The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-02-07
Planets in February.

Uranus wins the place of honor among the
planets in February, for he is i'll his best posi-
ton for observation during the month, being
visible az faint, misty star 10 observers who
know whore TO look for him. He comes into
opposition with the sun on the 18th, the earth
then being between the sun and Uranus, and
the planet at its nearest point to the earth
His nearest approach, however, leaves an III
terval of space between us of seventeen hun
dred and forty-hve millions OF miles, and such
is the marvellous construction OF the human
eve that it distinctly diseerns this remote
member OF the system, requiring but slight
effort to span the inconceivable space. Care
full observers can find the planet with little
painstaking on clear moonless evenings.
Uranus rises now about o'clock. and at the
end of the month abont 8.
A favorable time for observation will there
fore be found at present about O'Clock.
brilliant first magnitude star will then be Wis
ible in the eastern sky, one-thir'l of the dis
lance from the horizon 10 the zeath. This is
Regulus, the largest and the lowest of the five
or six stars that form the Sickle i'll the conste-
lation Leo. a few degrees east OF Regulus is
a s,aail star called Rho Leonis, and the planet
must he looked for in its vicinity. Ii is OF the
sixth magnitude, the smallest visible TO the
eve, and Of pale blush tint. Seen through
good telescope, it shows disc, proving that it
is a planet assumes delicate sHa-green tint,
and is beautiful object. Uranus is technical
ly numbered with the morning stars until his
opposition with the sun Oh the 25th. He then
becomes evening star, rising when the sun sets,
his place being opp osite the sun, as the word
indicates 1t is easy to keep track of Uranus,
his movement is 50 slow. His oppositiens oc-
cur at intervals of about three hundred and
sixty-nine days. Thus the time of opposition
during the remainder of the present century
may be found by adding four lays and half
for every subsequent year to the date of the
present opposition.
Mars is evening star, and a conspicuously
beautiful object for observers as he pursues his
rapid course eastward among the stars of Tau
rus His great declination gives him high alti-
tude when he passes the meridian. Rising
now soon after IL, he reaches this point q lit
tie before T, and the starry page that then
opens before the eye of the observer looking
eastward is fair to see Mars leads the bril-
liant host. The Pleiades and rudy Aldebaran
stand nearest the throne. Superb Orion gilt
tiers in the southeast, and Sirius, low down,
shines in his full splendor. The twin stars,
Castor ana lliullllIdtG TIE eitStoIu ohy,
and Procyon wrinkles below them. Reguus
is ready to start above the horizon line. Ihe
celestial arch shows no more charming cluster
ing of its brightest gems. The luster OF Mars
is growing dim, and his dimensions are de-
creasing as he travels from and approaches
the sun. He now sets about 2, at the close OF
the month about in the morning
Saturn is evening star, and keeps on his
quiet course with little variation, while, like
his brother planets Mars and Jupiter, he trav-
al from the earth and aDDr0acheS tho sun,
He is easily recognized, and his position i'll the
heavens is strikingly contrasted with Mars from
the absence of all bright stars in his vicinity
He sets now about 10; at the END OF the month
at half-past s.
Jupiter is evening star. but after the middle
of the month his brilliant face will be difficult
to see. for he will then be so near the sun as to
be nearly eclipsed in his brighter light Those
who have watched his course through the
evenings of the autumn and winter, will miss
the beaming presence of the brightest star save
one that graces the ornament. Special inter-
est has been felt in the planet on account OF
the spot which has been visible on his surface
ever since last June and is still visible. The
dimensions of the spot are something appalling
to those measuring upon the small scale on
which the earth is fashioned. Astronomers
give it diameter of over twenty thousand
mileS-two and a half times the diameter OF
the globe. If the spot is n rift in the cloud atmos-
phere of Jupiter, it gives ffightful idea Of
the disturbances going on among the chaotic
elements that form the mass of the huge
planet. Jupiter sets now about s; at the end
of the mouth about half-past 6.
Mercury is morning star until the 14th, when
he comes into superior conjunction with the
sun, after which he is numbered with the
evening stars He rises now at in the morn
ing; at the end of the month he sets a little
before Z. The only event of interest Oh his
record is his conjunction with Jupiter on the
evening of the 2Sth, when the two planets may
possibly be seen in the early twilight.
30, Ory,iY, rctar ny,6 ttaf
ger of the suns bright presence throughout the
month. She is fulfilling her appointed role as
she retraces her steps towards the sun, appar-
emily at a slow pace. She rises now few
minutes before 5; at the end Of the month, a
few minutes after 5. But the sun rises so
much earlier that she precedes him by less
than an hour and half.
The February moon fulls the 25th. The
most beautiful picture painted by the old moon
on the celestial canvass will occur on the
morning of the 18th, when the waning crescent
will hang two degrees south of Venus, the
peerless morning star. The new moon of the
10th will be in conf junction with Mercury on
the day Of its occurrence, when of course moon
and planet will be invisible. On the evening
of the 18TH the two-days' old moon will be
near to Jupiter in the early twilight, sight
worth watching for. On the 14th the moon
will be near Saturn; on the 18th near Mars.
The full moon'on the 18th will be near Uranus
at the time of opposition.
Thus the planetary annals OF February show |
on their records no phenomena OF unusual in |
terest. But astronomical research is never
monotonons to one who loves to watch the
movements that are constantly taking place on
the celestial sphere. Uranus is to be carefully
looked for as his great orb, eighty times ex-
ceeding our own in volume, trembles on the
verge of visibility, dwarfed by his immense
distance. Mars is to be watched as in rapid
coarse he circles near the Pleiades. Jupiter
bids farewell for season to the nocturnal sky
where he has reigned for months the brightest |
of the starry throng. Bright-eyed observers I
may catch parting glimpse of him on the 2Sth
side by side with Mercury, the only planetary
conjunction of the month. The waning moon
and Venus will be fair to see on the morning
of the 18th, and the waxing moon and Jupiter
will shine serenely in the glowing twilight on
the 12ih. The starry heavens in February
present to the observer a choice portion OF the
celestial map, while no less than five of the six
visible planets track their devious course in
this evening sky. and illustrate in their varied
movements the harmony, symmetry and SIM
plicity of the solar scheme, so immeasurably
vast when viewed by the finite powers of the
human mind, 50 UNNECESSARILY small when