248 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 





CONDUCTED BY 



FRANK C. 



DENNETT. 











Position at Noon 





1899. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



R.A. 







Jan. 



h.m. 



h.m. 



h.m. 



Dec. 



Sun 



. 7 ... 



8.6 a.m. .. 



. 4.7 p.m. . 



..19.14 .. 



. 22° 22' S 





17 ... 



7-59 



. 4.22 



..1957 ■• 



. 20° 44' 





27 ... 



748 



• 4-39 



..20.39 •• 



. 1 8° 26' 





R 



ses. S 



vitlts. 



Sets. Age at Noon 



Jan, li.n 



h 



m. h 



m. 



d. h. m. 



Moon 7 



... 3.1c 



a.m. ... 7. 



32 a.m. ...11 



45 a.m. 



25 17 



17 



... 102 



... 5. 



1 p.m. ...12 



17 p.m. 



5 r 3 10 



27 



... 5.47 p.m. ... 0. 



19 a.m. ... 7.43 a.m. 



15 13 10 











Posit 1 



on at Noon 







Souths. 



Semi 



R.A. 







Jan. 



h.m. 



Diameter. 



h.m. 



Dec. 



Mercury 



.. 7 • 



. 10.27 a.m 



... 3" 6 



■■ 17-35 ■ 



■ 21° 5' S 





17 .. 



. 10.32 



... 3" 



... 18.18 . 



.. 22° 41' 





=7 •• 



. 1050 



... 2" 7 



.. 19.17 . 



. 22° 56' 



Venus 



.. 7 •• 



. 9.15 a.m. 



... 20" 1 



.. 16.23 ■ 



. 16 50' S 





17 .. 



• 9-3 



... 17" 2 



.. 16.50 . 



• I7 3 46' 





27 •■ 



. 8.58 



... 14" 9 



.. 17.24 . 



. 1 8° 52' 



Mars 



.. 7 .. 



. i. 21 a.m. 



... 7" 1 



.. 8.26 . 



. 2 3 c 28' N 





17 .. 



0.26 



... 7" 2 



.. 8.10 . 



• 24^ 33' 





27 .. 



. 11.24 p.m. 



... 7" 



•• 7-53 • 



. 25 22' 



Jupiter 



.. 17 .. 



. 6.38 a.m. 



... 16" 4 



.. 14.24 . 



. 13 3' s 



Saturn 



.. 17 •• 



. 9. 28 a.m. 



... 7" 1 



.. 17-15 • 



. 2i° 39' S 



Uranus 



.. 17 .. 



8.34 a.m. 



... 1" 7 



.. 16.20 . 



. 21° 20' S 



Neptune 



.. 17 .. 



. 9 39P.m 



... i" 3 



.. 5-28 . 



. 2I U 54' N 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



3rd Qr. ... Jan. 5 ... 3.22 a.m. New ... Jan. 11 ... 10.50 p.m. 



1st Qr. ... ,, 18... 4.36 p.m. Full ... ,, 26... 7.34 p.m. 



In perigee January 12th, at 2 a.m., distant 222,100 

 miles ; and in apogee on 25th, at 6 p.m., distant 

 252,500 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Jan, 



Jupiter 



.. 11 p.m. . 



.. plane 



t 6° & 



N 



Venus 



2 a.m. . 



,, 



7° 26' 



N 



Saturn 



. 7 p.m. . 



,, 



3° 11' 



N 



Mercury 



7 a.m. . 



,, 



2° 56' 



N 



Mars 



. 12 p.m. . 



. 



6° 11' 



N 



The Sun still has considerable spots frequently 

 visible on his disc. A partial eclipse of the sun 

 occurs on January nth, from 8.54 p.m. until 

 twenty-two minutes past midnight, but only 

 visible in and near the North Pacific Ocean. 



Mercury is too far south for successful obser- 

 vation, notwithstanding that he is at greatest 

 elongation west (23 35') on January 12th at 

 2 ami., and then rises ih. 42m. before the sun. 



Venus is also very low in altitude, but is at her 

 greatest brilliancy on the 6th, at 7 a.m. She rises 

 all the month more than three hours earlier than 

 the sun. 



Mars, coming into opposition at 12 p.m. on the 

 iSth, is at its best for observation this month. It 

 rises at 5.36 p.m. on the 1st, and earlier each 

 evening. This is not one of the most favourable 

 oppositions, seeing that the apparent diameter 

 does not exceed i4 - 4". On the other hand, the 

 planet is in good position owing to its considerable 

 northern declination. 



Jupiter can only be observed in the morning, as 

 it does not rise until 2.35 a.m. on the 1st, and 

 0.54 a.m. on the 31st. Its great southern declina- 

 tion militates against successful observation. 



Saturn and Uranus are too near the sun for 

 observation. 



Neptune is still in good position, and on 

 January 7th to gth will be in transit across the 

 Crab nebula, R.A. 5h. 28m. 21s., Dec. N., 

 21 57', about i^° north-west of £ Tauri, a phe- 

 nomenon believed to be unique, and to which atten- 

 tion was first called by the late Herbert Sadler. 



Meteors may be specially looked for on January 

 2nd and 3rd, radiating from a spot in R.A. 

 i5h. 20m., N. Dec. 52 , between Bootes and Draco ; 

 also on the 21st and 31st. 



After many unsuccessful attempts, Captain P. B. 

 Molesworth, Director of the Zodiacal Light Section 

 of the British Astronomical Association, has suc- 

 ceeded in taking a photograph of the zodiacal solar 

 appendage. 



New Comet.— Prof. P. E. Chase, of Newhaven. 

 Conn., discovered a faint comet situated in the 

 Constellation Leo, in R.A. ioh. 7m. 4s., N. Dec. 

 22 ° 55'i on November 14th, at 12.38 local time. 

 On the morning of the 24th, Mr. Coddington, 

 at the Lick Observatory, found it in R.A. 

 ioh. 21m. 48s., N. Dec. 23 37'. It is said to be 

 brightening. 



Herr Witt's new planet has been hitherto 

 known provisionally as DQ, but Prof. S. C. 

 Chandler suggests Pluto as an appropriate name, 

 and a helmet as a good symbol, in memory of the 

 one forged for his concealment by Vulcan. 



Six new minor planets have been discovered 

 by Prof. Max Wolf, of Heidelberg, two, the 

 first and last, in conjunction with Herr Schwass- 

 mann, the rest with Herr Villiger. Three were 

 found on November 6th, one on the 13th and 

 two on the 19th. M. Charlois, of Nice, also dis- 

 covered one on November 8th. If these all prove 

 to be new, the total number known are now 443. 



Great Sunspot of September. — This was seen 

 by the writer, at 2.30 p.m. on September 15th, as 

 a constant indentation on the limb amidst the 

 ripple. The spot thus seen on the limb was 

 photographed at Greenwich, and also by Mrs. 

 Newbegin, who exhibited the picture, together 

 with other photographs, at the last meeting of the 

 British Astronomical Association. 



Mr. W. F. Denning, in " Nature," of December 

 ist, mentions that he has been comparing several 

 drawings of spots similar in character to the red 

 spot which have been seen on dates ranging so far 

 apart as September 5th, 1831, and July 30th, 1858, 

 nearly sixty-seven years. During these 24,435 days 

 the planet has made 59,071 rotations, at a mean rate 

 of gh. 55m. 362s. Mr. Denning asks for copies of 

 drawings, or the loan of originals, showing similar 

 markings made during the period prior to 1869. 

 The spot sometimes appeared as an oval ring. 



The Leonids. — MM. Janssen and Hausky 

 ascended in a balloon at 2 a.m. on the morning of 

 November 14th, to a height of 200 metres. From 

 2.45 to 4.30 only twenty-five Leonids were observed. 

 At Lyons Observatory the weather was favour- 

 able. M. Andre made useful observations from 

 8 till 12.15 p-m. on the 13th, thirty-four meteors 

 being noted, of which twenty-two were Leonids. 

 M. Guillaume took up the watch from 1.4 a.m. 

 until 4.5 on the 14th, observing 134 meteors, 

 radiating apparently from 155 + 18 . On the 

 morning of the 15th Prof. C. A. Young, of Prince- 

 ton, with an assistant, observed 100 Leonids, and 

 200 meteors were seen at Yerkes Observatory, 

 where thirty were photographed by Dr. W. L. 

 Elkins. 



