346 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



CONDUCTED BY PEANK C. DENNETT. 



Sun 



.. 7 .. 

 17 ., 



27 .. 



April 

 Moon 7 .. 

 17 .. 

 27 .. 



Rises. 

 h.m. 



5.24 a.m. 

 ... 5.2 

 ... 4.42 

 Rises, 

 h.m. 



3.52 a.m. ... 

 10.2 

 9.58p.m. ... 



Mercriry 



Fenws 



Mars 



Jvpiter 

 Saturn 

 TlraKus 

 Neptune 



April 



... 7 .. 



... 17 .. 



... 27 .. 



... 7 .. 



... 17 .. 



... 27 .. 



... 7 .. 



... 17 .. 



... 27 .. 



... 17 .. 



... 17 .. 



... 17 .. 



.. 17 .. 



Souths. 



h.m. 



0.27 p. 

 11.26 a. 

 10.40 



9.34 



9.39 



9.44 



6.56 p. 



6.32 



6.10 



0.39 a. 



3.52 



2-43 



3.45 p. 



Sets. 



h.m . 

 ... 6.40 p.m. 

 ... 6.58 

 ... 7.14 

 Souths, 

 h.m. 



9.35a.m. ... 



6.5 ■p.m. ... 



0.56 a.m. ... 



Semi- 



Diametei 



Position at IXoon. 



R.A, 



h.m. 



... 1.4 



... 1.41 



... 2.19 



Sets, 

 h.m. 



3.33 p.m. 

 1.27 a.m. 

 5.1 



Dec. 



dgs. m.in. 

 ... 6 51 N. 

 ... 10 30 

 ... 13 51 

 Age at Noon. 



d. h. m. 



26 16 7 

 7 5 39 



17 5 39 



Position at Noon. 



m. 



5-4 



5-8 

 5-2 

 7-7 

 7-2 

 6-9 

 4-0 

 3-7 

 3-4 

 20-5 

 8-1 

 1-9 

 1-3 



R.A. 



h.m. 



1.30 .. 

 1.7 ., 

 1.1 . 



22.36 ., 

 23.21 . 

 0.5 . 

 7.59 ., 

 8.14 . 



8.31 . 

 14.18 . 

 17.32 . 

 16.23 . 



5.28 ., 



Bee. 

 dgs. mm. 

 12 38 N. 



8 1 



4 39 



9 35 S. 



5 32 

 1 10 



23 15 N. 

 22 14 

 21 3 

 12 17 S. 

 21 49 S. 

 21 28 S. 

 21 59 N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



Srd Qr. ... Apr. 3 ... 11.56 a.m. New ... Apr. 10 ... 6.21 a.m. 

 IstQr. ... „ 17 ... 10.43p.m. Fidl ... „ 25 ... 7.22p.m. 

 In perigee April 6th, at 1 p.m., distant 228,400 

 miles ; and in apogee on 18th, at 2 p.m., distant 

 251,200 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



April 2 

 ., 7 

 „ 10 

 ,. 18 

 » 25 

 „ 29 



Saturn 

 Venus* 

 Mercury* . 

 Mars*t 

 Jupiter 

 Saturn* . 



2 a.m. 

 9 



2 p.m. 

 8 a.m. 

 11p.m. 

 7 a.m. 



dgs. min. 

 planet 2 16 N. 

 5 43 S. 

 2 18 S. 

 5 N. 

 5 53 N. 

 9 N. 



* Daylight. t Below Eng-lish horizon. 

 OCCULTATIONS AND NeAB ApPEOACHES. 



Apr. 



Star. 



Bis- 

 Magni- appears, 

 tude. h.Tn. 



Re. Angle 

 appears, from 



13 ... v2Tauri ...5.5. 

 15 ... rjGeminorum 3 . 

 15 ... ft „ 3.2 . 



28...eOphiuclii... 3.4. 



. 8.35 p.m. 

 . 8.6 

 .11.26 

 .11.56 



Angle 



from 

 Yertex. h.m.. Vertex, 



dgs. dgs. 



... 140 Near approach only 

 ... 152 „ 



.. 26 ... 12.8p.m. ... 283 

 ... 114... 13.6p.m. ... 296 



The Sun is now more frequently without spots 

 than he has been for some time past. There has 

 been an absence of dark spots noted up to 

 March 12th on 18 days this year. In the corre- 

 sponding period of last year on only six days was 

 this the case. 



Meecurt is an evening star at the commence- 

 ment of the month, not setting on the 1st until 

 about 1 h. 30 m. after the sun, and situated about 

 2° east south-east of >7 Picium. It is in inferior 

 conjtmction with the sun at 8 a.m. on 12th, after- 

 wards becoming a morning star, but too close to 

 the sun for observation except in daytime. 



Venus is a morning star, rising throtighout the 

 month abou,t an hour before the sun. 



nitude 



. R.A. 



Dec. 





h. m. 



dgs.mtji. 



7.3 .. 



14.42 . 



. 2 13 S. 



7.3 . 



14.36 . 



. 1 45 



7.2 ... 



14.28 . 



. 1 20 



7.2 .. 



14.19 . 



. 1 5 



7.4 ... 



13.40 . 



. 15 28 N. 



7.4 .. 



13.34 . 



. 18 6 



7.5 



13.26 . 



. 20 28 



7.7 ... 



13.9 . 



. 22 7 



Maes is on the border of Cancer, near k Gemi- 

 norum, at the beginning of the month, and travels 

 eastward to very near y Cancri, but its diameter is 

 so small that it is beyond the reach of all but 

 large instruments. 



Ceres, the first discovered of the minor planets, 

 is in opposition to the sun on April 24th, when it 

 appears as a small 7th magnitude star. Its 

 path takes it from 5° soiith of 109 Virginis 

 gradiially west-south-west. 



Pallas, the next in order of discovery, comes 

 into opposition on the 5th, and shines like a star 

 of between 7th and 8th magnitudes. 



Position at Noon. 

 1899. Souths. M 



April h. m. 



Ceres ... 1 ... 2.6 a.m. 



10 ... 1.24 



20 ... 0.33 



30 ... 11.44 p.m. 



Pallas ... 1 ... 1.4 a.m. 



10 ... 0.22 



20 ... 11.31p.m. 



30 ... 10.45 



Jupiter travels along a short retrograde path 

 in the western portion of Libra, near x Virginis, 

 and is in opposition to the svm at 7 p.m. on the 

 25th, and so is now in the best position for 

 observation this year. 



Satuen is almost stationary in the south- 

 eastern part of Ophiuchus, rising just before 

 1 a.m. at the beginning of the month, and about 

 a quarter to 11 p.m. at the end. The minor axis 

 of the outer ring is still of greater angular diameter 

 than the planet, and so presents a magnificent 

 appearance. 



Ueanus slowly retrogrades along a path close 

 to <" Ophiuchi. 



Neptune has now practically left us for the 

 season. 



Meteoes may be looked for specially on April 

 11th, 12th, 17th to 25th, 29th and 30th. 



Meteoe. — While walking along the road between 

 Blackgang and Niton at about a qviarter to eight 

 on the evening of February 28th, we saw a magni- 

 ficent meteor. It fell from eastward of the belt of 

 Orion straight down towards the sea, below, but 

 to the eastward of Lepits. Its coui-se Vv^as midway 

 between Orion and Canis Major. The meteor was 

 larger than Sirius and brighter. As it fell it 

 changed colour from white to a brilliant pale green 

 and then to white again, before disappearing. My 

 companion thinks there was a slight trail when 

 the meteor was first seen, but I did not notice it, 

 and there was none at all afterwards. What was 

 the cause of the change of colour ? — Frank Sich, 

 jun., Niton, Isle of Wight. 



[The change of colour must be due to the pi-e- 

 sence of some substance in its composition, which 

 was not at first heated suificiently to show its 

 characteristic tint, and which was all gone before 

 the meteorite was entirely dissipated. — F. C. D.] 



Comets. — 1899, a. Swift. — This veteran observer, 

 at the Lowe Observatory, CaKfornia, discovered, 

 on March 3rd, a comet bright enough to 

 be visible to the naked eye, situated in the con- 

 stellation Eridanus, about 29° S. Declination, but 

 which had decreased to 24° 8' by March 6th. 



1899, 6, discovered on March 5th by Herr Wolf, 

 of Heidelberg, in E.A. Ih. 16m., N. Declination, 

 31° 38', a little south-east of /3 Andi-omedae, will 

 probably prove to be Tuttle's (1858, I), and to 

 have a motion towards east, a little south. 



