Abstract
THE OCCULTATION OF ANTARES, JULY 28.—The only occultation of a very conspicuous star during the present year which is visible in this country and in fact the only one higher than the second magnitude up to the year 1883, is that of Antares on the evening of July 28. It will take place at a low altitude here. As is well known Antares is a double star, and the effect of the duplicity was shown by observation of the occultation of the star by the moon, before the companion was detected by Mitchel at Cincinnati in July, 1845. The appearance of a comparatively faint star at emersion, suddenly brightening up to the full brilliancy of Antares, had been recorded, and a suspicion of duplicity entertained at least in one instance, some twenty years previous. Interest therefore attaches to the occultation of July 28, and with the view to facilitate the determination of the times of immersion or emersion at any place in this country, we will apply the Littröw-Woolhouse method of distributing the prediction of the phenomenon. Direct calculations give the following results for Greenwich, Edinburgh, and Dublin; the moon's place is corrected nearly to agree with Newcomb's theory:—
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 20, 180–181 (1879). https://doi.org/10.1038/020180a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/020180a0