SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



2I 5 



aSTRGNOMm; 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Dec. 



Rises, 

 h.m. 



7.56 a.m. 

 ">4 



Dec. 



... 8.7 

 Rises, 

 h.m. 



1.40 a.m. 

 11. 4 

 4-35 P.m. 



Sets, 

 h.m. 

 ... 3.49 p.m 

 ... 3-50 

 ... 3-56 

 Souths, 

 h.m. 

 7.13 a.m 

 4.44 p.m 



h.m. 

 ...17.1 

 ...17-45 

 ...18.30 



0.2 a.m. 



Sets. 



h.m. 



■ 0-33 P- m 



.10.40 



. 8.25 a.m 



Mercury 



Jupiter 

 Saturn 

 Uranus 

 Neptune 



$rdQ, 



1st Qr 



Dec. 

 . 8 . 



18 . 



28 . 

 . 8 . 



28 ... 

 18 ... 



Souths. 



h.m. 



1.20 p.m. 



0.31 



11. 2 a.m. 

 1 1. 7 a.m. 

 10.15 



9.38 



3.40 a.m. 



2.59 



2.13 



8.20 a.m. 

 11. 12 a.m. 

 10.25 a.m. 

 11. 41 p.m. 



Semi 

 Diameter. 



- 3" 7 

 ... 4" 3 



- 4" 6 

 .. 31" o 

 ... 27" 7 

 ... 23" 7 

 ... 5" 9 



... 6" 4 . 



... 6" 8 , 



... 15" 2 



.. 7" o . 



.. 1" 7 • 



.. 1" 3 , 



Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



Dec. 



... 22° 46' S. 

 ... 23° 25' 



... 23 17' 

 Age at Noon, 

 d. h. m. 



24 11 39 

 5 o 17 



15 o 17 

 Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



h.m. 

 18.29 

 18.20 

 17.29 

 16.16 

 16.3 

 16.6 

 8.48 

 8.46 

 8.39 

 14.8 

 17.0 



Dec. 



24 3 52' S. 



22 3 15' 



s. 



20" 



17" 48' 

 1 6° 39' 

 20= 54' N. 

 21= 28' 



3 44' S. 



3 21' S. 



18 ... 10.25 a.m. ... 1" 7 ... 16.13 ... 21 3 4' S. 



5.31 ... 21 56' N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



Dec. 6 ... 10.6 a.m. New ... Dec. 13 ... 11.43 a - m - 

 ,, 20... 3.22 „ Full ... ,, 27 ... 11.39 p.m. 



In apogee December 2nd, at 8 a.m., distant 252,100 

 miles ; in perigee on 14th, at 1 p.m, distant 223,000 

 miles ; and in apogee again on 29th, at 6 p.m., 

 distant 252,500 miles. 



OCCULTATIONS OF STARS BY THE MOON : 



Dis- Angle Re- Angle 



Magni- appears. from appears, from 



Dec. Star. tude. h.m. Vertex, h.m. Vertex. 



7 ... e Leonis ... 5 ... 0.54 a.m.... 215° ... 1.24 a.m. ... 273° 



ig ... k Piscium ... 5 ... 3.0 p.m.... 37 ... 3.46 p.m. ... 305° 



29 ... C Cancri ... 5 ...10.1 p.m....i30° ...11. 16 p.m. ... 334° 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Dec. 3 ... Mars*t 



10 ... Jupiter 



12 ... Venus* 



13 ... Saturnt 



14 ... Mercury* 

 30 ... Mars*t 



* Daylight. f Below English horizon. 



Eclipses of Sun and Moon. 



A partial eclipse of the sun, of very small magni- 

 tude, occurs on December 13th. Invisible at Green- 

 wich, and only visible in low southern latitudes. 



The total eclipse of the moon on December 

 27th-28th should be well observed. Its phe- 

 nomena are as follows : 



1 p.m. . 

 6 a.m. . 



.. planet 



5° 36' 

 6° is' 



N. 

 N. 



9 a.m. . 



11 



4° 41' 



N. 



3 a.m. . 



» 



3° 2/ 



N. 



1 p.m. . 

 3 p.m. . 



• 



0° 3' 

 6° 38' 



N. 



27th 



28th 



8.35 p 

 9.48 



10-57 

 11.42 



0.27 a 



1.36 



2.49 



First contact with penumbra 



„ „ shadow ... 



Beginning of total phase 



Middle of eclipse 



End of total phase 



Last contact with shadow ... 



,, ,, penumbra 



The first contact with the shadow occurs 112 east 

 from the north point, and the last contact 95° to 

 the west. The magnitude of the eclipse is i'383. 

 The edge of the advancing shadow should be care- 

 fully watched, as it frequently exhibits a bluish 

 colour, whilst the shadow itself is often coppery. 



The edge, too, sometimes appears more dense than 

 the central portions. 



The Sun still shows considerable disturbance 

 on its surface. A group of spots visible during the 

 early part of November had a length of at least 

 87,000 miles, whilst other groups were scattered 

 about the disc. Winter is said to commence when 

 the sun enters the sign Capricornus, at 7 p.m. on 

 the 21st ; it is nearest the earth at 10 p.m. on 31st. 



Mercury is an evening star at the beginning of 

 the month, reaching its greatest elongation (21 3') 

 east at 1 a.m. on the 4th, then closing to the sun. 

 It reaches inferior conjunction at 10 p.m. on the 

 21st. Both Mercury and Venus are too far south 

 for very successful observation. 



Venus is in inferior conjunction at 5 p.m. on 

 the 1st, afterwards becoming a morning star, rising 

 all the last half of the month from two to more 

 than three hours before sunrise. At 11 p.m. on 

 the 10th Venus is in conjunction with, and i° 14' 

 north of, Uranus. 



Mars is getting into good position for observa- 

 tion. At the beginning of the month it rises about 

 8 p.m., whilst at the end it rises about 5.41. It is 

 situated in Cancer, between the 4th-magnitude 

 stars 7 and 5. 



Jupiter is a morning star, rising about 4.8 a.m. 

 at the beginning of the month and 2.37 at end, 

 situated in Virginus, close to the borders of Libra. 



•Saturn is in conjunction with the sun at 7 p.m. 

 on the 6th, and so not in position for observation ; 

 neither is Uranus. 



Neptune, however, is at its best, being in 

 opposition on the 15th, at 7 a.m., and above the 

 horizon all the hours when observation is possible, 

 situated only a little following the "crab" nebula. 



Meteors may be specially looked for about 

 December 8th, 9th, nth, 12th and 21st. During 

 the first half of the month they mostly radiate 

 from two centres in the constellation Gemini. 



Encke's Comet has only been visible in the 

 southern hemisphere. Mr. Tebbutt, of Windsor, 

 New South Wales, found it on and after June 25th, 

 a most difficult object to observe. It was not seen 

 after July 10th, when in a clear sky, without moon, 

 it was but a faint whiteness, just glimpsed, 5' or 6' 

 in diameter, whose exact place could only be 

 roughly determined. Perihelion was passed on 

 May 24th ; it was nearest the earth on July 7th. 



Brook's Comet was discovered at Geneva, New 

 York, on October 20th, in the constellation Draco, 

 moving rapidly to the south-east. Professor 

 Hussey, of Lick Observatory, calculates the date 

 of the perihelion passage as November 23rd, at a 

 distance from the sun of 0-76 (earth's mean dis- 

 tance = i-o). It is round, 7' or 8' in diameter, 

 having a bright stellar nucleus, about equal to 

 8J-magnitude. It is moving in an orbit very 

 similar to that of Schasberle, 1881, IV., which was 

 visible to the naked eye for more than a fortnight 

 in August, and had on the 21st of that month a 

 tail io° long. The telescope followed it for four- 

 teen weeks. 



Hungaria is the name given to one of the minor 

 planets, whose discovery by Herr Wolf was men- 

 tioned on page 183, in commemoration of the meet- 

 ing of the Astronomische Gesellschaft at Budapest 

 in September. 



The November Leonids. — Bad weather seems 

 to have prevented observations in Britain. The 

 Americans had better fortune. 



