37i 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 







Position at Noon 





1899. .Rises. Sets. 



R.A. 



Dec. 





May Ti.m. h.m . 



h.m. 



o / 



Sun ... 



7 ... 4.23 a.m. ... 7.29 p.m 



... 2.57 . 



. 16 50 N 





17 ... 4.7 ... 7.45 



... 3.36 . 



. 19 21 





27 ... 3.55 ... 7.59 



... 4.16 . 



. 21 19 





.Rises. Souths. 



Sets. A 



ge at Noon 



May Ti.m. h.ra. 



h.m. 



d. h. m. 



Moon 7 



... 2.55 a.m. ... 9.57 a.m. ... 



5.16 p.m. 



27 5 39 



17 



... 11.11 ... 6.10p.m. ... 



0.38 a.m. 



7 18 21 



27 



... 10.35 p.m. ... 1.42 a.m. ... 



5.39 



17 18 21 





Semi- 



Positt 



on at Noon 





Souths. Diametei 



R.A. 



Dec. 





May Ti.m. 



h.m. 



O 1 



Mercury 



... 7 ... 10.21a.m. ... 4'3 



... 1.21 .. 



5 18 N. 





... 17 ... 10.22 ... 3-5 



... 2.2 .. 



9 7 





... 27 ... 10.40 ... 3-0 



... 2.59 .. 



14 47 



Fenws 



... 7 ... 9.48a.m. ... 6"5 



... 0.49 .. 



3 20 N. 





... 17 ... 9.53 ... 6-2 



... 1.33 .. 



7 48 





... 27 ... 9.59 ... 6-0 



... 2.19 .. 



12 2 



Mars 



... 17 ... 5.29p.m. ... 3-0 



... 9.9 .. 



18 9 N. 



Jupiter 



... 17 ... 10.22 ... 20-3 



... 14.4 .. 



11 6 S. 



Saturn 



... 17 ... 1.48 a.m. ... 8"4 



... 17.26 .. 



21 43 S. 



Uranus 



... 17 ... 0.40 a.m. ... 1-9 



... 16.18 .. 



21 17 S. 



Neptune 



.. 17 ... 1.51p.m. ... 1-2 



... 5.32 ... 



22 2 N. 





Moon's Phases. 







h. m. 





h. m. 



3rd Qr. .. 



. May 2 ... 5.47 p.m. New 



... May 9 



.. 5.39 p.m. 



1st Qr. .. 



. „ 17 ... 5.13 Full 



... „ 25 



.. 5.49 a.m. 



3rd Qr. . 



. „ 31 ... 10.55 







In perigee May 1st, at 9 p.m., distant 229,800 

 miles; in apogee on 16th, at 9 a.m., distant 251,200 

 miles ; and again in perigee on 28th, at 7 a.m., 

 distant 227,200 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



The Sun should be watched, as fine spots some- 

 times make their appearance. 



Mercury is a morning star reaching its greatest 

 western elongation, 26" 4', at 4 a.m. on May 10th 

 but it is not in a good position for observation, 

 rising little more than half an hour before the sun. 



Venus is also a morning star, only a few degrees 

 west of Mercury, and rises all the month about 

 an hour before the sun. 



Mars is now very tiny and should be looked for 

 as soon as it is dusk, as it souths early in the 

 month nearly an hour and a half before sunset. Its 

 path extends from near y Cancri into Leo. 



Jupiter is in as good a position as its south 

 declination will permit, being not far from K 

 and \ Virginis. The remains of the red spot 

 should be looked for. It will be situated near the 

 central meridian on May 6th, at 10.22 p.m. ; 11th, at 

 9.29; 18th, at 10.13. Other times of transit can easily 

 be found, its rotation period being 9h. 55m. 41 .8s. 



Saturn rises at 10.47 on 1st, and about 8.40 

 on 31st. It is almost stationary close to the place 

 of the new star 1604. 



Uranus is in opposition at 2 p.m. on May 27th, 

 and is therefore at its best for observation. 



Neptune is too close to the sun for observation. 



Meteors may be looked for specially on May 

 2nd, 4th, loth, and 31st. 



Comet a, 1899, (Swifts), which was round at 

 the time of discovery, about 7' diameter, and 

 having central condensation, with a short tail, will 

 be seen in the early-morning skies during May. It 

 passed the perihelion on April 13th, but will be 

 nearest to the earth early in June. 



Comet b, 1899 (Tuttle), was first seen by 

 Mechain in 1790. Tuttle observed it at Cambridge, 

 U.S. in 1858 ; its period is 13f years, and it has 

 been seen at each visit since. The perihelion 

 passage should occur on May 14th. 



OCCULTATIONS OF STARS. 



May 7 ... Venus* ... 5 a.m. ... planet 7 17 S. Dis- 

 „ 7 ... Mercuryt... 10p.m. ... „ 8 22 S. Magni- appears. 



„ 16 ... Mars* ... 7 p.m , 5 41 N. May. Star. tude.. h.m. 



„ 23 ... Jupiter ... 2 a.m. ... „ 6 4 N. 



„ 26 ... Saturn*t ... noon ... „ 2 13 N. 24 ... B.A.C. 5254 ... 5 ...10.15p.m. 

 * Daylight. t Below English horizon. 26 ... 7 Sagittarius 5 ...11.39 p.m. 



Angle Re- Angle 



from appears, from 



Vertex, h.m. ■ Vertex. 



o O 

 ...138 ...11.25 p.m. ... 264 

 ... 69 ...12.39 p.m. ... 312 



. 



XVIII. 40 20 XVII. 40 20 XVI. 40 ' 20 XV. 40 20 



XIV. 40 20 • . 





 5 ■ 



10: 



15 



.20, 



.25" 



SERPENTARIUS ..-■"'" CE&ES^. 

 . \ OPHIUCHUS • > 4 . ^ ..- 0gShlY~*^ 



^-— MAY 22 £ 

 VIRGO 



*^- JUXE2S m 



\ ..-•'"" HYDRA 





 ■ 5 



. 15, 

 20 



/ £~* JUNO "X • .V" , '■• 



K, y % > * > * / *. j V * \ 



: '&** | "BRA 1j?*JJ^ 

 SEEPENTAEITJS - : i V5- ; * +y "O^^ : 



m . * • a -- J * sr\ 



KVIU. 40 20-. XVII. 40 aM XVI. 40 2 XV. 40" 20 



XIV. 40 '-20 





Paths of Planets to December 1899. 



