ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR JANUARY, 1904.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11142, 31 December 1903, Page 2

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR JANUARY, 1904.

The SUN is in the constellation Sagittarius till the 20th, when he will enter Capricornus. Sun-spots and faculae may be expected to increase from month to month during the present year, therefore the suns visible surface should be well scanned by all possessors of astronomical telescopes. He will be on the meridian of Wanganui (true north) on the loth at llhr 58min 51sec, for longitude 175.5Jeg. The MOON, in her monthly circuit, of the • heavens, comes into the vicinity ot" the planets and some of the brighter stars, and serves as aya v convenient pointer to them. She will be near Venus on the .34th, passing the planet 2^deg. north; near Mars on the evening ol the- 20th, passing the planet early on the following morning, 3ideg. north; near Jupiter on the evening of the 22nd, passing the planet at 10 p.m., nearly 2deg. north. She will be in the constellation Taurus on the Ist and 2nd, skimming the northern border of Orion and passing into The Twins on the 3rd, when she will be full moon; in Cancer on the 4th and sth, and Loo on the 6th and 7th, 'after which slie rises ' late for observation. She will be well j>laced for telescopic scrutiny in the ovenings at the end of the month, and during the mornings in the second week of the iruiath.

MERCURY is now an evening star, but owing to the lengthened twilight and. his setting shortly after the sun, may be said to be out of range.

VENUS is ijpw a morning star and rises in Ihe beginning of the month about two hours after midnight. She may be picked up by the naked eye on the morning of the 14th, near the moon, both bodies being near the meridian; Venus being above the moon five diameters away ; the moon being at this time a slender crescent, passing in front of the sun.

MARS is still a bright object in the western sky, setting about 9 p.m. at the middle of the month. His distance from t!'.> e;u'th is now too great to permit of useful observations of his surface markings being made.

.rr'PITEK. — This planet is now the fin-c'-J object in pnr western s.ny, riding yvell up iv Ihc "heavens in 'Ihe dpcpening twi1 4 _.M. Hh Muiru-e vili still well rep,\y iho obfev. cv. for bis sunifiny, bsifc he must be. cM!fi:iM bci'o;'" 1 Ijo gtis'iNiivu in «h- Jeoper layers of our atino.iphore if he would bo [-ton ;>( nli dipiinctly. NATI'KN is now iinuicJNoc! i?t tbf evening i-.vi]igl)t, setiljiq shortly after the sun. He may be seen at the beginning of the month low down and to the left of Jupiter aud below Alars. which is now drawing away from him and approaching Jupiter .< These, two latter j>lanets will be in conjunction in February next.

TJRANUS is now a morning star, but too near the sun for observation. NEPTUNE is an evening star in Germini, near the star Mv, and passes the meridian shortly before midnight 22$ deg. north of the equator.

BIETEOES.— There are no well-defined radiants visible to us in this hemisphere during the present month.

THE CONSTELLATIONS.— The rich cluster of the Pleiades in Taurus may l)e seen during* the middle of the. month, due north, about 8, p:m.,-.the other constellations as follows:— Orion, The Hyades ing part of Taurus) and Canopus lyina: close east of the meridian, with The Hare (Lepus) and the Greater Dog containing the bright star Skius further to the east. Turning east and south, we see the fine constellation Argo with the Cross just rising from under the pole followed by the two pointers. To the west of the meridian is Aries with the neat little group of three stars Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. If a line is carried from the western star of the -group along the longer leg of the triangle towards the right it will carry the observer to that wonderful variable star called by the ancients "The Vemon. on account of its rapid chan«re S m -brilliancy. This star lies about four \\ cve v gthß . of . tlie an £ I<s in the direction' given. Above Aries- may be seen Cetus, which has a similar group of stars forming the head or the monster, and likely to be confounded with the three given above, but those three in Cetus may be easily distinguished from the others, as they lie so much higher ami torm a larger group. * A MEMO.— The Observatory will be open as usual on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings from 8 ft> 9.30 o'clock. Any member may attend on any one of these evenings in each weak. Non-members arc admitted on usual terms— The Hon. Di30 ° i9 O f anffanUi Ob s c i-vatory._Decembcr