ASTRONOMICAL, NOTES FOR MARCH

Evening Star, Issue 16051, 1 March 1916, Page 7

ASTRONOMICAL, NOTES FOR MARCH

. [By the Hon. Director, Wanganui -',*■. '.' ' Observatory.] , " '--, —The Sun— -- ■ is in th» constollation Aquarius till the liir., when he.enters Pisces. His southern decimation is decreasing at this time, nnd wJI v*n.ish altogether on the morning of the 21st, when ha will be on the Equate:, and after which he will move to the Nutllem Hemisphere. Solar disturbances , heve been plentiful again during the past month. On the 10th no less than seven jf activity were to be seen on the so m r surface, two of them made up of "groups" of very complicated structure. —The Moon—-c-#nes into the vicinity of the planets and some of the brighter stars, and serves as a convenient pointer to them. She will be nearest Mercury on the evening of the 2nd, Jupiter on the 6th, Venus on the Bth, Saturn on the 13th, Mars on the 16th. Uranus on the 30th. • Sho will pass through the constellation Pisces on the evening of the 7th; Aries on the Bth and 9th; Taurus on the 10th, 11th, and 12th, and nearest the bright star Aldebaran on , the 11th; Gemini on the 13th and 14th, and nearest the stars Castor and Pollux on the 14th; Cancer on the 15th and 16th; Leo on the I.7th, 18th, and 19th, and nearest the brilliant Regulus on the 17th; Virgo on the 20th, after which she rises later in the evening. —Phases of the. Moon in New Zealand Mean Time.— New Moon 4d 3h 28m p.m. First quarter ... ... 12d 6h 3m a.m. Full Moon 20d 4h 57m a.m. Last quarter .... ... 27d 3h 52m a.m. • Apogee ... 13d 4h 54m a.m. Perigee 27d 12h 42m a.m. —Mercury—is a morning star throughout March. Ho will be at his greatest western elongation on the 2nd ; in lunar conjunction on the .same day; in conjunction with the planet Uranus on the morning of the sth; at his greatest distance from the Sun on the 10th; and at his greatest latitude south, as from the Sun's centre, on the last day of the month. —Venus— ' is an evening star during the month. Shining brightly in the western sky after sunset, she cannot be mistaken for anything the bright " evening star.-" She will be in conjunction with the Moon on the Bth, and may be seen west of that body at surest. Her appearance in the telescope is not the most favorable, as she is still very distant from the Earth. She will be at her best in May and June. —Mars—is an evening star during the month, in the constellation Cancer. He is retrograding—moving backwards across the neayens—during the best part of March towing to the positions and motions of the Earth and Mars), and will become stationary amongst the stars on the 22nd, after which he will move forward again. ''He was in opposition—i.e., the Earth was between Mars and the Sun, with Mars on the meridian —at midnight on the 10th of February, when his angular diameter was at its greatest for this period. It will now shrink as our distance increases. Mars has not been placed favorably for telescopic observation at this opposition owing to hia great distance and rather email elevation on the meridian and no very clear views have been obtained of Ms surface markings at this station. —Jupiteris an evening star during the month, but too near the Sun's place "for telescopic observation. Be will be in lunar conjunction on the 6th. -^-Saturn—is an evening star in Gemini during the month. He is Very well placed for observation, and is a fine object in the telescope at this time, his ring system being well opened. His path is retrograde till the 11th, when he becomes stationary amongst the stars, after which he will move forward again. He will be in conjunction with the Moon on the evening of the 13th. " —Uranus— ~ is now a morning star, and is in conjunction with the" Moon on the 2nd,, and with the planet Mercury on the sth. : .—Neptune—ia now an evening star in the constellation Cancer. He will be in lunar conjunction on the afternoon of the 15th. and will appear south-west of the Moon at sunset, about Bdeg. —The Constellations— * visible in the everting skies of March at about 8 o'clock for the middle period* arc as follows:—To the north Gemini, with the bright stars Castor and Pollux • nearest the horizon. ' Cancer is to the rU'ht of the meridian, and Leo more to the east" Virgo is coming up more to the east, and the lengthy Hydra is over both. The Ship (Argo) is. over the zenith, and the Cro=« and Pointers are rising in the south-east-ern sky. The Triangk, Peacock, Toucan and Hydrus arei well up in the southern sky. Phoenix is going down in the southwest, Cetus following to the west Endanus and the brilliant Achernar are over the western quadrant. Turn* wg to the, north-west, Taurus is found anproachmg tho horizon, while Orion is still high in the heavens, above the Bull, his many attractive objects including his Great Nebula, still veil placed for telescopic observation Still higher is Cam's Major and the, brilliant Sirius, brightest of afi the starry host as viewed from the planetand from this Tight across to the Bu'l' and in the other direction to the Cross ii that wonderfully rich section of the Milky Way crowded with star clusters and other objects, which makes this region the most interesting oi all the southern skv to the telescopic observer. February 29.