ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR NO VEMBER.

Evening Star, Issue 13098, 3 November 1908, Page 7

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR NO VEMBER.

[By the Hon. Director, Wanganui Observatory.],, —The Sun—is in the constellation Libra till the 22nd, when he enters Scorpio, through which he , moves'till the 28th, when he passes intb l Ophiuchus. Hfs southern ; 'declination is ’ now increasing,. and passes'from the 14th tv the 21st- degree during the month, his ■ altitude on the northern meridian incrcas- ! ing J by a like amount during • the same I period. The fine displays of the last few j months have suddenly "come to an end, and, with the exception of one or two very small spots, the solar surface has ap- i peared for the last few weeks without evidence of these great surface eruptions. . —The Moon—will be near Saturn on the evening of the sth, Neptune on the I2th,and 13th, Jupiter ' on the mornings of the 16th and 17th, Venus on the morning of the 21st, Mars on fhe same date, Mercury on the evening of the 22nd, and Uranus on the evening of the 27th._ Her path through the constellations visible in our evening sides at about eight o’clock is as follows:—Capri-1 cornus on the Ist and 2nd, Aquarius bn • the 3rd and 4th, Pisces on the sth and 6th, Aries on the 7th and Bth, Taurus on the 9th, 10th, and 11th, and nearest’ the bright star Aldebaran on the 10th, Gemini on the 12th and 13th, and nearest' Castor j and Pollux on the evening of the 13th.! She wilTcome in again as a crescent on; the 25th in Sagittarius, and in Capricormis on the evening of the 28th and 29th, being in Aquarius on the last day of the month, , —Phases of the Moon—in New Zealand mean time:— Days. Hours. ’ Mins. First quarter ... 2 13 46 a.m. ( Full moon 8 6 28 p.m. i Last quarter ... 16. 11 11 a,m. New moon 24 9 25 a.m., —Mercury— I is a morning star, and will be <visible' to-' wards the end of the month, rising before tha Sun. Ho will be in perihelion on the 4th, stationary amongst the stars bn the sth, at greatest western elongation, or at his greatest apparent distance frota ’the Sun, oh the 14th, in greatest’ heliocentric latitude north on the 15th, and in conjunction with the Moon on the 22nd. . . •—Venus—. . is a morning star during the month, moving forward in Virgo. She is in perihelion on the 12th,; and • comes into Conjunction with the Moon on the morning of - the 21st, and is in conjunction with Mars bn the first day of December, being in close proximity to the ruddy planet at the end of the month. ■ ■■■' : —Mars—'’” • is a morning star at this time’and throughout the month. He may be found movnig forward in the constellation;Virgo’ tbWirds : the end of the month. ’ He will bo in bonjuiictibn with the Moon on the 21st. ' I -rjfopiter— . { iv a .conspicuous: object in the morning : sky, moving forward among the stars of Leo. .He will be in conjunction: with the Moon on the 17th, - , j —Saturn— j is. the only one. of the. older, planets now visible in pur; evening sides. He may be - sem rising in ; the canstejlation -Pisces in i the early evening nearly due east. He ‘ will be in conjunction with the Moon on Ithe evening of the sth, being to the north , of our satellite, and separated: by nearly six diametens of- that body.’ His fine ring : system presents a most mteresting appearance at this phase, and One; which all. those ; who take a delight in. looking upon the wonders of the.-great. - universe . beyond should---.-certainly: not . miss. The riugg, which , are considered to be made up of a mass of small bodies revolving in a plane of over 172,000 miles in extent, but having a thickness of between fifty and one Hundred miles only, disappear entirely when their plane passes through the earth; as it did at the end of last-year. It has now so far departed from that phase that wo can see the first great division in : its breadth, named _ after the great French astronomer Cassini, who discovered and recorded it. This appeal's as a dark line upon the bright surface of the ring, and is very apparent when the plane is at its greatest angle to the line of vision, but can now be seen just opening out in the large telescope at the observatory. —Uranus— is an evening star in Sagittarius, having an easterly motion amongst the stare. He will bo in conjunction with the Moon on the evening of the 27th, when he may be identified, being about two and ahaif diameters of the Moon removed to the north of that body. —Neptune— is an evening star in the constellation Gemini, having a westerly motion amongst the stars at this time. He will be in conjunction with the Moon on the 13th. —Meteors.— November is especially noted as the month of the meteors, but since the great stream of the Leonids, which the Earth used to cut every November in its annual path round the Sun, wks diverted from its position by the giant, planet Jupiter, we rarely get displays from this source. There is yet another radiant in Andromeda which often furnishes fine displays, and should be watched from, the Bth till towaids the end of the month. —The Constellations—for the middle of the month, at about 8 p.m., are ;is follows:—In the north the great square of Pegasus is nearly on the - meridian, with part of Andromeda just i coming up from the east. Above this is I part of Aquarius and Cetus. Triangulum, with the' long trailCre of Pisces, are to the ! north-east, where part of Taurus (the Pleiades and Hyades) are just rising. In the east may be seen part of Orion, the bright star Rigel being well above the horizon. Over Orion may bo seen Eridanus stretching nearly to the zenith, and more to the south is Cards Major and the bright star Sirius just emerging from below the horizon. Argo lies low down from south-east to south, the bright star Canopus now well above. The Cross is nearly due south, with the pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri) a little to the west. Above these may be seen the Southern Triangle and the two Magellanic Clouds, with the Toucan and Phoenix over the southern pole. Scorpio is low down in the south-west part of. tips constellation, having already set, followed by Sagittarius and Capricornus. Aqirila is low down between the north-west and west. October 29, 1908.