ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR NOVEMBER.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8869, 1 November 1907, Page 3

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR NOVEMBER.

(Published by Special Arrange ment.)

The sui> is in the constellation Libra till the. 23rd, when he enters Scorpids. " His declination south increases from 14 deg. on the' Ist to 21."5 deg. on the 30th, and his altitude at noon from 64 deg. to 71 deg. during the same period.. The Solar surface has exhibited some fine displays of sun-spot activity during the past month. On the 15th no less than six centres of considerable area * were visible at the same time, while "\ facuae were very pronounced at either limb. 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 near Jupiter on the morning of the 30th of October to the north; Venus on the morning of the 7th to the north; Mercury oh the same date and to the north; Uranus on the morning of.the lOjth to the north; Mars on the evenings of the 12th and 13th"; Saturn on the evening of the 15th, to the south, and Jupiter on the. mornings of the 25th and 26th to the ' north. She will be passing through the constellations mentioned, on the following evenings at 8 p.m. Sagittarius on the 9th, 10th and 11th, Capricornus on the 12th, Aqarius on the 13th and 14th, Pisces on the 15th, 16th and 17th, Arecs on the 18th and .19th, Taurus on the 20th. 21st and 22nd, and near the bright star Aldebaran on the 21st, Gemini on the 23rd and 24th, and near the bright stars Alpha and Beta, Geminorum (the twins) on the 24th, Cancer on the 25th and 26th, after which she ' rises late in the evening. of • the moon in New Zealand mean time:— .New moon, 6 days 10 hours 9 min p.m.; first quarter:, 13 days. 3 hours 44 min a.m.; fullmoon, 20 days 11 hours 3miaa.m.; last quarter,',2B days, 3 hours 51 min p.-mi' Mercury is an evening star at the beginning of the- month, in the con- " stellation Libra, - moving towards ' the sun. Ho'will be in inferior conjunction with the sun at 11 hours" 37 minutes p.m. on the 14th, when the plane of his orbit passes through the sun as, viewed from the earth. The transit will, pf course, be invisible within New Zealand. He becomes, stationary amongst the stars on the 4th, in conjunction with the moon on the 6th, and in. conjunction with the planet Venus on the fol- , lowing day, in his ascending undo on the 11th, in perihelion ,on the 19th, stationary again amongst the stars on the, 24th, and in greatest heliocentric latitude north on the 29th. Venus is now an evening star in the constellation Libra, moving eastward amongst the stars. She will be in conjunction with the moon on the morning of the 7th, and in. her descending node on the same day. Though still rather close to the sun for observation she will begin how to draw away from that body, slightly, both in right-: ascension and declination. V; Mars. --This planet is still a -pro-, minent object in our evening forwardamongst stars in a the"- constellation Capricornus. He will be in quadrature (90 deg. of angular distance) with the sun on the 32th, and in con junction with the moon on the fol- "' lowing day at 3 hours 41 minutes a.m. the moon being removed a bare - degree as viewed centrally. In the 'telescope his very much diminished disc, and considerable phase, deprive .'■' him of the attractiveness he possessed of the scopic observers during July and August last. * Jupiter is now a brilliant object in the morning sky; rising well before the sun in the constellation Cancer, : and moving forward amongst, the stars. He is in quadrature with the sun on the 6th; in conjunction with the moon on the evening of the 26th, below our horizon, and stationary amongst the stars on the Ist of December. Morning observers will obtain good views of this body in telescopes of fair power, at this •tim 6, and favourable time of Satellitephenomena will occur on the following mornings:—9th, 12th, 13th, ■ 14th,-16th,. 20th, 23rd, 27th, ,29th and 30th$ . Saturn is a conspicuous object in our evening sky situated in the constellation Pisces, and moving backward amongst the stars. He willjoe in conjunction with the. moon on the morning of the 15th, and,will be se/211 near that body to the east on the 14th, and to the west of her on the 15th, the moon being to the south in each case. Viewed in a telescope of . medium power the planet appears entirely devoid of his rings, 'but in the telescope, of the observatory under favourable conditions the. anase may be glimpsed l'ke fine spider web, - extending irom either side in a line with the shadow which appears very broad and distinct upon the planet's equator. The general assumption is " that the rings are not more than about 50 to a hundred miles in thickness, although many thousands in breath, and this accounts for our losing sight of them when their edges are turned sunwards. Why the shadow of these rings should appear so broad and distinct upon the planet's disc at this time is somewhat of an enigma, and can only be explained by taking the plane of the ring as being through ttle earth's centre, but nut through the sun's at these times. Uranus is now an evening star in the constellation Sagittarius, moving forward. He is in conjunction with the moon on the 10th, being then barely a degree -to the south of that body. Neptune is an evening star in the constellation Gemini with a retrograde movement. He will be in conjunction with the moon on the 24th at 9 hours 58 minutes morning. Meteors.---November is the month of meteors, or shares that honour with August, but since Jupiter turned the beautiful Leonid stream of meteors out of.its old path, November's share of these interesting " displays of celestial fireworks has been considerably reduced. The meteors associated with the radiant in the Andromeda may be locked for from the Bth of the month onward.