ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR NOVEMBER.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13521, 1 November 1911, Page 8

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR NOVEMBER.

The SUN is in the constellation Libra till tiie 23rd,, when he outers Scorpio. His southern declination increases during the month, from i,4dog. on the Ist. to.21deg. on the 30th,' ; his altitude at true upon increasing bv the same amount dur-. ing this ' period. The solar surface shows no signs of spot activity, and during the past'-month one small pore was the only blemish upon its luminous face; ‘The observer may, however, find some very fine faculae near the limb, and the areas and latitudes of these are well worthy of observation. . The MOON/ in her monthly circuit of the ' hhaVens, comes into' the vicinity of the planets and some of the brighter stars and, ‘serves as a convenient pointer to them’, 1 She will he hear Saturn on the evenings of the 6th and 7th; Mars on the evening of the 8tll; Verius on the morning of the 17t1i; juniter on the morning of the 21st : and Mercury on the morning: of the 22ud. Her path through the constellations visible in our evening skids at about 8 o’clock is •as follows; On the Ist, 2nd, and 3rd. in Piscesin Aries Oh the 4th; sth, and 6th; in Taurus on the 7th. Bth, and 9th; and nearest the brio-lit red star Aldebarau on the latter, date. She will npnear as a crescent in the western skv, in the constellation Sagittarius on the 24th, and 25th;' in Ganricornus on the 26th aniT 27th‘; Aquarius/ on the 28th' 29th. and 30th. ' The PHASES' OF THE MOON in New Zealand: mean‘'time:— 1 '

ECLIPSE.- There will be a penumbrae of the Moo" on the morning of the 7th. \This will barely bo visible, but tbe ; times Hi • 10m:’ middle 3b. 7m.: ends sb. 34m. a.m.' MEBCUBY-.ift an evening star during the month, but too near the sun’s place for observation. He WilUmake’g conjunction with the planet Jupiter on the Bth, in Aphelion pp'- the: 9th ;r in iconjunction with Ike Moon on the 22nd; and at greaterf. heliocentric latitude south on the 29th. ' VENUS is a morning star in the constellation. Firgo, She will he in her aacehdirnr' node ~oh’ the 7th; in conjunction. with the Moon on ■ the, 17th at -6hv 28m; a.m., when she will be removed nearly three diameters of the Moon to the south of that body-p: and- at ’greatest elongation west of the -pun o.u the 28thv 'af+et wlijelr she - will approach his-place again;'in'the’ heavens. v.-’ ■■ ■. ,)/■• -r ;<->-■ MARS, hr the constellation Taurus,’is an evehingvstar,-rising at' the middle of* the month at about 9.30, to the north of tbebstar. Aldebaran, and the Byados-i-He will ’Cross’ the'ecliptin on tlie‘ ; 2nd-f' in conjunction with the Moon on the evening of the Bth, -rather- considerably to the south of our satellite v and Will; bo. in opposition to the sun on the '2sth ; at winch, time fine views of his surface markings may he obtained. JUPITER is still an evening star, but,, so close to the sun’s place as to he quite out of place for observational purposes. He will be in conjunction with Mercury on the Bth, when useful comparisons -of cblour and other effects’might be made had the two planets been somewhat farther removed from the source of light, Ho will bS in -solar ';-conjunction - on:;the' 19th, and will be in'the same meridian witli the Moon on the morning of-the 21st. ■ ' _ S--r'irß*N. is an evening star in - the constellation Aries, and about five’ deg. due south of the star Delta, and may be readily picked tip -at "about 9h- 30m. by -looking a little south-west of the Pleiades. He: will be found in conjunction with the Moon- ’on the 7th, and is in oppositiofa with the Sun on the 10th. Observers should lose no opportunity of observing -I his interesting body at this time, his ring system offering one of the inbat attractive snect teles in the whole range of celestial objects. 4 ' URANUS is an evening; star in Sagittariua. He will be in conjunction with the’ Moon on the morning of the 26tb, and may be found near that body on this and the prececding. evening. NEPTUNE is a morning star in Gemini, nearly, in a line with the stars Pollux and Procyon, about'one-third from the former, towards, the latter. He will be, in coni un ction with tlie Moon on the evening of the 11th, but nearly six deg. to the south. ■ METEORS.—November is the month of metcorio displays, rendered historical by the ii'ich showers from Leo, which are! now largely missed, but a watch should be kept op Leo, and more especially on- the constellation Andromeda, towards the hours between midnight and dawn. The ' CONSTELLATIONS for the mid-dle-of the month at about 8 p.m. are as'follow:—ln the north, the “Great Square” of Pegasus is nearly on the meridian. Above this is Aquarius and, Cetus, with Triangulum and Aries to the north-east. Taurus, with the Pleiades and Hyades, may be seen lower down in the : north-east. ■ 'Orion is’now rising in the - cast, with the' .bright Rige] in the lead, and over , this Lepus,- the Hare. Over Orion is Eridivnus stretching nearly to the zenith, the fine star Achernar be.ing to the south of that point, and away to the south of. pasty is Gains Major; and- , this: brilliant Sirius, leader, of-the starryhost, just emerging from the ’horizons; Aro-o lies towards the south-east, the, bright Canopus, Second only in brilliancy’ J-to Sirius, hut surpassing him enormously in size and distance, now getting-well* upin the heavens, in this quarter.'The Cross is souths low’doivn,-with the ■’ Alpha and Beta Centanri,! a little to the west; and above these thesouthernhTriangle. Scorpio; is -setting in; the- south-west, followed by Sagittarius and Capricormis. ■ - THE-HON. DIRECTOR,' ’ ' ■■ Wanganui.Observatory. ■ October 30, J9ll.

Full Mooni .; ... -7(1. 3h. ]8tnin.- aim Last’ Quarter...m- • fib;49min. pirn 'N'e#'Moon?'.. 21d. 8h. 19min. a.m First Quarter ... 29d; 71) - 32min. p.m Perigee . .... 9H. 5li. 49min. a.rt A m»ee .... 25d; 4h; ISmin. a.iri