1 86 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



/15TRON0MY, 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. 



Sun 



iSgg 

 Nov. 



23 



Nov. 



M007l 3 



13 

 23 



Mercury 



Rises, 

 h.in. 



■ 7.0 a, 

 . 7.16 



■ 7-33 

 Rises 



h.m. 



■ 7.10 a 

 . 2.2 

 . 10.2 



p.m. 

 p.m. 



Sets. 



h.m. 

 . 4.2Sp.m. 

 . 4.12 

 . 4.1 

 Souths 



h.m. 

 . 11.42 a.m. 

 . 8.39 p.m. 

 . 4.30 a.m. 



Ve7ius 



Mars 



Jupiter 



Saturfi 



Uranus 



Neptune 



New 

 Full 



Nov. 



■ - 3 ■ 



13 - 



23 • 



• 3 ■ 



13 ■ 



23 - 



..13 ., 



..13 ., 



..13 ., 



..13 . 



..13 . 



Souths Se. 



h.m. Diameter 

 0.49 p.m, 



1-13 



DENNETT. 



Position at Noon- 

 R.A. Dec. 

 h.m. ° ' 



■ 14-34 ■- 15-6 S. 

 . 15.14 . . 18.0 

 ,. 15.55 -■ 20.22 



Sets Ag-e at Noon. 



h.m. d. h. in. 



. . 4.7 p.m. o I 33 



. . 2.12 a.m. 10 I 33 



. . 11.50 a.m, 20 I 33 



Position at Noon. 



R.A. 



h.m. 

 2.7" . . 15.49 

 3.1" .. 16.45 

 3.9" . . 17.22 , 



5-° 



. 15.24 . 

 . 16.16 . 



■ 17-9 • 

 . 16.22 . 



■ 15-14 ■ 

 , 17.26 . 



. l6.22 . 



• 5-45 - 



Dec. 

 ' 



22.18 S. 



24-59 

 25.14 

 18.29 s. 

 21.34 

 23-37 

 22.7 s. 

 17.10 s. 

 22.9 s. 



21. 28 S. 



22.6 N. 



Nov. 



h.m. 



■ 1.35 P-i"- 

 6.3s a.m. 



0.34 p.m. 



0.46 .- 5.1" 



1.0 .. 5.2" 



0.52 p.m. . . 2.0" 



XI. 45 a.m. .. 14.3" 



1.56 p.m. . . 7.1" 



0.52 p.m. . . 1.7" .. 



2.9 a.m. . . 1.3" .. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.vi. 



10.27 a.m. ist Or. . . 



10.18 p.m. ^rdQ7'. .. ,,25 



In perigee, November 12th, at noon, distant 229,500 

 miles ; and in apogee on 25th, at 2 a.m., distant 

 251,300 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Nov. 4 .. Jupitert .. 3 a.m. ..- planet 3.39 N. 

 ..4 . . Venus* . . 1 p.m. . . ,, 2.24 



.,4 . . Marst ..12 . . ,, 1.15 



..5 .. Mercuryt .. 1 a.m. .. ,, 0.39 S. 



..6 . . Saturn^ . . Noon. . ,. i.i N. 



^ Daylig-ht. + Below English horizon. 



OCCULTATIONS AND NeAR APPROACHES. 



Star. 



. T^ Capricon 

 . /C Piscium . 

 . T^ Arietis . 

 -A Tauri ... 

 .56 .. -.. 

 .Neptune . . . 



Magfii 



tudc. 



•■5-3 ■ 

 ...5.0 . 



..5.2 . 

 ...4.5 . 



-■■5-4 - 



Dis- 

 appears 



h.m. 



• 7-49 P-m 

 .11.11 

 . 6.52 a.m 

 . 10.21 p.m 

 . 6.30 a.m 

 . 6.10 p.m 

 . 8.3 p.m 



Angle 

 from 



Vertex. 

 



..311 . 

 . . 104 . 

 ..319 . 

 .. 83. 

 ..140 

 ..129 . 

 223 . 



Re- Angle 

 appears from 

 li.iH. Vertex. 

 



. Near Approach. 

 . 11.29p.m. . . T-^7 

 . Near Approach. 

 . 11.29 p.m. . . 296 

 . Near Approach. 



. Near Approach. 



. /. Geminorum. 5.2 . 



19 



The Sun is showing little signs of activity, but 

 small spots appear at intervals, sometimes with great 

 suddenness. 



Mercury is an evening star all the month, 

 reaching its greatest elongation, 22° 18' east, at 

 4 p.m. on l6th. At 7 a.m. on 4th Mercury is in 

 conjunction with Mars, which is i" 48' to the north. 

 At midnight on 8th Mercury and Uranus are in 

 conjunction, the former being 2" 37' south. At 

 II a.m. on 26th it is in conjunction with Venus, 

 Mercury being 23' south. If the air be steady and 

 clear this should be readily seen by anyone who will 

 take the little trouble necessary to find the planets in 

 daytime. At 9 p.m. on 30th it is in conjunction 

 with Mars, being 23' to the north of that planet. 

 The planet is not well placed for ibseivation. 



Venus is an evening star, poorly placed all the 

 month for observation. At 5 p.m. on 14th it is in 



conjunction with, and 24' south of Uranus. At noon> ■ 

 on 1 6th it is in conjunction with Mars, which is onl 

 11' south of ^'enus. In a clear sky this should be- 

 seen by dint of patient search. On 27th at 9 p.m. it 

 is in conjunction with Saturn, Venus being 1° 54' 

 south. 



Mars is too close to the sun for observation. Ori- 

 13th, at 9 a.m.. Mars is in conjunction with Uranus, 

 which is 38' to the north. 



Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus are all too close 

 to the sun for observation. Jupiter is in conjunction 

 with the sun at 8 a.m. on 13th ; and Uranus is in 

 conjunction at 4 p.m. on 30th November. 



Neptune is now getting into good position for 

 observation, rising, as it does on 12th, at 6.1 p.m. 



Meteors, should be specially expected on. 

 November I, 2, 4, 6-9, 11-15, 19, and 27. 



The Great Leonid Shower. — In spite of the- . 

 brilliant moonlight, it is probable that there will not 

 be so much disappointment this year as in 1897 and 

 1898 to those looking out for the Leonids on 

 November 14th and 15th, though the display will be 

 shorn of much of its grandeur. It must be empha- 

 sised that this meteor shower is essentially a morning 

 one, seeing that it is not until nearly eleven o'clock 

 p.m. that the radiant point rises above the English 

 horizon. Though the radiant point of the shower 

 was expected to be in R.A. 149? 28', Dec. N. 22° 

 52', in the middle of the "sickle" of Leo in 1898,, 

 the observers, MM. Andre and Guillaume, at 

 Lyons, found the apparent radiant to be situated in 

 R.A. 155°, Dec. N. iS", a little north-west of 

 the 3rd magnitude >? Leonis. It will be remembered 

 that these meteors are swift in flight, and leave a 

 train. In observing meteors it is best to mark down 

 their paths upon a map ; then the radiant point can very 

 readily be determined. A cheap star atlas suitable 

 for "such a purpose is '■'The People's Atlas of the 

 Stars," published at a shilling by Messrs. Gall and 

 Inglis. The shower certainly deserves looking for. 

 Attention should also be directed to the Andromedes, 

 on the night of the 23rd and morning of 24th, 

 radiating from a point in R.A. 25° Dec. N. 43", near 

 y Andromedae. Further information about these 

 meteors will be found in the number of Science- 

 Gossip for November, 1898. 



The Vienna Academy of Science has sent an expe- 

 dition to India to observe the Leonids. Herr Director 

 Weiss, of the Vienna Observatory, is the leader. 

 Observations are to be attempted near Delhi, the 

 Indian Government offering all possible assistance. 



The New Minor Planet announced on p. 154 

 as having been discovered by M. Mascart, proves to 

 be really the re-discovery of Pomona, originally 

 observed on October 26th, 1854, by M. Hermann 

 Goldschmidt, near Paris. 



Next Great Solar Eclipse. — It is announced 

 by the Director of the Marine Observatory of San 

 Fernando in Spain that the Minister of Finance has 

 directed that the instruments for the observation of 

 the eclipse are to be admitted free of duty. 



A Comet {e 1899) was found by M. Giacobini, of 

 Nice, on September 29lh, in the north-western part 

 of Ophinchus. It was faint, and moving in a south- 

 easterly direction. It proves to be a comet previously 

 seen in 1S96 and 1S9S. According to Herr J. 

 MoUer, it passed its perihelion on August 27th, when 

 its distance from the sun was 1.73, the earth's dis- 

 tance representing unity. It is now receding fiom 

 us, therefore its brightness is decreasing. 



