ASTRONOVICAL NOTES FUR DECEMBER.

Evening Star, Issue 12674, 30 November 1905, Page 1

ASTRONOVICAL NOTES FUR DECEMBER.

—The Sunis in the constellation Ophinchus till the 18th, when he enters Sagittarius. His gxeatest suu.'bern dec.ination is reached on file 22nd, when summer commence s in the Southern Hemisphere. His altitude increases from the Ist to the 22nd, after which it declines slightly towards the north His altitude when south of the Equator may be found by the latitude of the plai e of obervution, mii.us the sun's declination for the day, and deducting this from 90deg. Sun spots have been much in evidence during tiie pa t month, and th.s, coupled with the fine displays of October, incline us to the view that the true time of maximum is w.th us now. The sun presented a most interesting sight on the 13.h, when a train of spots and groups were seen extending over quite thiee-fourths of the equatorial diameter in the northern latitudes, wnile to the south were several groups, and at each limb brilliant faculaj could be seen. —The Moon,— in her monthly circuit of the heavens, comes into the vicin ty of the planets and many of the brighter stars, and serves a;- a convenient pointer to them. She will be near Mars on the Ist, to the north; near Saturn on tsie 2nd and 3rd, to the north; near Jupiter on the 10th, to the south; near Mercury on the 25,h, to the north; and near Venus on the same date, nine hours later, but both planets and the moon lie very close to the sun at this time. She will a'.-ain approach Mars and Saturn on the 30th, pas ing close to the norfh of each at this time, when the two planets wi.i ap pear with.n a shoit d.stance of each other in the western skies. She will pass through the following constellations on the evenings mentioned :—Capricornus on the Ist and 2nd, Aquarius on the 3rd and 4.h, Pisces on fhe sth, 6th, and 7th, Aries on the Bth and 9th, Taurus on the 10th, 11th, and 12th, and occuitatinj the fine star Aldebaran on the 11th, visibe in the Nonhcrn Hemisphere only; in Gemini on the 13th and 14th, Cancer on the 15th and 16th, and Leo on the 17th and 18lh, when she rises late in the evening. Phates of the moon in New Zealand, mean (civil) time : —First quarter, 4 days 6h 7min a.m. ; full moon, 12 days 10b 55min a.m. ; last quarter, 19 i days ilh 58min p.m. ; i.ew moon, 26 days 5h 33m:n p.m. —Mercury—is an evening star at, the beginning of the month, in the con.-tella.ion Sagittarius, appearing stationary amongst the stars of this constellation on the sth and 6th. He wil. be in his ascending node on the 10th, nearest the sun on the 15th, and in inferior conjunction on the 16th. He will be in conjunction w.th the p.anet Venus on the evening of the 22nd, Mercury being 2dcg smiu to the north; in conjunction with the moon on the morning of the 25th, the pi net ldeg 7min to the south at greatest latitude south as from the sun's centre on the s:ime date; and auain stationary amongst the .-tais, in {Scorpio, on the 26;h. —Venus—is a morning sar during the month, moving through the constedatioii fk-nipio, and into Sagittarius at the end of tie month. She will be in conjuncrion with the moon on the evening of the 25ih, both holies being too near the sun to be observable at the time. —Marsis still moving rapidly forward amongst the stars of Capricornus and Aquarius, and is a prominent object in our western skies during the early evening. He w.ll be in conjunct.on with tho moon on the Ist evening at about 8h 30min, and aaain on the evening of the 30th at about lOh 30min, b.ing 2deg 7niin to the south of the moon on (lie Ist, and only 4min of arc to the souih on tho 50th. This v. ry close approach of the moon forms an interesting spectacle to naked-eye observers, and to tho&e using binoculars;, the apparent disiance separatim» the two bodies being only about one-eigh;h the moon's diameter. A not Ik r i: t re.-ting spectacle will be the close appiojch of this planet to Saturn on the evening of the' _6 hj, when barely a moon's diameter separates the two bodies asi viewed from the —Jupiter—is now an evei.ing s-tar, rising in the «rly evening bo*"v, <en the groups of the. Pleiades and the Hyades in Taurus. He shines wltli great intensity at this time, being near i ppwition, Mi f his northern declination lenders him a difficult tele.-copic object unless nell on the nieriil an. He will be in conjunction with the moon on the evening of the 10th, being 4deg lmln to the north at ahout sli oOin.ii. His mor-it intent ting satel ite phenomena may be looked for by the tele-sicopis-t on the evening of the sth, 6th, 7th, 13ch, 14th, 15lh, 20th, 21st., 22nd, 28th. 29th, 30th, and 31at, when transits ai.d eclipses csf t'heso bodies take place. H.s southern equatorial b-'lt is the most prominent marking visible on his surface. —Saturnis still an evening star in the cons-teJlation Aquarius, to the right of the two stars Delta and Gamma Capricorni. His m ton is now forward in Aqujrius. He uill be in conjunction with the moon on the morning of ihc Sid. at abcai. 4h 30min. when he will be ldeg 3min to the ioai,h of that body, and aua.n on the 50.h, at about 4ii oOmin of the aiterno-Fii, when lie wi.l ba oi.ly fviimn of arc to the south of live moon. H s ring system sill off rs a. most attractive spectacle in a large tele, cope, but to be veil so.n the- planet should be v.cived when at a good altitude. —Uranus^— is an eveniii" M«ir in the constellation Sagittarius, moving forward throughout the month n.-ar the star Mu, and in conjunction with the sun on the morning of the 27th. —Neptune—is moving retrograde in the constellation Gemini throughout the month. He will be in opposition with tho sun on the Ist of January, 1906. —Meteors—may be looked fur uaring December irom Gemini on the 4tli, and Taurus- on the 6th, and Gemini again about 10th to 14th. Ti.ese meteors are amongst those whicii move, swiftly across the sky, 1.-aving short streaks of l.ght, and quite tiie rev rx of the slower irdJn-beaiers of other radiants. —The Constellations?— at the middle of the montii arc as follow : Aries, Cetu.% and part of Taurus, containin" tho Pleiades and Hyadcs. to the north. Pisces and Andromeda north-west, and re mah.der of Taurus, with Orion and Canis Major contain-ng the bri.liant Sirius to the north-east. The Crojs may be steri emerging from its lower passage beneath the Pole, followed by the tine stars Alpha and in tho Centaur, uhi.e to the southeast may be teen Argo, and the brilliant Canopus mount ng 6tcad.ly night by nigU, bringing up that splendid train of brilliant stars, and wealth of rich clusters and nebula, which this portion of our southern heavens such a brilliant spectacU, and which, coupled with the tine fields stretching from Orion to the Cross, makes up the richest zone visible in .either hemisphere of the stellar universe. To the east of the zenith may be seen Aehernar, the brightest in The R.ver, and to the west will I be seen the last of Sagittarius, with Capri.com following, and Aquarius, alto in the wake, above the Utter. I

Kapteyn has drawn the attention of tho members of the British Association at the Cape to a most interesting discovery in astronomy. The profetsor has been working for many years upon an investigation into what 'is tLrmed the "proper" motion of the stars—viz., the actual motion of these suns in apace, in relation to each other, and di;tinet from the apparent motions imparted to them due to the motions of the earth. He finds that their motions are rot at random, but that a (Treat part of the brighter stars move in " ono or other of two groat streams of stars moving in the plane of the Milky Way, and meeting one another in space." To complete his discovery, the pn.fe.'sor requires coni-idorable data, furnisLed ban in the nature of spectroscopic determinations, of the motions of stars in the line of sight. This field of research opens a way to labors of great magnitude, and for which none but the larger behscopes are adapted. It is to be hoped the indefatigable professor will obta n tile a sistanco he requ.res, for nothing ;n tho whole realm of the universe is a> fascinating as this motion, and its cause. •• Teach me the ways of wandering stars to kr.ow" grows into a new significance in these later days. The Hon. Director, Wanganui ObservatoryNovember 30, 1905.