A TABLE

OF THE

SUN'S RISING AND SETTING, RIGHT ASCENSION, DECLINATION, AND EQUATION OF TIME.

SEPTEMBER.

O azure vaults! O crystal sky!
The world's transparent canopy,

Break your long silence, and let mortals know
With what contempt ye look on things below.
Great eye of all, whose glorious ray
Rules the bright empire of the day,

O praise his name, without whose purer light
Thou hadst been hid in an abyss of night.

Ye moon and planets, who dispense
By God's command your influence,
Resign to him, as your Creator, due
That veneration which men pay to you.

Fairest as well as first of things

From whom all joy, all beauty springs,
O praise th' Almighty ruler of the globe,
Who useth thee for his imperial robe.

Praise Him, ye loud harmonious spheres,
Whose sacred stamp all nature bears,
Who did all forms from the wide chaos draw,
And whose command is th' universal law.

Wentworth Dillon, Earl of Roscommon.

SOLAR PHENOMENA.

The autumnal equinox arrives, and the sun enters Libra at 39 min. after 1 of the morning of the 23rd of this month.

The earth, in its circle round the sun, attains that point of its course wherein every part of its surface, from pole to pole, receives an equal proportion of the solar influence. After this period, the arctic regions will gradually sink into the darkening gloom of their long and dreary night; and the northern nations of the globe have, in sure succession, the misty morn, the fleeting cloud, the moaning gale, the ice-bound stream, and the snowy mantle of winter. The sun, verging towards the south, will daily contract his course and diminish his meridian height-his rising and setting occasionally diversified with a splendor peculiar to the autumnal season. During the long absence of the sun, the atmosphere, refined by frost, will reveal the beautiful and unimaginable depths of ether, glowing with myriad stars, and those mysterious phenomena which lie far beyond, where the stars of Orion, and their bright companions, send forth their keen scintillations.

LUNAR PHENOMENA.

Phases of the Moon.

First Quarter, 2nd day at 30 min. after 1 morning.

Conjunctions of the Moon with the Planets and Stars.

September 4th, with o in Sagittarius.. at 8 evening.

7th,

LUNAR OCCULTATIONS

ν

The conjunctions of the moon with o in Sagittarius, 2 in Cetus, and v in Gemini, will prove occultationsphenomena which are always pleasing, and within the range of a common telescope. The most interesting that were observed in the year 1831, (previously to the month of November,) were the occultations of Jupiter, and his satellites in June, and the stars in the Hyades in October. The following were the observations :

June 2nd, Thursday morning -This beautiful phenomenon occurred under as favorable circumstances as could be expected from the low altitude of the moon and planet at the time of occultation; at 1h. 7m. 13s., (clock time,) the rate of motion of Jupiter, as it closely approached the moon's bright limb, appeared to be retarded, and for two or three seconds arrested; its disc then gradually disappeared, preserving a dark fringe or penumbra, which separated the planet from the illuminated edge of the moon, as though the contact was not complete. This appearance continued till nearly the final immersion of the planet at Ih, 8m. 30s. Owing to the vapours of the horizon, the edge of the moon was tremulous, and the disc of Jupiter not well defined: the same cause prevented any observation of the immersions of the satellites. All the emersions were satisfactorily observed. The fourth satellite emerged from behind the moon's dark limb at 2h. Om. 23s.; the second satellite at 2h. 11m. 49s. ; the western limb of Jupiter then reappeared at 2h. 13m. 27s., and the whole disc was uneclipsed at 2h. 15m. 11s.; the first satellite became visible at 2h. 17m. 56s.; and finally, the third at 2h. 23m. 21s.; the belts of Jupiter were visible, and

no anomalous appearance was observed at the emersions.

The appearance of nature, after the occultations, was singularly tranquil and impressive: the brilliant planet, Jupiter, on the obscure margin of the pale waning moon, the sky entirely free from clouds, and the fixed stars fading away in the morning twilight; the atmosphere was remarkably serene, and, though so very early, the lark was already on the wing, "towards heavens' gates," bailing, with its lively melody, the dawning day. (See T. T. Ast. Occ. June, 1831, for a diagram of this occultation.)

Occultations in the Hyades. October 23rd, 1831.— The emersion of Y, in Taurus, was not seen, owing to the lunar disc being obscured by strata of dark clouds.

10 immersion.....

9h. 27m. 38s. clock time.

This star appeared to linger at the edge of the disc previous to immersion.

(See Map of the Hyades, T. T. Asst. Occ., Oct. 1830.)

The singular phenomenon of the projection of Aldebaran, on the lunar disc, was never so distinctly seen as on this occasion. At 58m. 1s. the rate of motion of the star seemed to be slower; at 58m. 4s. it was apparently arrested, and clung to the disc till 58m. 8s.; from this time till its final immersion (58m. 12s.) it appeared completely within the lunar disc, thus :-~