SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



89 



ASTRONOMY, 



CONDUCTED BV FRANK C. DENNETT. 



Smii 



Aug 

 ... 10 . 



Aug. 

 Moon ■ 10 ... 

 20 ... 

 30 ... 



Rises, 

 h.m. 

 4.39 a. in 

 ... 4-55 

 ... 5." 

 Rises, 

 h.m. 



10.40 p.m. ... 

 8.29 a.m. ... 

 6.7 p.m. ... 



Sets, 

 h.m. 

 . ... 7.31 p.m 



... 7" 



... 6.51 



Souths. 



h.m. 



6.28 a.m. ... 



2.12 p.m. ... 

 11.27 



Position at Noon. 

 R.A. 



h.m. 



. ... 9.21 



- 9-59 



...10.35 



Sets. 



h.m. 



33 P-m 



741 



3.35 a.m 



Dec. 



15 30' N. 



Aug. 

 Mercury... 10 ... 



30 

 Venus ... 10 



30 ... 

 Mars ... 20 .. 

 Jupiter ... 20 .. 

 Saturn ... 20 .. 

 Uranus ... 20 ... 

 Neptune... 20 ... 



Souths. Semi 

 h.m. Diameter. 



1.46 p.m. ... 3" 8 

 1.26 ... 4" 5 



... 8" 55' 

 Age at Neon, 

 d. h. m, 

 22 16 13 

 3 1 25 

 13 1 25 

 Position at Nooif 

 R.A. 



o 36 



2.44 p.m. .. 



2-45 



2.45 



7.28 a.m. .. 



2.41 p.m. .. 



6.20 p.m. .. 



5-53 P-m. .. 



7.41 a.m. .. 



5 2 

 8" 4 

 9" 1 

 9" 9 

 3" o 

 14" 8 

 7" 8 

 1" 9 

 1" 3 



h.m. 

 ... 11. 2 ... 4 

 .. 11,21 ... o' 

 ... 11. 12 ... o 

 ... 12.0 ... o' 

 ,.. 12.40 ... 4' 

 ... 13.20 ... 9' 

 ... 5.24 ... 23 1 

 ... 12.36 ... 2' 

 .. 16.17 -• *9' 

 .. 15.50 ... 19' 

 .. 536 ... 22' 



Dec. 



5'N. 



15'N. 

 51' S. 

 47' 

 o'N. 

 40' S. 

 38' S. 

 56' s. 



2'N. 



Mars*! 



. 5 p.m. . 



.. planet 



3° 4' 



S. 



Mercury* .. 



2 p.m. . 



>> 



I°I4' 



IN. 



Jupiter*-} 



5 a.m. . 



n 



6" 51' 



N. 



Venus* 



8 a.m. . 



,, 



5° 3' 



N. 



Saturn' 1 1 



5 a.m. . 



. 



5° 4' 



N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



Full ... Aug. 2 ... 4.29 a.m. 3rd Qr. ... Aug. 9 ... 6.13 a.m. 



New... „ 17 ...10.35 „ 1st Qr , 24 ... 8.32 p.m. 



Full ... „ 31 ... 0.51 p.m. 



In apogee August 13th, at 5 a.m., distant 251,900 

 miles ; and in perigee on 29th, at 1 a.m, distant 

 226,200 miles. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon : 



Aug. 11 



* Daylight. t Below English horizon. 



The Sun often has spots on his surface, but 

 spotless days are increasing in frequency. 



Mercury is an evening star, reaching its greatest 

 eastern elongation (27° 22') at 3 a.m. on the 9th, 

 and at 4 p.m. on the same day is at its greatest 

 distance from the sun (aphelion). This is not a 

 very favourable elongation for observing the planet 

 after sunset. 



Venus is an evening star, in conjunction with 

 Jupiter at 6 p.m. on the 19th, Jupiter being i° 51' 

 to the north. The planet is best observed in the 

 early afternoon. 



Mars has still a very small apparent diameter, 

 and may be observed during the early morning hours 

 away in the north-eastern heavens. Mars is in 

 conjunction with Neptune at 10 p.m. on the 25th, 

 Mars being i° 13' north. 



Jupiter is an evening star, setting about two 

 hours after the sun at the beginning of the month, 

 but less than an hour after at the end. 



Saturn and Uranus are not well placed, owing 

 to their great south declination. The outside 

 minor axis of Saturn's outer ring still exceeds the 

 angular diameter of the planet, so that he is a 

 really beautiful object when the air will permit 



observation. Saturn sets near midnight on the 

 1st, and near 10 p.m. at the end of the month. 



Neptune is still too near the sun for successful 

 observation. 



Meteors should be specially looked for during 

 August, the principal dates being the 3rd, 5th, 7th 

 to 13th, 15th, and 19th to 22nd. 



Comets. — -The month of June has proved itself 

 to be a notable one in the history of cometary 

 astronomy, no less than five of these bodies being 

 discovered within eight days, two of them expected 

 visitors, and the other three strangers. We give 

 particulars of them in order: — 



c 1898, discovered June nth photographically 

 at Lick Observatory by Mr. Coddington, and 

 independently discovered at Bucharest. It, 

 however, rapidly passed too far south to be 

 observed from England. Herr Berberich cal- 

 culates that it will pass its perihelion on 

 September 15th, at a distance of 169. Earth's 

 distance =10 



d 1898, Encke's, observed June 12th by Mr. 

 Tebbutt, of Windsor, N.S.W. This too can 

 only be seen in the southern hemisphere. 



e 1898, discovered by Mr. Perrine, of Lick 

 Observatory, on June 14th, R.A. 3h. 29m., N. 

 Dec. 58 36'. According to Herr Berberich it 

 will reach its perihelion on August 5th, at a 

 distance of 028, earth's distance = 10. It is 

 rapidly brightening, and before this is published 

 it may be expected to be quite six times as 

 bright as when discovered. Its motion is towards 

 south-east. Mr. A. C. D. Crommelin, of the 

 Royal Observatory, writes that on August 1st, 

 at 11 p.m., the comet's place is R.A. 7h. 20m. 8s., 

 N. Dec. 27 50' ; and on August 10th, R.A. 

 7h. 52m. 47s., N. Dec. 17 2', its brightness 

 being 8-5 as great as when discovered. 



/ 1898, Wolf's, observed by Mr. Hussey, of 

 Lick Observatory, on June 16th, is very faint. 

 Herr Thraen calculates that it passed its pere- 

 helion on July 4th. Only observable with large 

 telescopes. 



g 1898, discovered by M. Giacobini at Nice 

 on June 18th, in the constellation Capricornus, 

 moving towards the south-west. Prof. Kreutz, 

 of Kiel, calculates that perihelion was passed on 

 July 6th, its least distance from the sun being 

 1 "59, earth's distance representing unity. Dr. 

 Hartwig, on June 21st, described it as "round, 

 about 2' in diameter, about equal in brightness 

 to a star of the tenth magnitude, and having 

 eccentric condensation." Its brightness is 

 decreasing. 



Jupiter's Satellite I. is said to be distinctly 

 elliptical, and measures have recently been pub- 

 lished as below. 



Rotation 





Ellip- 



Period. 





Tele- 



Date. 



ticity. 



h.m. 



Observer. 



scope. 



Dec, 1892 . 



. 100 — no 



■■ '3-3 • 



. W. H. Pickering.. 



. 13-inch 



Oct., 1894 . 



. 108 — 120 



• • 13-3 ■ 



11 



. 18 „ 



Mar., 1S95 . 



. 104—120 



? 



. A. E. Douglass .. 



. 18 „ 



„ 1897 ■■ 



. 115— 130 



.. 12.25 8 . 



,1 



. 24 „ 



The Yerkes Telescope. — The first published 

 work of the 40-inch refractor appears in No. 436 of 

 "The Astronomical Journal." It is the results of 

 a fine series of measures of the satellite of Neptune, 

 by Professor E. B. Barnard. One of its eyepieces 

 gives a power of 3,750 diameters. 



The British Astronomical Association holds 

 its next meeting on the last Wednesday in October. 



