The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-03-03
Planets I'm March.

ments OF this radiant member Of the solar
/ family. She leads off in the starry annals OF
March by coming near Saturn on the first
day oi ~ advent. TIE conf uiInciion is not a
close one. Venus passing between five and
six DEGREES TO The north, aUd Eenccioith
! vending her way at IN increasing distance
/ from her rivals, and diSSOlying the planetary
| trio which has tong delighted the eyes Of
I students Of tie stars. The Grand event Of
. the month. however, occurs on thc jd' "heh
/ the crescent moon. only three days olu,
j IN conjunction with the planets Venus,
,Jupitcr. and saturn nearly at tie same time.
! ii the night is fair The western sky will pre-
sent magnificent picture. whch will never
in similar phase be rcpeated 10 charm the eye
Of any Ewing beholGer. The height Of the
show will occur about O'Clock IN the eve
nins, when the moon PASSES one degree and
six minutes moth Of Venus, having passed
her nearest point 10 bolh Jupiter and Saturn
in The daytimp. Observers should commence
their watch aS soon a. il is dark enough for
/ the starry Guartcttc 10 put in an Appearance,
! for he fnoOn will then hc seen 10 reccde from
Jupiter ana Saturn and approach Venus TIL
/ the conjunction takes place. ibc >ccne'Wlll
! be- one OF surprising beauty, the silver cre'-
cent hanging north Of the brilliantly -beamlng
OncCn Of the stars, Jupiter and Saturn
shining vita palcr glow IN the southwest,
and the lovely, siar.lit picture continuing
| fin moon ard planets have sunk beneath
the horizon. Charming aS will be the view
f. Amcric ~ Observers, the sight Will be far
more wonderful in British territory, for
there the moon passes over Venus and en-
trcly hides her from view. The occulation
will be specially interesting as the moon
moves with her dark edge foremost and the
planet disappears behind the dark part OF
the ntercepin@ body aS # it were suddenly
lost in the clear >ky.
On the 21th Venus reaches her period OF
greatest bIiiiaDcy, and her radiant beauty
as evening star eliminates. She has been
movin. rapidly westward since her eastern
elongalion on the 20th of February, pre-
senting in the telescope The phase OF the
moon passing from the last quarter towards
new moon. she j., however, 20 much
nearer that, though the illumined portion Of
her disc i decreasing, she will apparently
increase in size and brightness until The
! 9th, when her crest cent becomes - slender
and her approach IN The sun so near that
she falls from her highest estate. When, at
! superior conjunction, The whole enightent d
! face Of Venus i turned towards Us, she is
one hundred and sixty million miles dis
! tant, and the diam ter OF her die is only
| ten seconds. When at inferior coni June
! ton she j. twenty-five million miles distant,
and measures sixty seconds thus we may
I expect To find great variations in her aspect
and magnitude. The present period of
greatest brlliancy i very favorable for
picking up Venus in the daytime, on
account Of her great northern lat-
tudr. Note carefully her distance and
bearing from the sun, and if the right
spot can be found. round bit Ct
! leecy cloud will show the planet shorn Of
her glory in the sunlight. Another point
OF interest at this period i, TO note the
shadows east by objects illumined by the
/ planets light. Venus dyersities The month
with other incidents OF minor interest. She
| j. IN peIhc,iOn on the Gth, million miles
nearer the sun than when farbcst away: in
conjunction with Neptune on the 2Gd, and
reaches her extreme point Of distance north
of the sun on the 2Stb. Venus sets now
about quuter before 10 O'Clock; at the
! end OF the month about 10 O'Clock.
JUPITER is evening star, but he i only a
/ subordinate actor on tie celestial arena,
! Welding the palm 10 his beNitchiug rival,
! " no easily wins the h3n0rs due to the lead
| Ing s;aT. His r6lc j. SomeW bat mOnot0uOus,
for hi> golden glow is fading, his size dl-
minlShlne, and be i haStcnirg to hide him
>ef from observation III TIE suns all.
powerful raSS. He i still beautiful
telescope object, the great red spot
retaining is undim;nishcd proportions
on his disc, his bells glowing with
pri,maic hues, and his attendant moons
moving in harmonious obedience 10 his SOW
ereign will. Watcher he has anything to do
with it or not, SpCls and rosy protubcrances
on the sun are on the increase, and the
maximum of meteorological disturbance j.
probably not vet reached on the earth. The
elemental warfare did not cease in the early
portion OF February, though there was no.
thing specially pew IN its manlfo station.
Shocks OF earthquake in many directions,
with an Ou,bufSt OF volcanic action in Viz
glnia t!l, marked the eIrth'S internal COM
motion, While bockgded railroads. ava
lanches on the mountains, snowdrifts in
the valleys, threatening ice.gOraes, floods
inuUGain. the Pacific coast, cattle perish
Ing by thousands in the farming districts |
OF the West, a temreralure marked by forty !
or fifty degree, below zero, and frost !
and snow IN the sunny South, are included |
in American territory among the eXtraord- |
nary li,t OF calamitles from slolm ana bitter |
blasts that are recorded on the February |
annals. HcncciOrth, under the suns more |
genial sway, the manifestations OF disturb |
aDce viii take on milder form and prOba- |
bly, displays Of auroral light will flame from |
spriLg and summer skies. JHpiter7s ap. |
proacb 10 Saturn IL point for observation /; |
at the end OF the month they are so near to- |
gether that there is only about ten minutes |
distance ia tue time u their setting. Jupi- |
ter sets now lhtie after 9 O'Clock; at the |
end OF tbS GoUth about twenty minutes be- |
fore : O'Clock, more than two heuTs after |
Venus.
SATURN is evening star, and follows in The |
Of AIS illustnous rival, as he has |
done for several months next mOntii there |
will come change, and the brother plsnete
sill pass each other aud separate 10 form |
New c0mbnati0ns. Saturn se;s now at Baf-
past 8 O'Clock; a; the end on the mooth
bout ten minutes before \ O'clock.
MERCURY is evening star untU The lllh.
ybeB he comes into inferior conjunction
With t3e sun. and Is morning star for be
est OF CHE month. A. this is the most IA
orabis Sine Of the year for seeing Mer
ury, arg he u above the horizon an hour
nd quagttf after sunset, he may possibly ,
e found about eight degrees north OF the
ONT where the sun disappeared. He sets 4
ow few minutes after 7 O'Clock at the i
nd OF the month he rises about quarter I
efore O'Clock. q
URANUS is evening star, for Oh the 1T he '
in opposition, and, as the word implies,
is place in the heavens Is decidedly oppo. s
,e the sun. He il now at his nearest point I
Il