ROUGH ASTRONOMICAL NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 3700, 31 December 1874, Page 2

ROUGH ASTRONOMICAL NOTES

18 7 5. The year 1875 is not likely to be a very interesting one for star-gazers. The Sun may be expected to be, to a great extent, free from spots during the whole of the present year. 1 here will be two solar eclipses—one in April, another in September—but they will be both invisible in Dunedin. There will be no eclipse of the Moon, nor will there be any occnltation of a first magnitude star or of a planet visible here. There will be two fairly favorable E. elongations of Mercury—one in June, another in October ; but there will be a very favorable W. elongation (when Mercury is, of course, a morning star) in March. Venus will be a morning star till the 23rd of September, but practically it will be almost invisible during th© latter half of the year. The most itiiportant event of the year will be the opposition of Mars, which takes place on June 20. During the three midwinter months this planet will be very favorably situated for observation, and will be a superb object in the midnight sky. The oppositions of Jupiter and Saturn take place on April 17 and August 16 respectively. January, 1875. 1. The Sun is just now almost without spots; small groups are, however, occasionally to be seen on its disc. 2. The Moon will be at its greatest distance ? fc * ab< ?ut five a,m. on the 2nd; at kb lew distance on the 17th at amt tea

I p.m./it will again be in apogee on the 30th at atorAhree a.m. The phases of the Moon will takdlace as follows; t New Moon, January 8, 4.30 a.m. 1 Eirat quarter, January 15 , 8.44 a.m. Full Moon, January 22, 5.3 a.m. Last quarter, January 29,11.56 p.im / Mercury will be invisible during the whole ofhe month. . Vei l u . B .. * 8 now the “ morning star.” It dl be at its greatest brilliancy on the I4th of lo month. ' Mars is visible in the mornings : it is retty dose to Jupiter und the fine star Spica. he three form an elegant triangle. I 6. Jupiter, is fast increasing in brightness, and contributes its full shara towards adornmg the morning sky, which is at present, and will be for the next three months, far more striking than the evening sky. J- *? 1 a * ra P 1 * 8 drawing near to its conjunction with the Sun. In favorable localities it may be still seen low down in the S. W. quarter of the sky just after sunset. 8. Uranus is now easily seen by the naked , eye. It passes the meiidia» at about 2 a.m. 1° find it, draw an imaginary line from Delta Cancri to "Eta Leonis; at a little more tban a third of the distance along this line, starting from Delta Cancri, will be seen two very small stars: the larger of these is Uranus. A fieldglass will show it well. Of course the stars named must be found by means of a star atlas. 9. Neptune is unfavorably placed for observation. POSITIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL STARS. January Ist, 11 p.m. (about) January 31st, 9 p.m. „ Looking South. Canopus a short distance frnm the zenith, somewhat to the left of the meridian. Achernar on the right, high up in the sky. Alpha and Beta Centauri pretty low down to the leftAlpha being the lower of the two (notice the diffe ence between the tints of these two stars). .1 short distance to the left of these two stars, but above them, is the Southern Cross. Alpha Crucis is at the “foot ” of the Cross, Beta at the end of the right arm of it. Looking' North. * Starting from Orion’s Belt, which is just to the left of the meridian, we find lligel a short distance above the Belt and to the left. In nearly the same relative position below the Belt, t.c., somewhat to the right, is Betelgeuse. A line drawn through Orion’s Belt and continued to the right will pass very near Sirius, The brilliant star which forms with Sirius and Betelgeuse a large equilateral triangle, is Prooyon. Pretty low down in the N.N.W. is Aldebaran. Low down in the sky, and somewhat to the right of the meridian, are Castor and Pollux, Castor being the lower of the two, Kegulus is rising in the N.E,