THE OBSERVER’S HANDBOOK 1966 Fifty-eighth Year of Publication THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA Price One Dollar T ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA Incorporated 1890 — Royal Charter 1903 The National Office of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is located at 252 College Street, Toronto 2B, Ontario. The business office of the Society, reading rooms and astronomical library, are housed here, as well as a large room for the accommodation of telescope making groups. Membership in the Society is open to anyone interested in astronomy. Applicants may affiliate with one of the Society’s sixteen centres across Canada, or may join the National Society directly. Centres of the Society are established in Halifax, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, London, Windsor, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, and Toronto. Addresses of the Centres’ secretaries may be obtained from the National Office. Publications of the Society are free to members, and include the J o u r n a l (6 issues per year) and the Observer’s Handbook (published annually in November). Annual fees of S7.50 are payable October 1 and include the publi­ cations for the following year. Requests for additional information regarding the Society or its publications may be sent to 252 College Street, Toronto 2B, Ontario. VISITING HOURS AT SOME CANADIAN OBSERVATORIES David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ont. Wednesday afternoons, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Saturday evenings, April through October (by reservation). Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria, B.C. Monday to Friday, daytime, no programme. Saturday evenings, April through November. Dominion Observatory, Ottawa, Ont. Monday to Friday, daytime, rotunda only. Saturday evenings, April through October. Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, Penticton, B.C. Sunday, July and August only (2:00-5:00 p.m.) Planetariums: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. (group reservations only). Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax, Tuesday only, 8:00 p.m. Queen Elizabeth Planetarium, Edmonton, Alta., Monday-Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. (closed Thursday), Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Sunday, 2:00-4:00 p.m. THE OBSERVER’S HANDBOOK 1966 E d it o r R u t h J . N o r t h c o t t Fifty-eighth Year of Publication THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 252 College Street, Toronto 2B, O n t a r i o CONTENTS PAGE Acknowledgements........................................................................................................ 3 Anniversaries and Festivals; Julian Day Calendar................................................. 3 Symbols and A bbreviations ......................................................................................4 The Constellations........................................................................................................ 5 Ephemeris of the Sun and Correction to S u n -d ia l..................................................7 Principal Elements of the Solar System ....................................................................8 Satellites of the Solar S y stem ......................................................................................9 Solar, Sidereal and Ephemeris T im e ........................................................................10 Map of Standard Time Zones; Radio Time Signals................................................11 Times of Rising and Setting of the Sun and M o on................................................12 Sunrise and S u n s e t .................................................................. 13 Beginning and Ending of T w ilig h t..................................................................19 Moonrise and M o o n s e t....................................................................................20 The Sun and P lan ets ................................................................................................26 The Sky and Astronomical Phenomena Month by M o n th ............................. 32 Phenomena of Jupiter’s Satellites..............................................................................56 Saturn’s Satellites ...................................................................................................... 57 Jupiter’s Belts and Zones; Dimensions of Saturn’s R in g s ................................... 59 Longitudes of Jupiter’s Central M e rid ian ............................................................60 The Polar A urora ......................................................................................................61 The Observation of the M oon....................................................................................61 Ephemeris for the Physical Observation of the Sun................................................63 Eclipses; Lunar O ccultation s....................................................................................64 Planetary Appulses and Occultations........................................................................69 Opposition Ephemerides of the Brightest Asteroids............................................... 69 Meteors, Fireballs and Meteorites..............................................................................71 Table of Precession for 50 Y e a r s ..............................................................................72 Finding List of Named S ta rs ....................................................................................73 The Brightest Stars, their magnitudes, types, proper motions, distances and radial velocities and navigation s t a r s ............................................................74 Double and Multiple Stars..........................................................................................85 The Nearest S ta rs ...................................................................................................... 86 Variable S ta rs ............................................................................................................88 Cluster and Nebulae Star C lusters ......................................................................................................90 Galactic N ebulae ................................................................................................91 External Galaxies................................................................................................ 92 Radio Sources ............................................................................................................93 Four Circular Star M a p s ..........................................................................................94 PRINTED IN CANADA BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS THE OBSERVER’S HANDBOOK for 1966 is the 58th edition. Some changes in the data include the epoch for star positions from 1960 to 1970, the times of sunrise and sunset, and of twilight, for the current year instead of average values, and the table of the Central Meridian of Mercury has been replaced by an illustration of the standard Auroral forms. Cordial thanks are offered to all individuals who assisted in the preparation of this edition, to those whose names appear in the various sections and to John Booker, Peter Broughton, Barbara Gaizauskas, Helen Sawyer Hogg, Joan Reick Hube, John Scherk, Bill Sherwood, Maude Towne, Isabel Williamson and Dorothy Yane. Special thanks are extended to Margaret W. Mayall, Director of the A.A.V.S.O., for the predictions of Algol and the variable stars and to Gordon E. Taylor and the British Astronomical Association for the prediction of planetary appulses and occultations. My deep indebtedness to the British Nautical Almanac Office and to the American Ephemeris is gratefully acknowledged. R u t h J. N o r t h c o t t ANNIVERSARIES AND FESTIVALS, 1966 New Year’s D ay........ Sat. Jan. 1 Pentecost (Whit Sunday) . May 29 Epiphany.................... Thu. Jan. 6 Trinity Sunday....................... .June 5 Accession of Queen Corpus Christi.............. Thu. June 9 Elizabeth (1952). Sun. Feb. 6 St. John Baptist (Mid­ Septuagesima Sunday. Feb. 6 summer Day)............Fri. June 24 Quinquagesima (Shrove Dominion D ay..............Fri. July 1 Sunday)................... Feb. 20 Birthday of Queen Mother Ash Wednesday.......... Feb. 23 Elizabeth (1900). .Thu. Aug. 4 St. David.................... Tue. Mar. 1 Labour Day.................. Mon. Sept. 5 St. Patrick.................. Thu. Mar. 17 Hebrew New Year Palm Sunday................ Apr. 3 (Rosh Hashanah)... .Thu. Sept. 15 Good Friday............... 8 St. Michael (Michael­ Easter Sunday............ Apr. 10 mas D ay)...................Thu. Sept. 29 Birthday of Queen Thanksgiving................ Mon. Oct. 10 Elizabeth (1926). .Thu. Apr. 21All Saints’ D ay.............Tue. Nov. 1 St. George................... Sat. Apr. 23 Remembrance Day. .Fri. Nov. 11 Rogation Sunday....... May 15 First Sunday in Advent........ Nov. 27 Ascension D ay............ Thu. May 19 St. Andrew.................... Wed. Nov. 30 Victoria Day............... Mon. May 23 Christmas Day............. Sun. Dec. 25 JULIAN DAY CALENDAR, 1966 J.D. 2,430,000 plus the following: Jan. 1 .............. 9,127 May 1 9,247 Sept. 1. 9,370 Feb. 1 ....................... 9,158 June 1 9,278 Oct. 1. 9,400 Mar. 1 .............. 9,186 July 1 9,308 Nov. 1. 9,431 Apr. 1 .............. 9,217 Aug. 1 9,339 Dec. 1. 9,461 The Julian Day commences at noon. Thus J.D. 2,439,127.0 = Jan. 1.5 U.T. SUN, MOON AND PLANETS The Sun The Moon generally Jupiter New Moon Mercury Saturn Full Moon Venus Uranus First Quarter Earth Neptune Last Quarter Mars Pluto