ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR AUGUST.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8500, 1 August 1907, Page 3

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR AUGUST.

(Published by Special Arrangement.) The SUN is in the Constellation Cancer till the 10th, when he enters Leo. His northern declination decreases throughout the month by 9.25 deg., and his altitude at true noon increases by a like amount during the same period. The Sun presented a display of activity during the middle of the month, two fine spots being visible, the southernmost one being followed by a group of fair sized spots and pores displaying very considerable changes in size and position. The largest spot being about 18,000 miles in diameter, produced a fine luminous bridge which completely passed across the main umbra in the course of about twenty hours. 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 nearer the minor planet Vesta on the morning of the sth, near Neptune shortly after midnight of the 7th, Mercury on the early morning of the Bth, Jupiter on the same morning, Venus on the evening of the same day, and seen close on the same and following mornings; Mars on the evening of the 20th, Uranus on the same evening, and Saturn on the 25th. She will pass through the following constellations on the evenings stated and in the order given : As a erecsent in Leo on the lltluand 12th. in Virgo on the 13th, 14th and 15th, in Libra on the 16th and 17th; | Scorpiq on tha 18th and 19th, and near the bright red star Antares on the 38th; in Sagittarius on the 20th and 21st, in Capricornus on the 22nd and 23rd, and Aquarius i on the 24th and 25th, after which she rises late in the evening. PHASES OF THE MOON in New Zealand mean time.—Last quarter 1 day 13hrs 55min p.m.; new moon, 9 days 6hrs 6min p.m.; first quarter, 17 days Bhrs 35 min a.m.; full moon, 23 days llhrs 45min p.m.; last quarter, 31 days 4hrs 58 min a.m. MERCURY is a morning star, in the constellation Cancer at th beginning of the month moving forward and entering the constellation Leo on the 25th; he will be stationary amongst the stars on the morning of the Sth; in conjunction with the moon on the morning of the Sth; in conjunction with the planet Jupiter on the afternoon of the 11th, at greatest western elongation on the 13th, in his ascending node on the 18th, and in perihelion on the 23rd shortly after mid'iight. VENUS is now a morning star and - ! rise, though so brilliant as to be j easily seen after the sun has risen, j She is moving forward amongst the stars in the constellation Cancer. She is in conjunction with the planet, I Jupiter on the morning of the 2nd at j 4hrs 17min New Zealand mean time, I when the geocentric separation of the | two bodies will be 18 minutes of arc, ! Venus being to the north of Jupiter. ! •She will be in conjunction with the j moon on the evening of the Sth, and ( in perihelion on the 21st. j MARS is still the premier planet •of our evening stars riding high in \ the constellation Sagittarius. His ' retrograde motion through ihe stars , -forming the smaller trapezium in j this constellation, during the past month, was watched with much inter- . est by many. He will continue retro- j grading until the 9th, when he be- j comes stationary, after which he will ; tonce more move forward, the path J he describes being to the south of his j former retrograde one. Very good views have been obtained of this : planet in the inch refractor at the Observatory, as well as in that of a 14-inch diameter reflecting telescope . recently constructed by the writer ' and mounted alongside the refractor, i The southern polar cap, which came in very large this season, has shrank to less tnan half the area it covered ■at the beginning of June, the dark ; band on its retreating edge being j "Very noticeable. All the details of the larger greenish markings were well seen, as well as some of the finer ones, notably the Nilosyrtis, a delicate branch of the Syrtis Major, which was traced through to a marking named Protonilus, which appeared to be much enlarged at this oppo- ■ sition. He will be in conjunction | with the moon on the 20th, and about I 7 deg to the south of that body on | ■the same evening. j JUPITER is now a morning star, 1 "rising shortly before the sun, but too I near that body for useful observation I in the telescope. He is in conjunc-1 tion with Venus on the 2nd as stated •above, with the moon on the Sth, and v/ith Mercury on the 11th. SATURN is now an evening star in the constellation Pisces, having a retrograde movement amongst the stars. He is now practically ringless, ths fine appendage to the planet being invisible through its edge being turned, at this time, towards the eaith. It is at this time that observers should look for the movements of its smaller satellites, the absence of the ring rendering them much easier objects, at elongation especi- - ally. He will be in conjunction with the moor, on the evening of the 25th, being nearly 2kleg. to the north of that body. URANUS is now an evening star, close to Mars, in the constellation Sagittarius, moving backward. He will be in conjunction with the moon on the evening of the 20th, about to the north. NEPTUNE is now a morning star in the constellation Gemini movingforward amongst the stars. He will be in conjunction with the moon on the 7th. METEORS. —There is the great Perseid shower due in this month, but this if seen large must be principally for northern observers only. THE CONSTELLATIONS for the middle of the month at about 8 o'clock may be seen as follows: North: Hercules andOpbiuchus with the Scorpion towards the Zenith. South: The Triangle and Altair, below the pole. Doradus—the Sword Fish. North-east: Lyra and Cygnus near the horizon, with Aquila and Altair — the centre of three bright stars in line with the Dolphin away to the north-east. Sagittarius, Capricornus, and Aquarius, from the Zenith

towards due east, and the Scorpion, Libra, and Virgo towards the due west in the order given. Bootes is now drawing near the western horii zon, and the fine Arcturus scintellating brilliantly low down followed by the Northern Crown and Hercules, while more to the south Coivus and Crater are going down with Hydra—the Water-Snake. The Cross is nearing its western elongation followed by the two pointers —Arpha and Beta Centauri and the Southern Triangle. ZODIACAL LIGHT.—This interesting phenomenon may now be looked for on all cloudless nights devoid of moonlight. It appears over the place of the seetting sun following up the Zodiac in the form of a delicate early cone of light, the Apex directed towards the line of the sun's motion. It has ah'eady been seen here to advantage, this season, notably so on the evenings of the lGth and 17th instant. THE HON. DIRECTOR, Wanganui Observatory. Wanganui, July 31st, 1907.