ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 160, 3 July 1918, Page 7

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.

FlOißi JULY, 1918.

The SUN is in the constellation Gemini till the 20th, when he enters l Cancer. His northern declination having reached; its maximum ort the 23rd of Juno, is now lessening again, and 1 his altitude increasing. This is slow from €he solstice, for the first six weeks, and the difference for July is, iconseI qnently, only about 5.5 deg. of increased altitude at noon. iSun spots • have shown a -very decided .decrease dur>tng June, only a few small ones being visible excepting at the beginning of the month, wnen a number were seen on the visible hemisphere, but all small. 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 wil be near Venus on the morning of the 6th, Jupiter on the evening of the 7th; Mercury on the morning of the 10th; Saturn on the, evenings of the 10th and 11th : Mars on the evening of the 15th ; Uranus on the morning of the 26th. Her path, through the constellations visible in our evening skies, is as follows: —ln Leo, as a crescent, on the 11th, and till .the 13th, when she passes into Virgo, in which islie remains till the 17th; in Libra, on the 18th; Scorpio on the 19fch, and 20th ; and' nearest the bright red star An tares on the latter djate : Ophinchus on the 21at. Sagittarius on the 22nd and 23rd; 'C'apricoriuis. on the 24th, and 25th; Aquarius on the 26th, and 27th ; Pisces on the 28th, after whi/:h she rises late in the evening. PHASES OF THE MOON in New Zealand mean trine :

JMERiCUPjY is an evening star f during the month. He is slowly drawing away from the Sun's positioni, reaching his greatest distance early in August. He is in lunar conjunction on the 10th; in conjunction with; the planet Neptune on the evening of the 12th, with Saturn on the morning of the 18th, and in hi s descending nodte on the 28th. VENUS is> a morning star during the month, and a very brilliant object in the early mornings. Many have made the mistake of mistaking Venus for the new star, a mistake which should have been hardly possible, if a little thought had been bestowed on the subject. She is in conjunction with the Moon on the 6th, and will make a close'conjunction wilth Jupiter on the 2>7th, but at a time when this interesting . happening cannot be seen 'by us in these longitudes. .'.'•'"'

MIARS is an evening star in Virgo, during the month. He is now too ytar from the Earth to make observatio of any value, excepting in the; lai'gest i'rifstrumentSi He will be dm lunar conij unction on £he evening of the ISfch, when the Moon will be. about ten diameters to the South.

JUPITER is a morning star throughout in month in Gemini. He wil be itn lunar ■conjunction' on the 7th, and in conjunction with 'Venus on the 27th. SATURN' is an evening star, during the month, in Leo, and now appi-oach-ing the Sun. He is in lunar conjunction, on the morning of the lllth, the Moon, to the South. He must be observed very early in the evening, as he is soon immersed in the dimmer atmosphere near the horizon. URANUS is an evening etar • Sn Aquarius. He will be in lunar junction on the 26th. 1 NEPTUNE is an evening -star during the month, passing into the ■ Sura's rays, and being in conjunction with him on the last day of -the; month. Ho is in lunar conjunction on -the 10th. The CK3NSTELIJLTIPISIS, visible in our skies, during the early hours! of the night, are placed as follows : —The Northern Crown and' Bootes are on the West of the Meandian, nearest thejiorizon,..Hercules, on the- Eastern side. Ophinctis and Serpeue are oyer Hercules, with Libra still higher, and more to the West. The bright star Vega, in Lyra, i!s to the righ of Hercules near the horizon and further around, towards the right, over the N-r'E., the head and neck of Cygnus, the Swan,"is to be seeri above the horizon, the rest following shortly. A'quila is over the Dolphin, and over the eastern point may be seem Aquarius; Capricqrnus and 'Sagitorius, with Srbrpio stall higher. The bright-" Formalhaut is towards the S.E.j and Grus over that again. Looking due South we see Canopus- low down oni the western, and Achernar in nearly the, same relative position on the eastern side- of the Meridian. The Cross is now wel over the upper, branch as are also the Pointers. The Southern- Triangle is oyer the Pole, followed by Pavo. ; Leo is just setting in the west, followed by Virgo, still high up in the western eky. Hydra is partly set, and .Corvus and Crater are approaching the horizon, | over .the western point. ' ■ ' THE NEW STAR, which flashed out so suddenly in the consteHteutidni Aquila, is the brightest sitar-like body that ha® appeared since 1575, in> which year it was : first seen (in November) by the gi-eat astronomer Tycho Brahe. j Our present Nova was very little im- j ferior to Sirius in brilliancy, but the star'of Tycho was more than twice a* bright. Bad weather'at this station preve: led regular observation, but tßote* which were obtained from. th» 10th inst onwards, proclaim it to be a centre of marvellous activities. Huge masses of hydrogen and other gases are being apparently ejected! with immense velocities;'-.'>■ The. radial movement of these vast quanitiities of matter may result in an envelope of partially cooled material forming around the star, and thus rapidly impair its brilliancy. •■• „ THE HON. DIRECTOR, , Wangareui Observatory. I June 30th, 1918. -

Last quarter Id. 8h. 12m. p.m New (Moon *,8d. 7h. 52m. . P- m FiTst Quarter 16d. Sh. 55m. ' J3. m Fal Moon 24d. 8h. 5m. a.m Last Quarter 3ld. -2h. 44m. a.m Apogee 15d. 2h. 48m. p.m DPerigee - 27d. lh. 54m. p.m