The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1879-01-09
Astronomical Phenomena for 1879.

March .; 8, e, q, 80. Sept; Z, a. q. IS.
5 MnS t. 4 T. t. & 49, 6 SSs T. 81 81 3 80
| The first full moon after the vernal equinox
will occur Sunday, April G. By the rule gov
erning the movable feasts of the Papal and
Protestant Churches, the Sunday next sue
fore, falls upon April IL.
Sun in pcrgee JAM Gas Z sH ) So m:
sanni e9 .as;is,; March Hara j; 20
Aatumnal equinox, Sept. IS, 427 am.
| Sun In perigce, Dec. 81, 8 p. IN.
| There Will be three eclipses during 1879
two OF the sun, and one of the moon; but
they are of little interest to jewellers in this
region.
| Jan. %, at six o'clock in the morning, the
sun will be eclipsed. The phenomenon will be
annular along a narrow belt extending from
east longitude So deg and south latitude 27laa
deg, to 14l1a deg. east of Washington and
| "a deg. north. 1t will be visible as partial
side of that belt, the area including about two
| twirds of South America and the southern half
July 10, at three O'Clock id the morning,
there will be another annular eclipse of the
sun, the central line running from longitude
So east and latitude "a north, to 175l cast
ana 23L south. It will be visible as !, par
| tial eclipse from large part of the South
| Atlantic Ocean, nearly the whole of Africa
| ~ d Southern Europe and Asia.
Dec Is, at 10 O'Clock in the morning, the
moon will be eclipsed, being at the time below
| our horizon.
THE PLANETS.
| Fulcdn-It now is almost certain that with
planets. A transit of one of these may be ex-
pected to occur Sept Is, but it may be too
early in the day to be visible from Chicago.
4Nercury-Will attain his greatest elonga-
tons from the sun as follows:
West rising %. before the s sun; Jan; 16 "a
East i. setting n se after the sun; March % e
Icg); July % (a7 dcg.) Nov. 20 (aa deg.)
! His conjunctions with the sun occur March
!, April u, June Is, Aug. ID, Oct. 5. and
The most favorable time for seeing him
will be in the early evening of March 90. At
that date Venus will be about deg fur
Their east than Mercury, and may serve as d.
rectrix.
Teaus-Win be an evening star during
more than eight months. Her superior con-
junction occurring Dec 3, 1878, she will be
nearly half an hour east of the sun at the
opening of the year, little to the west of
constellation Jan. IL. On the 23d Of the
month she is in conjunction with Jupiter,
passing Al min. southwark of that planet,
near the tail of Capricorn. In the evening Of
March she will be about ~ deg. north
from Saturn, both being nearly IN line with
April Is she will pass just below the PIeiades,
and ten days afterward be ia deg. north
from Aldebaran. She passes through the
southern part (feet) of Gemini during May,
skirts the northern edge of the Beehive clus-
ter June ID, Is deg. north from Regulus
during the night OF July 4, and in the after
noon of July passes only Is minutes
north from Uranus. She attains her greatest
elongation east as deg. 81 min.) the night
| of July 10, and her greatest brilliancy Aug.
20. She is in inferior conjunction with the
sun Sept. %, and thence becomes q morning
star, rising before the sun during the remain.
der of the year, and attaining her greatest
brilliancy Oct. 30.
Mdrs-Will not attract much attention
from naked eye observers in 1879. From his
conjunction with the sun last September coy
to bis opposition Nov. 10, next, he is morn
ing star, rising before the sun; aud, at the
last-named date, his nearest approach, he will
he some 46 600 miles from the earth. He
will, however, be watched BY astronomers in
November with great interest. His two
moons, discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877, will
probably be visible only through a very few
telescopes, including the one at Chicago; and
the observations then made will enable as
luton of the satellites, and thence to correct
| the present estimate of the planet Mars
about one part in 3,O95, 300, that of the sun
being taken as the unit. In January, Mars
March through Sagittarius and Capricornus,
in April and May through Aquaries, in July
| through Pisces. in August through Aries; and
he will be nearly stationary, not far from the
Pleiades, in September and October. He will
then retrogade into Aries till Dec. 16, and then
fnrn Hiracf Nov ho will ho
degree south from Jupiter; and June 80, at
1h. Bonn. p. m, only one minute Of arc north
from Saturn. These two planets will be very
nearly in conjunction during the night pre-
ceding and that following this date. In the
morning OF Nov. 10 he will pass Only 1.
minutes of arc north of No. SO in Aries; an6
| in the evening of Nov. ~ will be only min.
| ute of arc south FROM Rho prime in the same
constellation. Mars will he near the moon In
the evenings of Sept. s, Oct. 4, Oct. 30, Nov.
observer may learn to recognize him among
tHe stars.
Jupitcr-Wil be in conjunction with the
sun Feb. z, and in opposition Aug. 81. Hence
he will not be an object OF interest to those
part of the year. During the autumn months
he will be conspicuous in the constellation
AQuaries, about 10 deg south from the five
stars known as the Urn, or the x. This
planet Is now nearing his conjunction with
0oVuAuS WAACu Will OCCuT Ill TIC JuSJ HAIL Vi
April, 1881; both being in conjunction with
the sun, as seen from the earth.
Nov. 20 Jupiter will pass II minutes OF arc
south OF Sigma in Aquaries; the apparent dis
lance between the two being only about two
diameters of Jupiter.
Soturn-At the beginning of the year viii.
be about 5 hours east from the sun, and below
the well-known Square of Pegasus, near which
be meets Venus, in the evening OF March 2.
His conjunction with the sun occurs March
a. -
in the constellation Pisces. The last three
months OF the year he will be visible evenings
to the naked eye as star of the first magni-
tude, and will be very interesting object
through the telescope. His rings were COM
pletely closed up last March. They are now
widening out. The ratio of the apparent axes
Jan. will be to g nearly, and the LIST of
August about as 2 to IL. We are now looking
at the southern side of the ring system of
Saturn, when we see this phenomenon. AS
tronomers will not again see the northern face
OF the rings OF Saturn till early In the year
1893. when they will have good opportunity
to observe the change, as the planet will then
be about 80 degrees away from the sun.
Uranus-Will be in opposition to the sun
Eel FEB 20, and may be seen about that date, and
nnaided eye, BY those who know where to
look for him. He shines as star II the sixth
magnitude only. He may easily be found a.
follows: Take as startfng-point tho we'll
known star Regulus. Of the 111th magnitude,
In the handle of the sickle of Leo. From that
star, 81 deg. eastward. in line toward Spica,
is Rho 1eonis, of the fourth magnitude-casi-
ly picked up, because there are no other stars
near it. At the beginning of March Uranus
will be deg. nearly northwest from Rho and
ct the end of the month little more than 4
deg. northwest by west from the same star.
These two distances are respectively equal to
about 81 and eight times the apparent
breadth Of the full moon.
Nept~ns-Will be in opposition to the sun
Nov. 3, at which time his right ascension will
be hours 35x min, aud his declination 10
deg. 161f min. north; not near any prominen:
star, but very close to an interesting nebuIa.
He cannot be seen without the aid of good
telescope. a[t fY-. -
Occultations-A few of these phenomena
will be Of interest during the coming year.
We give the following notes of prominent
stars, the arpulses to which may be watched
with interest through an opera-glass:
April u. in the early morning, the moon
being three days past the full, and . little east
OF the meridian, will pass just south Of An
tares. :
June 8, about ten O'Clock, when east of the