92 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 





CONDUCTED 



BY F. C 



jSgr) 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Aug-. 



It,}ii. 



h.m. 



Sun ... s 



.. 4.32 a. ni. .. 



7 40 p.m. 



IS 



■ ■ 4-47 



7.21 



2S 



■ .S-3 



7-1 





Risc'i 



Souths 



Aug. 



h.iii. 



k.jii. 



Moon 5 



. . 3.28 a.m. . . 



II. 18 a.m. 



'.S 



.. 2.ssP-m. .. 



6.51 p.m. 



25 



.. 8.25 



3.18 a.m 



Mercury 



DENNETT. 



}'osttioit at Noon 



R.A. Dec. 



h.m. ° ' 



. . 9.1 . . 16.59 N. 



■ 9-39 ■■ "4-3 N. 



. . 10.16 . . 10.45 N. 



Sets Age at Nooji. 

 h.m. d h. 111. 



■ ■ 6.55 p.m. 28 IS 29 

 . . 10.44 g o 12 



. . 10.55 a.m. 19 o 12 

 Position at Noon. 

 Souths Semi- R.A. Dec. 



Aug. h.vi. Diameter h.m. ° ' 



.. 5 .. 1. 21 p.m. .. 5*o" .. 10.17 •- 6.36 N. 

 15 .. o.zs .. 5'5" .. 9.59 .. 7.12 



25 .. ii.iqa.m. .. 4'9" .. 9.33 .. 11.20 

 Ve7ius •. 5 .. ti.20 .. 5-0" .. 8. 15 .. 20.33 N. 



15 .. 11.31 .. 4-9" .. 9.6 .. i7.4i 



25 .. 11.42 .. 4-9" .. 9,55 .. 14.0 



Mars ,.15 .. 2.48p.m. .. 2"2" .. 12.23 ■■ 2.1 S. 



Jupiter ..15 .. 4.32 ..i6"i" .. 14.7 .. 11.46 S. 



Saturn ..15 .. 7.28 .. 8'o" .. 17.4 .. 21.31 S. 



Uranus ..15 .. 6.32 .. i-8" .. 16.8 .. 20.52 S. 



Neptune ..15 .. S. 10a.m. .. 1-3" .. 5.45 .. 22.9 N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. li.m. 



New .. Aug. 6 .. 11.48 a.m. i.v^ (>/-... Aug. 14., 1 1. 54 a.m. 

 J^ull .. ,, 21 .. 4.45 a.m. ^rdQr... ,, 27 .". 11.57 p.m. 



In apogee Aug. 6th, at 10 p.m., distant 252,700 

 miles ; and in perigee on 20th, at 10 p.m., distant 

 221,900 miles. 

 Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Aug. 5 . . Venus^ . . o' . . planet 3. .39 N. 



1, 8 .. Mcrcuryt ., 4 a.m. ,, 0.26 N. 



..10 Mars .. 8 p.m. .. ,. 6.1 N. 



..13 .. Jupiter^H- .. 6 a.m. .. „ 5.27 N. 



M 16 .. Saturn^t .. 10 a.m. ,, 2.17 N. 



* Daylight. t Below English horizon. 



Occultations. 



Dis- Angle Re- A7igle 



Magni- appears from appears from 



Aug. Star. tude. h.m. Vertex, h.m. ]'ertex. 



' 18 . . y Sagittarii . . 5 .. 10.28 p.m. . . 44 . 



23 .. 19 Piscium .. 5 .. 3.1 a.m. .. 31 , 



27 . . T- Arietis - - 5 . . 0.5 . . 133 . 



28 . . fi Taurl . . 5 . . 4.30 . . 149 . 

 30 . . y] Geminorum 4 . . 4.9 . . 133 . 



11-34 P-m 

 4.8 a.m. 



251 

 225 

 1.5 .. 27^ 



5.19 .. 231 



S'^i ■ • 305 



31 ■■ f ,, 4.. 2. .^9 ..162.. 3.58 ..292 



The Sun frequently has spots upon it, usually small. 



Mercury is too near the sun for observation durmg 

 the earlierpart of August, being in inferior conjimction 

 at 9 a.m. on 19th: but by the end of the month it 

 rises more than an hour before the sun. 



Venus rises more than an hour before the sun at 

 the commencement of the month, but must be con- 

 sidered as too near for observation. 



Mars sets ih. 36ni. after the sun on August ist, 

 but the interval decreases to little over an hour at the 

 end of the month. 



Jupiter sets 2h. 47m. after the sun on 1st, but it 

 is fast sinking into the west, and must be looked for 

 as soon as twilight will permit. 



Saturn sets at oh. 36m. a.m. on August ist, and 

 at 10.32 p.m. on 31st. It is not very far from 

 the meridian at the-'time of sunset. 



Uranus southing nearly an hour earlier than 



Saturn, may be looked for as soon as it is dark, but 



except with large apertures is an unsatisfactory object. 



Neptune rises about midnight in the middle of the 



month, and 4 minutes earlier each night after. 



Meteors should be specially looked for this month. 

 The Perseids have long been striking objects on. 

 August loth, but meteors of this shower may often 

 be noted during the first 14 nights. The point from 

 which they seem to radiate is situated R.A. 2h. 20m., 

 N. Dec. 55° on ist, but travels slowly eastward to 

 R.A. 3h. 20m., N. Dec. 58^ on 14th. Other showers 

 are due, so that the observer should be on the constant 

 look out, all through the month. 



Solar Disturbance. — From June 24th to July 

 4th there was a group of spots on the sun, the largest 

 member on June 29th had a length of 43,000 miles. 

 Nuclei were visible in the umbra. 



Swift's Comet, 1899a proves to be a remarkable 

 object. On May 20th, Professor E. E. Barnard, 

 with the 40 inch Yerkes achromatic found the head 

 double, 28"84" separating the two centres ; by the 23rd 

 the distance had increased to 38'i6'. The duplex 

 character has been confirmed by Profes.sor C. D. 

 Perrine, with the 36in. Lick refractor. The two- 

 nuclei were considered to be ofS'o and 9 "5 magni- 

 tudes, but with a power of 270 neither appeared 

 stellar. On May i8th a Yerkes photograph shewed 

 a slender tail 6° or S° in length, but none was visible 

 to the eye. Part of the tail was visible to the writer 

 on May 15th with a 3 in. achromatic and a 16 power. 

 Holmes' Comet, 1899 rf is still very faint, it will 

 be in the eastern part of the constellation Triangulum 

 at the beginning of August. 



The New Algol Variable in C)'gnus, mentioned 

 on p. 60, has a period of 4d. I3h. 45m. 2s. 



Jupiter's Fifth Satellite was observed by 

 Professor E. E. Barnard with the 40 inch Yerkes 

 achromatic in March and April, 189S, and in April 

 and May, 1899. Its period . is found to be 

 iih. 57m. 22 ■647s. Its eastern elongation distance 

 is found to be just over 48". The planet revolves six 

 times on its axis in 59h. 34m. 3"5s, the satellite takes 

 12m. 49'5s longer to make five circuits of its orbit. 



Mi.le. Klumpke, who, at the Paris Observatory, 

 has charge of the measurements of the astrographic 

 plates, has been in England for the International 

 Congress of Women, and gave an interesting address 

 on 28th June, at the last ordinary meeting of the 

 ninth session of the British Astronomical Association. 

 Jupiter Apparently Moonless. — At the same 

 meeting, Mr. C. T. Whitmell, President of the Leeds 

 Astronomical Society, read a short, but very interest- 

 ing paper on this subject. It referred principally to 

 August 2ist, 1867, when for an hour and three 

 quarters no satellites were visible off the planet's 

 disc. I., III., IV. were in transit, and II. occulted. 



The"Cambrian Natural Observer" for July is 

 to hand. It contains a short article on the Hereford 

 earthquake of 1896, a coloured plate of drawings of 

 Mars by Messrs. Charles Grover, A. A. Williams, 

 and A. Mee, besides four of Grover's drawings of 

 Mars, 1866-7, with a 2 inch achromatic. It is the 

 organ of the Astronomical Society of Wales. 



Meteor. — On Thursday July 13th, a few minutes 

 before 11 p.m., Messrs. J. T. Carrington, and F. Noad 

 Clarke saw a beautiful Meteor about thrice the 

 brilliancy of Jupiter. It passed from South to North, 

 and slightly broke up before disappearing. The 

 place of observation was in the West -end of London., 

 Further observetions will be gladly received. — 

 /'. C. Dennett, 110, S/raiid, !V.C. 





