ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR JANUARY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue XLIX, 3 January 1916, Page 2

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR JANUARY

I.HE SUN is in the • constellation Sagittarius till the 15th. when he enters OapTicornus. Haying reached his greatest •southern declination on the 2oi'd of last month,. his path w'lJl now, I'm- a time, be nearly .parallel, after which it will again turn to-the north," losing about six degrees of latitude, and •e"; j vat;oii at noon, during the .month. Sr.nspots were prominent duriug the latter part of December ; a fine group wore seen on the 17th, to the 23rd, covering about 60,000 miles of solar longitude, while on the 27th a large single spot made its appearance in north solar latitude, on 'the' incoming limb, and another group <>f smaller nuelii in souti latitude on tha 28th. 1 -IE MOON, in her monthly circuit of the heavens, comes into the vicinity i ol {lie planets, and some of the brighter stars, and serves as a convenient pointer to them. She will be near .Murcury on. the afternoon and evening of the *6th : Venus on the evening of the 7-tli: Jupiter on the of the 10th; Sa turn on the morning of the 19th-j ami Mercury again on the morning of the 23rd. Her path through. . t-Jje; constellations visible in our early, evening sides will be as follows:—As a, crescent in-. Aquarius on the Bth and 9th ; Pisces on the lOtli, 11th. and 12-th : Aries .on the, 13th and 14th: Taurus on the 15th And 16th, and nearest the bright star Aldebarau, of that constellation, on the 16th; Gemini on the 17th, lSt-li and 19th, and in the vicinity |of the bright pair, Castor and Pollux, ,on the latter ,date ; Cftricer on- the. 20th j and 21st; Leo on the 22nd, 23rd. and ; 24tli, and 'nearest the bright star IReguI lus on the 23rd, after Which her path ! across the heavens is during the later j hours of the night. PHASES OF THE MOON in New Zealand Mean Time : \

ECLIPSE.—A partial eclipse of th& Moon occurs on. t'he 20th, when about ! one-eighth of the lunar disc will appear in the Earth's shadow, jjo be seen to in the Northern Hemisphere. MERCURY an,, eyeuing star during, the month. He will draw' aivay from the Sun durincr the early part of the month-, and'will attain his greatest east- . •ern eloiiga'tioh on the 21st,Jwhen he will have an angular distance 18.7 degs. towards the east. 'H-e- will be in lunar conjunction on the afternoon of the 6th ; in conjunction with the planet Uranus on- the morning of the, 18th ; in, his ascending node on the morning of the 22nd; in perihilion on-the-' night of the 26th. and stationary. amongst- the stars on the 27th. ; ; VENUS is an evening star during the month. She may> be- seen now well over the setting Sun during the early hours of the evening; she will "be on the same

meridian with Uranus on the morninc of the 7th; in conjunction with the Moon on the evening of the same day, and from thi-j time onward will increase in brilliancy, and she decreases her distance from the Earth day by day. MARS is an evening star and will, ■xt the beginning of the month, be situated in the constellation Leo, near the bright star (he will, in fact, ho within the encircling blade of the Sickle, a fine opening for the modern astrologern). He will be stationary on the 2nd, and in lunar conjunction on the morping of the 23rd.

JUPITER is an" evening star during tiie month, being well towards the south

and past the Meridian when visible. He j v.-ill be in conjunction with the Moon on | the eveningjof the 10th, the Moon passI ing him about five and a-half degrees to the north. His "Belts" have been extremely well seen during this opposition, which is an unusually clos? one, and much interesting detail has been seen in (he larcte telescope at "the ObservatoryThe most interesting evenings upon which to observe hi? satellite phenomena —transits, eclinses and d^cuilations—are a- follow :—6th, 7th, 14Lh, 15th, 17th„ 21st, 22nd. 24th, 28th,, 29th, 30th. SATURN is an evening- star, during the month, in the constellation Gemini. He array be seen east and west of the Moon on the evenings of the 18th and 19th. His ring system may ;be seen'to very great advantage just how, this beautiful .system being well .placed at this- opposition. ' , ' URANUS is an evening star in Capricormis. He will be in conjunction with Venus on -the 7th, in the morning, with the Moon in the evening of the same dav. and with Mercurv on the mornine; of the 18th. * * NEPTUNE is an- evening star, in Cancer, during the month. He will be in luuar conjunction on the 21st, and in opposition with the Sim on the morning of the 23rd. THE CONSTELLATIONS', for the middle of the month, during the earlier hours of the evening, are placed~-as follows : —Taurus, and the groups of the Hyades and' Pleiades, now both to tho north' and Aldebaran as ths; fine red star in the former group is well, placed just now. 'Orion is more towa/ds the east, with Lepus over him. " Nearer the horizon, is Gemini and the two bright stars Castor and Pollux. Eridanus is well up. 'towards the zenith, its, finest star, Achernar, being oyer, towards the southwest. Aries, the" Triangle.'and Pisces are to the west of' the Meridian, and over them Cetus. The Southern Cross

.is '-now moving -upwards in .the southeast, followed, bv the bright pair,' Alpha and Beta nf the Centaur. Now prominent in our south-eastern skies, i& that extremely rich belt of stars, and nebulae, extending , from the Cross to Taurus, i through Argo. Canis Major and Orion. • I Greeting.—-With the passing of 1915, [ and the entry of 1916, the wish that is in all onr minds is the one most seasonable, and reasonable, for the time. It i; that 1915 will see the downfall of Prussian militarism, and a lasting and honourable peace established upon the earth. THE HON. DIRECTOR, ' Waugairui Observatory. , December 31, 1915. " "

D. H. M X<nv ... ... 5 4 15 p.m First Quarter .. 12 3 8 p.m Full- Mooii ... .. 20 7 59 p.m Last Quarter .. 28 12' 5 p.m Perigee .. 5 1 '48 ii.m Apogee ... 17 4 36 p.m