SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



183 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Sun 



Nov. 



Moon 8 ... 



18 ... 



28 ... 



38. Rises. 



3V. h.m. 

 i ... 7.8 a.m 

 1 ... 7 25 

 3 ... 741 

 Rises, 

 h.m. 



C24 a.m. ... 

 11.52 



3.52 p.m. ...12.26 



Sets, 

 h.m. 

 ... 4.20 p.m 

 - 4-5 

 ... 3-55 

 Souths, 

 h.m. 



7.10 a.m. ... 

 4.15 p.m. ... 



Mercury 



Jupiter 

 Saturn 

 Uranus 

 Neptune 



Nov. 



18 



Souths, 

 h.m. 



0.30 p.m. 

 0-54 

 1. 15 



1. 51 p.m. 

 i-7 

 o.g 



5.13 a.m. 

 4.46 

 4-i5 



9.56 a.m. 

 0.55 P.m. 

 0.15 p.m. 

 1.46 a.m. 



Semi 

 Diamete 



Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



h.m. Dec. 



...14.55 ••• l6 ° 4°' s. 

 ...15.36 ... 19 19' 

 ...16.18 ... 21° 23' 



Sets. Age at Noon, 

 h.m. d. h. m. 



1.42 p.m. 23 23 23 

 8.49 4 11 39 



8.10 a.m. 14 11 39 

 Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



h.m. 

 ... 15.41 

 ... 16.44 

 • •• 17-45 

 ... 17.2 

 ... 16.58 

 ... 16.39 

 ... 8.23 

 ... 8.35 ■ 

 ... 8.44 

 ... 1346 

 ... 16.45 

 ... 16.5 

 ... 5-35 



Dec. 



21° 3' S. 



24° 31' 

 25° 5i' 



27° 50' s. 

 26 36' 



23° 58' 



2i c 8'N. 



20° 48' 



2I o 4 , C 



9 49 s - 



20 55' S. 



20° 42' S. 



21° 58' N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



3rd Qr. ... Nov. 6 ... 2.28 p.m. New ... Nov. 14 ... 0.21 a.m. 

 istQr. ... „ 20 ... 5.5 p.m. Full ... ,, 28 ... 4.39 a.m. 



In apogee November 4th, at 1 p.m., distant 251,500 

 miles ; and in perigee on 16th, at 8 a.m, distant 

 226,000 miles. 

 Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Nov, 



5 



Mars*+ 



. 4 p.m. . 



.". planet 



3° 4i' 



N. 



12 



Jupiter* 



. 11 a.m. . 



■• 11 



6° 21' 



N. 



15 



Mercury! . 



. 3 a.m. . 



,, 



o°44' 



N. 



15 



Saturn* 



. 11 a.m. . 



,, 



3° 46' 



JM. 



15 



Venusf 



. 5 p.m. . 



i> 



2° 19' 



S. 



16 



Vestat 



. 7 P.m. . 



• 



o° 10' 



N. 



* Daylight. t Below English horizon. . 



The Sun still shows traces of considerable 

 activity, new small groups being formed since the 

 great disturbance mentioned last month. He 

 should be carefully watched. 



Mercury is an evening star, but too far south 

 for successful observation. On November 12th, at 

 3 a.m., he is in conjunction with Uranus in the 

 constellation Scorpio, Mercury being i° 53' south ; 

 on the 20th, at 8 a.m., he is in conjunction with 

 Venus, passing i° 18' north of that planet. 



Venus is an evening star, but too far south for 

 observation. 



Mars, in the constellation Cancer, rises about 

 9.25 p.m. on the 1st and near 8 on the 30th. His 

 apparent diameter, though small, is gradually 

 increasing, and many of his markings may be seen 

 with a telescope of comparatively small aperture. 



Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus are too near the 

 sun for observation, the last mentioned being in 

 conjunction at midnight on the 25th. 



Neptune is now about i° 40' east of the crab 

 nebula in Taurus, and in good position for observa- 

 tion. 



Meteors should be looked for on November ist> 

 2nd, 4th, 6th to 20th, 23rd, 24th and 27th. Con- 

 siderable displays of the Leonids may be expected 

 from November 7th to 20th, and of the Andromedes 

 on the 23rd and 24th, about which further informa- 

 will be found on page 161 of this number. 



Gresham College lectures on astronomy, by 

 Professor Rev. E. Ledger, M.A., will be given on 

 November 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th, at 6 p.m. 



Two new minor planets have already been 

 discovered photographically at Heidelberg Obser- 

 vatory by Professor Max Wolf, on September nth. 



The new Edinburgh Observatory on Calton 

 Hill will probably in a short time be formally 

 opened. One of its instruments is a 22-inch 

 refractor with a focal length of thirty feet. 



Pechuele's comet appears to be identical with 

 Wolf's of 1884, and to have passed its perihelion 

 on July 4th. It will be nearest to the earth at the 

 end of November, when its distance will be 1-40, 

 that of the sun being i-o. At the time of its 

 discovery it did not exceed a star of nth-mag- 

 nitude in brightness. The next return may be 

 looked for in the spring of 1905. 



The great sunspot group remained upon the 

 sun and again reappeared round the south-eastern 

 limb at the end of September. On October 3rd, 

 Rev. F. Howlett, of Clifton, found the largest spot 

 had an area of 455,000,000 square miles, or only 

 about one-fifth of its size on September 10th. 

 Four excellent drawings were given by an anony- 

 mous correspondent in " The English Mechanic " 

 on September 16th. 



A new comet was discovered on September 13th, 

 i6h. I4'3m. Lick mean time, by Mr. Perrine, of 

 that observatory, in R.A. gh. 41m. 40s., Dec. N. 

 30 36', and described as brilliant. It was inde- 

 pendently discovered a few hours later at Besanc^on, 

 by M. Chofardet. Its R.A. was increasing about 6 - 5 

 minutes daily, and its declination decreasing about 

 i°. According to Herr Berberich, perihelion would 

 be passed on October i9'9565 Berlin mean time. 



The new minor planet discovered photographi- 

 cally by Herr G. Witt, mentioned on page 153, 

 proves to be a most remarkable object. Its orbit 

 lies within that of Mars. Taking the earth's dis- 

 tance as i'o, that of Mars is L52, whilst the newly- 

 discovered body, according to Herr Berberich, 

 is only 146. The nearest point of its orbit is 

 only 14,000,000 distant from our own, and its 

 period 644 days. Its diameter is supposed not 

 to exceed twenty miles. Mr. A. C. D. Crommelin, 

 of the Royal Observatory, discusses the object 

 in " The Observatory." One of its nearest 

 approaches, that is being in perihelion and in 

 opposition at the same time, occurred in January, 

 1894. As seventeen revolutions are nearly equal 

 to thirty of our years, it follows that we shall 

 have to wait until 1924 before there is an equally 

 favourable opposition. The last opposition was 

 particularly unfavourable, happening when near 

 its aphelion. The next, in November, 1900, occurs 

 about a month before it reaches perihelion, and at 

 a distance of 0-33 from the earth. It will not 

 again be so favourably placed until 1917, when its 

 least distance from the earth will be only o - i5, the 

 least distances of Venus and Mars being 0-27 and 

 038 respectively. Careful observations should be 

 made, therefore, for the more accurate determina- 

 tion of the true solar parallax. In 1894 it would 

 probably have equalled a 7th-magnitude star. 



