SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



28' 



ASTRONOMY. 



CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT. 











Position at Noon. 



1900. 



Rises 



Sets. 





R.A. 



Dec. 



Feb. 



h.m. 



h.m. 





h.m. 



; 



Sun .. 1 . 



• 7- 41 a 



.m. .. 4.47 p 



.m. 



. 20.59 •• 



17.9 S: 



11 . 



• 7-24 



.. 5.4 





. 21.39 .. 



14.4 



21 . 



• 7-4 



• • 5-24 





. 22.18 .. 



10.37 





Rises. 



Souths. 





Sets A 



ge at Noon 



Feb. 



h.m. 



h.m. 





h.m. 



d. h. m. 



Moon 1 . 



7.56 a 



m. . . 1.30 p 



m. . 



. 7.20 p m 



1 10 37 



11 . 



■ 2-17 P 



m. . . 10.14 P 



m. . 



. 5.30 a.m 



11 10 37 



21 . 



. 0.15 a 



m. . . 4.43 a 



m. . 



. 9.5 a.m. 

 Position 



21 10 37 

 at Noon. 





J 



ouths. Semi 



R.A. 



Dec. 





Feb. 



h.m. Diameter, h.m. 



/ 



Mercury . 



1 . . 



11.52 a.m. .. 



2.4' 



.. 20.37 



. 20.40 S. 





11 . . 



0.22 p.m. . . 



2.4' 



21.46 



■ 15-31 





21 . . 



0.52 



2.6' 



.. 22.56 



• 8.3 



Venus 



. 1 . . 



2.23 p m. . 



6.4' 



.. 25.8 



. 6.58 s. 





11 . . 



2.28 



6.7" 



.. 23.52 



■ x -* 8 „ 





21 .. 



2.32 



7.0' 



. * O.36 



. 3.26 N. 



Mars 



11 . . 



11.52 a.m. . . 



2.0' 



2I.l6 



. . 17.0 S. 



Jupiter 



11 . . 



7.2 a.m. .. 



16.4' 



.. l6.25 



. 20.49 s. 



Saturn 



. 11 . . 



8.45 a.m. .. 



7.2' 



-. I8.9 



. 22.6 S. 



Uranus 



11 . . 



7.18 a.m. .. 



i-7' 



.. l6.42 



. 22.11 S. 



Neptune 



11 . . 



8.10 p.m. . . 



1.2' 



•• 5.36 



. 22.3 N. 



Moon's Phases. 



h.m. h.m. 



\st (Jr. .. Feb. 6 .. 4.23 p.m. Full . . Feb. 14 .. 1.50 p.m. 

 ydQr... ,, 22 . . 4.44 p.m. 



In perigee, February 1st, at o a.m. ; and in apogee 

 on i6th, at I a.m. 



Meteors. 



h.m. 

 Feb. 15-20 .a Serpentids .. Radiant R.A. 15.44 Dec. 11° N. 



Conjunctions of Planets with the Moon. 



Feb. 2 .. Venus* .. 2 p.m. .. planet 6.52 S. 



,,23 .. Jupiter .. 4 a.m. .. ,, 1.31 N. 



,,24 .. Saturnf •• 10 p.m. .. ,, 0.26 S. 



,,28 .. Marsf •■ 11 p.m. .. ,, 6.21 S. 



* Daylight. t Below English horizon. 



Occultations and Near Approaches. 







Dis- 



Angle 



Re- Angle 





Magni- 



appears. 



from 



appears, from 



Feb. Star. 



tude. 



h. m. 



Vertex. 



h. m. Vertex. 



2..K Piscium 



.. 5-0 • 



. 6.56 p.m. 



.. 65 •• 



7.43 p.m. .. 172 



6.. 8 Arietis 



•• 45 ■ 



. 8.36 p.m. 



.. 93 .. 



9.24 p.m. .. 175 



8.. 51 Tauri 



.. 5.4 . 



. 1.57 a.m. 



■ 143 -• 



Near approach. 



8.. 5 6Tauri 



.. 5.4 . 



. 2.3 a.m. 



.. 81 .. 



2.49 a.m. . . 209 



9-.« Tauri 



.. 5.2 . 



. 3.50 a.m. 



.. 99 .. 



Below English 

 horizon. 



16.. e Leonis 



.. 5-i • 



. 7.51p.m. 



..242 .. 



Near approach. 



The Sun is now frequently quite free from spots ; 

 but its mottled surface should be studied on every 

 available occasion, special advantage being taken of 

 a still frosty fog. 



Mercury is too close to the sun for observation 

 until near the end of the month, when it is an 

 evening star. In superior conjunction with the sun 

 at 9 p.m. on February 9th. At the end of the month 

 it sets some 80 minutes after the sun. 



Venus is an evening star all the month, getting 

 daily into better position for observation, not setting 

 for more than three hours after the sun. After 5th 

 it is situated in Pisces. 



Mars is too close to the sun for observation. 

 Ju itter rises nearly five hours earlier than the 

 sun at the end of February, situated in Ophiuchus. 



Saturn is also a morning star, situated in Sagit- 

 tarius, between the three magnitude stars ju and A. ; 

 does not rise until nearly two hours later than 

 Jupiter. 



Uranus is in Ophiuchus, a little east-south-east of 

 Jupiter. 



Neptune may still be observed near £ Tauri. 



Zodiacal Light may be looked for in the eastern 

 sky towards the end of the month. 



The Paris Academy of Sciences has be- 

 stowed the Laland prize upon Mr. W. R. Brooks for 

 his cometary discoveries. The Valz prize has been 

 awarded to M. Nyren, of Poulkowa, for his sidereal 

 work. 



Variable Stars.— Colonel Markwick, having 

 consented to become Director of the Variable Star 

 section of the British Astronomical Association, pre- 

 pared a most practical address to the members of 

 the section, which was read by Mr. Maunder at the 

 meeting of the Association at Sion College on the 

 27th December. 



"An Easy Guide to the Constellations," 

 by the Rev. James Gall, with thirty plates and six 

 key maps 5^ in. x 4^ in., has recently been revised, 

 and contains an additional five plates. It is a very 

 handy book for the young observer to learn the con- 

 figuration of the various stars forming the constella- 

 tions. It is issued by Gall & Inglis for one 

 shilling. 



Daylight Meteor. — Many people in the 

 south of England appear to have been fortunate 

 enough to observe a most brilliant meteor a little 

 before three on the afternoon of January 9th, when 

 the sun was shining brightly. It is said to have 

 resembled an incandescent gas light in brilliance and 

 colour, and to have left a trail in its wake. Its 

 shape was kite-like, and it threw off flakes of light. 



The Eclipse of the Moon. — We were much 

 interested to find an account of the eclipse on 

 December 16th, illustrated by four diagrams, in the 

 " Daily Chronicle " of the 18th of that month. 



The November Leonids Although several 



observers saw meteors, many of them undoubtedly 

 being Leonids, it is now certain that the earth did not 

 encounter the great swarm as in 1 866. Mr. T. Tamblyn- 

 Watts writes from Settle that on the morning of No- 

 vember 15, at 6 o'clock, there were "several Leonids, 

 about a dozen inside of five minutes, also other 

 meteorites from farther to south." Watch had been 

 kept from 11.30 p.m., November 14th, to 6.30 a.m. 

 on the 15th, and again from 10.30 p.m. on 15th to 

 7 a.m. on 16th, but only a few other meteors were 

 seen. Mr. VV. Robertson, of Ootacamund, Hindostan, 

 writes that the meteoric shower " was very poor 

 here." He made, however, some successful observa- 

 tions, which have been forwarded by Professor Michie 

 Smith, the Director of the Government Observatory, 

 to Professor Pickering of Harvard College. 



The Quadrantids, according to Professor A. S. 

 Herschel observing at Slough, were very abundant 

 this year. From 11 p.m. on January 2nd until 

 4.30 a.m. on the 3rd the meteors fell continuously at 

 the rate of about twenty-five per hour, and some of 

 considerable brilliance. 



