ASTRONOMICAL NOTES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 53, 2 March 1918, Page 2

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES

FOR MARCH, 1918. The SUN will ; be in the constellation Aquarius till the 11th, when' lie enters Pisces. His southern declination decreases during the month, vanishing on tlie evening of the 21st, wheu he is on th e equator. Suuspots have been fairly plentiful during February, on e fine stream of eruptions measuring about 100,000 miles in longitude, while at the same time other separate disturbances wer t . visible on the surface. The MOON, in her monthly circuit of the heavens, comes into the vicinity of the planets and some of the brighter stars, and serves as a convenient pointer to them. She will be nearest Venus on the evening of the 10th; Mercury on the 13th; Jupiter on the 18th; Saturn on the 22nd and 23rd ; and Mars, on the evening of the 26th. Her path, through the constellations visible in our. evening skies is as follows : —'ln Aries on the 16th as a crescent, and moving, iiijto Taurus on tlie 17th, in which constellation ;S}i G will remain till, the 19th, being nearest the fine red star Ald.ebaran on the 18th ; in Gemini on the 20th, and' passing the Twins, Castor and Pollux, on the 21st Cancer on the 22nd and 23rd; Leo on th e 24th, 25th and, 26th, and. nearest to Regulus on the 25th; in Virgo' from the 27th to the 30th, and nearest the fine star Spica. on the 29th. She ends tihe month in Libra. The 'Moon's- Phases in New Zealand Mean Time : D. H. M. Last- Quarter ... 6 0 14 p.m. iVe<\v Moon « 13 7 . 22 a.m. First Quarter ... 20 1 0 a.m. Full Moon 28 3 3 a/rn^ Perigee 13 10 18 a.m. Apogee 27 2 42 a.m.

MER'CUP.Y comes in as a morning star, approaching the Sun's place, into whose ravs lie vanishes on 9th, after whidh h e becomes ah evening star. He is at his greatest southern .'de as from the Sun's centre, on the sth ; in lunar conjunction on the afternoon of the 13th; in superior conjunction on the same date. VENUS is a morning star, throughout the montJh. She will appear stationary amongst the stars on the 2nd : in conjunction with the Moon on the evening 1 of the 10th, the planet being to the north; sh e is at- her greatest brilliancy, as -a, morning star, on the 17th, about which time she may be seen during the daytime by; those whose eyesight is good. At that time she will be about th e meridian at 9..30 a.m., at an altitude of about 60 degrees. MARS is an evening star, during the month, rising in the north-east shortly before 7 p.m., at the middle of the month, in Virgo. He "will be on the meridian at midnight of the 15th, at which time he is said to 'be in "opposition." He is it* lunar conjunction on the 27ti11, and' will appear close to the Moon on that and the preceding evening. JUPITER is an evening star throughout the month. He must be observed early in the evening, as being in northern declination his altitude is poor, and his definition suffers. . Very fine viftws lhave been had this opposition, and since, of the varied appearances of his ''Belts," they being very dark this apparition. He will be in-lunar-conjunc-tion on, the 18th, and the planet will appear to east and west of the Moon on that and' the -preceding evening. The phenomena of his -four larger iroons mav 1 'be> best s-een, "under favourable conditions, on the following evenings:—2nd, 4th, - Bth ? 9tli, 11th, 13th, 1 <Un, 18th, 19 th, 20th;' 24th, 25th-,26th, 29th. . n . sATURN is an evening star during t e month, being visible at nightfall in the constellation Leo,, over the; northeast-. He is in an- at ■the presen|» time, hiS''ring-s-y_stem. being well opened. The Moon will appear on either sid e of him on the evenings of the 22nd and 23rd, conjunction occurring on' the latter date in morning hours.

URANUS is a mOrriing star during the month; he is in lunar conjunction on the evening of the 11th. .. NEPTUNE is an evening star, in March, being in the constellation Cancer. He is in lunar conjunction on the 23rd, ' . -

The CONSTELLATIONS visible in our evening skies, during the middle of, .the month, ar e placed l as follows : Gemini, • with the bright stars , Castor and' Pollux—the i Twins —about due north, and nearest the horizon'; Cancer and Leo towards tJlie east, with Virgo well risen and about, due east. The Water Snake, Hydra, is high up, and •across from north- to south-east, and' below it the email constellations .of the 'Cup and the 'Crow;. The Ship, Argo, is in th e -zenith, theifine star Canopus rather to the west- of the southern meridian. . The Cros§, and the Pointers are now well nip- in the southeast. Pavo is-low down, and l due south ■with Triangulum higher and to the left, Toucan, Hydrus, and Clouds are well up in the soutn-west. Cetus is settling -in the west, Eridanus 'being over / tihe Sea-Monster, and extending right from the north-west point to a position near the south. Taurus is approaching the horizon over the northwest, with Orion and Cainis Major overhead and in the order stated, the latter with the grand -star Sinus, being nQW near' th e zenith on the western side.

Occulation. —An interesting occulation of a star by the planet Venus may be seen on the . morning the 3rd. The planet ipasste over th e star at 3.55 a.m., ond leaves it azain at 5.18 a.m. (Hector Observatory Bulletin, No. 9V. THE HON. DIRECTOR, Wanganui Observatory. February 1918,