284 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



ASTRONOMY, 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT. 











Position a 



Noon. 



1902 





Rises. 



Sets. 



R.A. 



Dec. 



Feb. 





h.m. 



h.m. 



h.m.s. 



1 11 



Sun .. 9 





7.29 a.m. 



. . 5. 1 p.m. . 



.21.28.58 .. 



14.52.29 S. 



19 





7.10 a.m. 



.. 5.19 p.m. . 



.22. 8. 6 .. 



11.30. 6 S. 







Rises. 



Souths. 



Sets. 



ige at Noon. 



Fer 



. 



h.m. 



h.m. 



h.m. 



d. h.m. 



Moon . . 9 





7.24 a.m. 



..12.54 p.m. 



.. 6.35 p.m 



.. 22.39 



19 





2.12 p.m. 



.. 9.55 p.m. 



. . 4.48 a.m 



.. 10 22.39 











Position at Noon. 







South 



s. Semi 



R.A. 



Dec. 





Feb. h.m. 



diameter, k.m.s. 



/ // 



Mercury.. 



9 



.. 1.11-2 



p.m. .. 4-2" 



..22.26. . 



. 7.34.48 S. 





19 



.. 0. 4-0 



p.m. .. 5-2" 



..21.57.59 . 



. 8.26.42 S. 



Venus 



9 



.. 0.37-7 



p.m. ..30-4" 



..21.52.26 . 



. 4.42.22 S. 





19 



..11.34-6 



a.m. ..30-3" 



..21.28.32 . 



5.51.19 S. 



Mars 



19 



.. 0.47-2 



p.m. .. 2-0" 



..22.41.15 . 



. 9.22.21 S. 



Jupiter . . 



19 



..10.27-2 



a.m. ..15-2" 



..20.21. 1 . 



.19.52. 9 S. 



Saturn . . 



19 



.. 9.47-0 



a.m. . . 7-1" 



..19.40.42 . 



.21.19. 1 S. 



Uranus .. 



19 



.. 7.26-4 



a.m. .. 1-8" 



..17.19.39 . 



23.11. 3 S. 



Neptune . . 



19 



.. 7.59-4 



p.m. .. 1-2" 



.. 5.54.43 . 



.22.16.33 N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



New .. Feb. 8 .. 1.21p.m. 1st Qr. .. Feb. 15 .. 2.57 p.m. 

 Full .. „ 22 .. 1. 3 p.m. 



In apogee on February 1st, at 12 p.m. ; and in 

 perigee on 16th, at 6 p.m. 



Meteors. 



h.m. ° 



Feb. 5 to 16 .. aAurigids Radiant R.A. 4.56 Dec 43 N. 

 „ 15 to 20 . . a Serpeutids „ „ 15.44 „ UN. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Feb 



3 



6 .. 



7 .. 

 9 .. 

 9 .. 

 9 .. 



. Vesta . . 11 p.m. . . Planet 0.41 N. 

 . Saturn* . . 1 p.m. . . ,, 4.46 S. 

 . Jupiterf . . 5 a.m. . . „ 5.26 S. 

 . Venusf . . 5 a.m. . . „ 3. 9 N. 

 . Mars* . . 2 p.m. . . „ 5.58 S. 

 . Mercurjt • • 9 P- m - • • » 2.23 S. 





* Daylight. t Below English horizon. 





OCCULTATIONS AND NEAR APPROACHES. 



Feb 



Star. 



Angle Angle 

 Magni- Dis- from Re- from 

 lude. appears. Vertex, appears. Vertex. 

 h.m. ° h.m. 



2 . 



2 '. 

 12 . 

 14 . 

 16 . 

 17. 

 21 . 



. /3 2 Scorpii 

 • j3 l „ 

 . e Piscium 

 . <r Arietis 

 . i Tauri 

 . in „ 

 . k Cancri 



5-2 .. 7.10 a.m. .. 123 .. 8.29 a.m. .. 242 

 3-0 . . 7.10 a.m. . . 124 . . 8.28 a.m. . . 242 

 4-5 .. 7.40 p.m. .. 87 .. 8.18 p.m. .. 162 

 5-5 .. 5.53 p.m. .. 110 .. 6.45 p.m. .. 188 

 5-1 .. 6.24 p.m. ..140 .. 7.18p.m. .. 217 

 5-1 .. 2.21a.m. .. 146 .. Near approach. 

 5-0 . . 5.44 a.m. . . 340 . . Near approach. 



The Sun, although now usually free from dis- 

 turbance, should be watched. 



Mercury is an evening star, reaching its greatest 

 eastern elongation, 18° 17 Vat noon on February 3rd, 

 until 9 p.m. on the 18th, when, being in inferior 

 conjunction with the Sun, it becomes a morning 

 star. Its position is not very favourable for 

 observation. 



Venus is an evening star until 11 p.m. on 

 February 14th, when it is in inferior conjunction 



with the Sun, and afterwards becomes a morning 

 star. The best time for observing Venus is in the 

 daytime. 



Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are too near the 

 Sun for satisfactory observation, and the low 

 altitude of Uranus is against successful telescopic- 

 vision. 



Neptune is above the horizon all the working 

 hours of the night, and can still be well" observed 

 with sufficiently powerful instruments. 



Zodiacal Light. — On sufficiently clear, moon- 

 less evenings, so soon as it becomes dark enough 

 for observation, this conical brightening may be 

 traced from the western horizon, following the 

 course of the ecliptic. 



Minor Planets. — Three new planets were dis- 

 covered at Heidelberg on December 4th, oth, and 16th 

 respectively. The new one mentioned ante, p. 248, 

 although sufficiently remarkable, is not so near a 

 neighbour as was supposed. It was first found on 

 a plate taken with the 24-inch Bruce telescope at 

 Arequipa on August 14th. Its great southern de- 

 clination, over 62°, at once attracted the attention of 

 Dr. Stewart. Several plates were taken and mea- 

 sured, and the positions sent to Professor Pickering 

 at Harvard College. Professor Simon Newcombe 

 was then visiting Boston, and, with the assistance 

 of Miss A. Winlock, calculated its orbit. Its mean 

 distance from the S un was found to be 2 -57, that 

 of the Earth being equal to 1-0, and its period 4-13 

 years. The most remarkable f eature is its eccen- 

 tricity, 0-377, exceeding that of any other, except 

 Aethra, When discovered it was travelling very 

 rapidly towards perihelion, which it reached early in 

 October, when its distance from the Sun was 1-60. 

 At midnight on Januarv 30th it will be situated in 

 R.A. h. 31-9 m., Dec. 3° 26' N. close to the ecliptic 

 in the constellation Pisces, some 4° south-west of 

 the fifth-magnitude star delta. 



Great Meteor. — On December 4th, at about 

 5.37 p.m., an exceedingly brilliant meteor was 

 observed over the whole south of England. The 

 area from which records come extends from Mar- 

 gate to Devonshire, and from Birmingham to 

 Bournemouth. Mr. G. W. Valentine gives its 

 colour as steel-grey, and its direction from N.N.W. 

 to S.S.E., passing about 20° south-east of the 

 beautiful double star, /8 Cygni. He writes from 

 Bitterne Park, Southampton, describing the meteor 

 as making a loud rushing noise. Its duration is 

 variously reckoned as from 3 to 5 seconds, and 

 a trail was visible for -some time longer. It un- 

 doubtedly radiated from Hercules, apparently from 

 near R.A. 17h. 32m., Dec. 35° N. All accounts 

 describe it as of intense brilliance. 



The Leonids. —Professor E. L. Larkin announces 

 the observation from the Lowe Observatory, Cali- 

 fornia, of 661 meteors, 217 of which were as bright 

 as or brighter than Rigel. 



Venus. — An announcement has been going the 

 round of the Press concerning the abnormal bril- 

 liance of Venus on January 13th, after the Moon 

 had set, as observed by M. Giacobini at the Nice 

 Observatory. The only effect noted, is that it 

 threw shadows on the wall of the observatory. 

 This is, however, nothing extraordinary, as Webb 

 long since mentioned the fact in " Celestial Objects 

 for Common Telescopes." The first time we wit- 

 nessed the phenomenon was so far back as 1876 or 



