th, by Herr G. Witt, of the Urania 

 Observatory, Berlin, who discovered Berolina two 

 years since. The new body is remarkable for its 

 rapid motion, which is equal to about 30', or the 

 diameter of the moon, in right ascension, per diem. 



Comet h 1898. — In the early morning of Sep- 

 tember 14th, Herr Pechuele, at Copenhagen, 

 discovered a faint comet in Orion, a little to 

 the north-east of Betelgeux, R.A. 6h. lom., Dec. 

 N. 8° 56'. 



Great Sun Spot Group and Aurora. — A very 

 large spot was observed to have come round the 

 south-eastern limb on the morning of September 

 3rd. It was alone but for a small spotlet following 

 it. On the 6th there were nine tiny spotlets 

 counted, and on the 7th about thirteen. The 

 spotlets afterwards grew and joined, forming two 

 considerable spots following the large one, whilst 

 other spotlets appeared, until the group had a 

 total length of about 130,000 miles and a width of 

 about 40,000 miles. The diameter of the large 

 spot was about 43,300 miles, the umbra itself being 

 about 29,000 miles long. The total area of the 

 group must equal about 5,000,000,000 square miles. 

 On September 9th, from 9 to 9.30 p.m., there was 

 a splendid arch of aurora in the north-north- 

 western heavens, with great rays reaching an 

 altitude of 75° or 80°, and having a motion 

 towards the east. The display was the best seen 

 by the writer for many years. 



Magnetic Storm. — During the aurora on Sep- 

 tember 9th, and for some few hours previously, 

 the magnetic records showed considerable disturb- 

 ance. Telegraphic communication was hindered, 

 and bells rung. 



