ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 13

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.

i DECEMBER, 1908. I (By John Grigg. F.R.A.S.) Th« Sun is now rapidly approaching its most southerly limit, 25deg 2/xnin' which it ' "Wilß attain ;on the 22nd at -5.5 p.m. — thafc f-beifiCg therefore the longesMa^ The Sun's patTi during the month will be through a southern portion of Ophiuchus, and thence into Sagittarius, from R.A. J6« 27 to R.A. 18 '43, or, measured oji .-the Teclrptic» from longitude 249 to Ju. 279. -- - : **• « The Moon.— The phases of the Moon will be -as follow .-sjjfirst quarter, .'Decem ber 1,9 M Ji-jftk-K-biH, ,Bth,- 94« a.m,j last "quarter, 16th, 8.42 a.m.; new, 23rcb- 11.20 p.m.; first quarter, 30th, 5.10 p.m.; perigee, Ist -and 27th ; apogee, 15th." . f~ „- . .v* - ' The Planets.— MercWj is passing" fbifrid behind the Sun, and^ is therefore invisible to us. -"Venus, rising -about two hours before the Sun, is gradulaly increasing its distance from ue all the month. Its position on the 15th is R.A. 15 12, Dec. S. 16. Mars is also beyond the Sun, its position on the 15th being R.A. 14 42, Dec. S. 15. ■ Jupiter rises six to eight hours before the ; Sun, being in- Leo. its short path in R.A I being from 10 59 to 11 5. and its declina- ; tion N 7 30 near the fourth magnitude star ; Chi .Learns. It will be in quadrature with , te Sun 'on the 6th at 1.30 a.m., and the I Moon will pass near it on the 15th. Saturn . is in Pisces, and will be in quadrature with the Sun on the 26th. The Moon will be . near Saturn, on the 30tk Uranus is in Sagittarius, too Uearl'the'tSun for obeervaTo 0n - _ N«N «P tvn «Vpath fcf R.A. is from 711 32 to 7 8 27, and in Dec. N. 21 38 to 21 44 ' Culminations. — The' following bright stara, as s-an from Dunedin. will culminate at the hours named on the Ist of the month, and 3min 56seo earlier daily afterwards-— *

I These tames are calculated fox the meridian of Port Chalmers, and reduced to New Zealand standard time— llhr 30min fast of ' brreenwich. ' ! For inland places on or about the same ; latitude one minute should be added for every 12 miles westward. ■"" If* a compass is used for finding the meridian, allowance must be made lor to variation, which is given as 16.48 east cf true north. ; The Constellations.— Last month a number of well-known constellations were referred to as being visible. This month many of them will be even better placed for observation, and are well worthy of e^tudy. Looking above the eastern horizon I immediately after sUnset, a long gallery of brilliant star-pictures is presented to our view. Commencing at the northern end we see the Ram (Aries) represented by j three stars nearly in a line, but at unequal j distances, the lowest, and brightest, Alpha being in the Ram's head. We- should here mention that all the figures conceived by , th« ancients who dwelt in the- northern hemisphere appear, to us who view them) , from the south, inverted. Next come the .Pleiades m the shoulder of the Bull (Taurus), a small cluster of bright stars co often referred to in ancient history. About , half a dozen are easily visible to the unaided eye, and are named Alcyone. Electra, Atlas, Maia, Merope, and Taygeta, the first nam-od being the brightest. Soma time ago a celebrated astronomer expressed an opinion that our Sun is moving in an enormous orbit of which Alcyone is the centre. The idea was soon enlarged upon, popluansed, and copied from journal to journal. Astronomers, having made it a subject of further observation and calculation, have failed to find support for it. , But, "happy thoughts" regarding beaufciful objects often die hard. i The tckeoope reveals many other Stars in the group, and also remarkable ne'bulositie6. Recent photographs have registered a marvellous field, and a nebulosity so extensive as apparently to include the whole in one connected family. The Hyades : A group, a little further south-east, is depicted as the Bull's head, its form ie that of the letter V, the brilliant red star, AJdebaran (Alpha Tauri), being one of the eyes. Orion, a well-known figure lying across the equator, is always an interesting object. The : mighty warrior appears to be in conflict with the Bull. The four principal stars ! are Betelgeuse and Bellatrix (shoulders), Rigel (left foot), and Kappa (right "thigh). These form a trapezium, in the middle of which are the three stars of the belt, from which hangs the sword-sheath, containing the Great Nebula, which has been so much studied and described. A group of small stars form the head. The cxceeding-Iv brilliant star a little further to the right is Sirius, the principal , star in the Dog (Can is major).

Fomalhaufc 6 21 Nlffi Tn ■•• •. 745 ... N 45.'10 AJptia Orucis . . 7 50 SlB 24* h «™^ 9 2 .V. s 78.7 Alpha Centauri... 10 l ... s 16.16* Aldebaraa „ .. ..-.aft 58v- ■ ..: N 27531 12 38 . ... , N 52.29 Jupiter ... a.m. 626 ... N Zb.Sf * Lower transit.