ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR JUNE, 1872.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4610, 3 June 1872, Page 3

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR JUNE, 1872.

The right ascension of the sun at Auckland mean noon on June Ist is 4h. 36m. 42a., and his declination north 22deg. 4m. 295. : hence he will be found on the confines of Taurus and Orion, among some stars of the fifth magnitude in the former constellation. He uses in Auckland on the Ist at 7h. 14m. a.m., and sets at 4h. 46m. p.m., while on the last day of the month he rises at 7li. 16m. a m., and sets at 4ta. 42m. p.m. At 3h. llm. p.m. ou the 21st, he enters (not the constellation, but) the sign Cancer, and winter commences. The same day will bo what is popularly called the shortest day, the sun only remaining above the horizon for 9h. 26m., and beine; obviuusly below it for 14h. 36m. the remainder of the 24 hours. The equation of time is subtractive up to the 13th, after which date it becomes additive. Thus, on the Ist at apparent noon 2ra. 25 293. must be taken from the time indicated by a meridian instrument to show mean noon. The amount to be substracted diminishes up to the 13th, where it is only 11 "625. ; and on the succeeding day, the 14th, 0 953. must be added to apparent timo to indicate mean time, a quantity which increases to 3m. 22 965. on June 30. The semi-diameter of the sun at apparent noon on the Ist is 15m. 485., and the sidereal time of such semidiameter passing the meridian (convertible into mean time by the substraction of 0193.) lm. 8245.; while on the 30th his semidiameter is 15m. 465., and this semi-diameter occupies lm. S^s. of sidereal time (convertible as before) in fits transit. Spots continue to diversify his disc, though he is unfavourably situated for observation ; yet exceptionally fine definition of solar detail may occasionally be obtained through the haze and m-sts of winter, which cut off so much of the glare from his surface as to prevent the employment of a very lighttinted eye sliade. As a rule, the finest yiewa arc obtained before he arrives on the mpiidian. We shall have a new moon on the 6th, at 3h. 2m. p.m. She will enter her first quarter on the 14th, at 6b. 58in. p.m. ; become full on the 21st, at Oh. 37m. p.m.; \ and will enter her last quarter on the morn- j ing of the 28fch, at 9h. 6m. a.m. Her age at noon on the Ist will be 24 5 days, and so on until the 6th. At 10b. p.m. on the 14tb, libration will bring some additional surface visible in her S.E. quadrant, and at 2 o'clock on tho morning of tho 27th more of her S. W. quadrant willbecome visible from the same cause. She will bo most distant from the earth on the morning of the 10th, at 2 o'clock, and at her nearest point to the earth on the afternoon of the 22nd, at 3 o'clock. At 7 p.m. on the 4th she will be in conjunction with Mercury; and with Venus on the sth at 2b. 55m. p.m. She will be in conjunction with Mars on the 6th at 4h. 25m. a.m., with TJranus on the 10th at 4b. 57m. a.m., with Jupiter on the 10th also at 6h. 3m. a.m., and finally with Saturn on the 23rd at 12h. Bm. a.m. She will occult many fixed stars during the month, but of the smaller magnitudes, which would only be interesting to those who possess good telescopes. Mercuiy is favourably situated for observation at the commencement of the month, rising ou that date at sh. 18m. a.m. His low northerly declination however will make him somewhat difficult to find. He will be at his nearest point to the earth on the 22nd at lib. 41m. a.m., and arrive at his superior conjunction with the sun on the 25th at 9h. 35m. a.m. Venus has now ceased to be that striking object of the morning sky. She rises on the Ist at 6h. 9m. a.m , only a short time before the sun, and later each morning through the month. She will be in conjunction with Mars on the 17th, at sh. 28m. p.m , and with Mercury on the 19th, at sh. 17m. a.m. Mars remains still very unfavourably situated for observation. He rises on the Ist at 6h. 52m. a.m., setting at 4h. 28m. p.m., so that ha rises only a few minutes before the sun, and sets a short time before him. Thin, touether with his great northerly declination, will render him unfit for observation during the month. Jupiter is hastening rapidly from the evening sky. His diameter has very sensibly decreased during the past .month, and will continue to do so until" he is lost in the rays of the sun. He rises on the Ist at lOh. 29m. a.m., and sets on the same day at Bh. 9m. p.m. He will be in conjunction with Uranus on the 6th at sh. 50m. a.m. Saturn ia now becoming a fine object for the evening observer. He rises on the Ist at 7h. 34m. p.m., and shine' 3 the whole of the night, setting at 9h. 54m. a.m. His diameter increases through the month, and his position will not be peroeptibly changed for some timo to come. He is still situated in Sagittarius. Next month we will give some of, the principal features of interest to possessors of telescopes with respect to* this planet. Uranus is hastening away with Jupiter, *nd is now unfit for observation on accounts his proximity to the horizon. His conjunction with Jupiter has already been referred to. Neptune is now favourably situated, for observation. He rises on the Ist at 3h. 17m, p.m., and shines the whole of the night. He is situated in the constellation Pisces" very near to the star marked v. Of coujae the telescope ia requisite to find him. As there is reason to believe that a periodical shower pf "meteorites appears on the 6tt and 19th, waioh should be fcept for them, and all' particulars noted down. .M. Plantamour, > of, Geneva, 1 ie accredited with, the assertion thafca cometof immense size is" approaching the earth with astonishing^. < velocity, ► arid that a coU_ lision is almost inevitable. It may be predictedwith safety that'!Profesapr Plantamour has Dpt said .anything \espeotipg particulars , of this remarkable comet, but has fixed merely the date, viz., the^th, of August. Now, there is a well-known mt-teorio period about the 12th, and it is 1 just possible that Jbe may 1 ' 'have said, something about the earth pissing" through this sttjeam, plmetepra and orqssing the path of ■ a comet about that time. - Wefear.thisas. a -mere jrumour, for/ in the present state* of science, nothing could be more*aq,«* ' ceptable than the appearance of a good large comet, »and;the new?? it jwfcdeajto r,th«. W^K the.better..- .tWantof ,jspace Jor>ldi£or"we. might-give, our'reasons* for/thus -disarming the public mmd tf of "'any 1 species of alHrm it might have "felt on 'this matter; but - we- venture -to— -affirm -ihatHiae °ftys i &I m M\lUm*m*m- ot a|comet oould dqi.^oulj[ ? qqpsjsjb in keeping" .our readera oat -a-a'ther longer" Ifchan might, M 'good^forith'eii* health/ - The* principal I! co^ftUation* ?and£?iUrs^vi«ble during .tma month'are,tKeyEollptrin^ Look ing out at 7 p.m. >t;the beginning of the

1 f > month, we observe that Orion has just Befc,' : and the bright star Sirius very near the West, though two hours from the horizon. Looking in a W.N. W. direction about 17deg. above I the horizon, Procyon will be seen accomi panying the planet Jupiter ; while the two bright stara Oastor and Pollux.-in'the fee| of the Twins, are just on the N.W. horizon. Turning still more to the N.,we see the'Xion with the bright star KegalaV at' an' altitude of 35deg. On a clear evening may be seen ! in a N.N.E. direotion the bright; star Got Corali only about Bdeg. aboVe :the^ horizon • and in a direction due N.K'/io the -brightt star Arctarus, known by . its fiery 1 colour. Corona Boroalis is just risipg, known by I 'its , semi-oiroular shape, the brightest , star of which, is named Alphecoa. Turning our attention to the E.S.E. we observes Scorpio ,W»th the bright star Ant ares for $a, ( Reader ; and near the meridian in a more easterly direction, and at an altitude of about 75deg.j lis the bright star Spica, in the oonstellation Virgo. Immediately above this star' are the constellations Corvus and Crater, the latter being on the meridian at this hour. l The star Cor Hydra will be found about half-way on an imaginary line drawn from Procyon to the more southerly stars forming the constellation Crater. The Southern Cross is but 30m. east of the meridian, a Centauri following at a distance of lGdeg. to the east. This star is a very noted double, and ii easily divided by a telescope. The bright star Canopus has passed the meridian, and is about half- way between that point and the S.W. horizon ; while the bright star Achenar has an altitude of only Bdeg. above the S.S. W. point, coming to its lowest culmination at 9 p.m. The phenomena of Jupiter's satellites are becoming less interesting owiug to his proximity to the sun : we shal} therefore only append a few which will be most likely to repay the observer.

* Abbreviations denote m (follow :— Tr., transit ; Ec , eclipse; Oc, occu tation ; D , disappearance ; R., reappearance ; 1., ingress ; E., egresi; and the satellites by tboir numbers.

Lambert and Ta\lo», Newton Observatory, 184 feet above sea level. June 1, 1872.

IC. luuo y.w u. i». 0 7 8 8 14 22 22 2J H. 31. 6 46 7 fil'B 0 139 7 46-52 0 41 5 SO 6 53 6 10-8 I. Tr. J. I. Ec. B. 11. X R. 111. E. R. I. Oc. I>. I. Tr. I. 11. Oc. D. I. Eo. K.