The Portland daily press., 1881-02-11
Celestial Radiance.

" Hto L<uttOf " GtC Il 1900
The splendid exhibition of the heavenly
bodies which occurred ON the evening of the
End instant, will be excelled in several par
ticulars on the evening of March third, when
they will be more closely grouped, presenting
spectacle, should the weather be clear, the
like of which will not occur again for many
years.
Soon as the evening shades prevail, the
moon will appear below and to the right of
Venus, distant about two degrees, while Ju-
piter will be seen about nine degrees below,
and Saturn six degrees below and to the left
of Venus The moon will gradually approach
Venus until they set together at 10 p. M, at
which time the moon will appear about half
degree distant and to the north of Venus.
Then and there, closely grouped together,
will be exhibited all the members of the Solar
system that are ever visible to the unaided hu-
man eye, excepting Mars, which will be below
the horizon, and Mercury, then lost in the
solar rays, being within eight days of its infe-
rior CONJUNCTION.
To show the extreme rarity of such sight,
it is necessary only to observe that Jupiter
will come up with and pass Saturn Zone degree
TO the right on the 22d of April; after which
they will not appear again sonear each other un-
til more than twenty years shall have elapsed; !;
and then Venus may not be in proximity.
Venus will increase in brilliancy till March
25, after which it will rapidly lose its lustre,
and set nearer with the sun until May 1st
when they will be in conjunction in Right
Ascension, Venus passing eight degrees north
OF the sun. In 81 days, to wit: June 9Th, she
will be out in full brilliancy on the other side
f.1ffl. tt,A
be il conjunction Venus will be directly be-
tween US and the sun, and will be seen as a
black spot travelling across the suns disc from
east to west. This which is called the "tran-
sit OF Venus, will occur on the sixth
day of December, 1882, beginning at seven
teen minutes past nine, a. M, and ending at
thirty-three minutes past three, pm. thus be-
ing wholly visible should the weather be fav.
orable. This is very rare phenomenon,
only one having occurred for one hundred and
twelve years, and no other will be again seen
for that length of time. In all probability no
human eye which gazes on this will ever be-
hold another
Allowing 80 years as the average durat ion of
human ife-an age, as it is called-and the
population of the globe one thousand million.
the vast number of three thousand million
5000 ,00O will 0e born and as many die,
before another "transit of Venus" occurs.
Although Venus is smaller body than our
globe. yet it will appear on the suns disc more
than twelve times the size of the earth
would appear near it placed on the sur
face of the sun or any where else at that dis
tance.
Venus is the only star that can be seen with
the naked eye in the day time.
1t is now visible and will be so for two
months, but it is difficult to direct the sight to
it without the contiguity of some other object.
On the Sd Of March Venus will pass the me-
ridian, or be due south at p. M, at which
time the moon will be west of it, four degrees
distant
The moon will readily be distinguished:
from which carry the eye east and little high
er, about eight times the moons diameter, and
it will fall directly on the star
1t will pass the meridian at an altitude in
creasing from 45 to SO degrees, from now till
April LIST, at from 3 p. m. decreasing to 2:20, at
which times it may be seen to good advantage
Jupiter and Saturn appear at disadvantage
now, as compared with Venus, which is at or
near its brightest, while Jupiter is less than
half as bright as it is at opposition, and Saturn
nearly the same. They will be in opposition
at the beginning of November, when they will
show to their best advantage.
Those who wish to see star in the day time,
but find it difficult to tell where to look for it.
will have fine opportunity offered them on
April 1st when Venus will pass the meridian
at an altitude of SO degrees, at 2:2O D, M, and
the moon will be almost directly below it at
degrees distance. The moon will be easily dis
cernlble, from which cast the eye upward
about times its diameter, and Venus will
clearly appear to the unaided sight.
This will be the best opportunity occurring
this year, as Venus will be near its greatest
hrilliancy. Jupiter will, on the evening of
that day, appear II degrees below the moon,
and Saturn degrees east of Jupiter. AL
Enough announced for such date, "All-Fool's-
day." the above programme will be strictly
carried out, and will be seen to be correct If
the atmosphere should prove clear--no post
ponement on account of the weather
The next best, and the only other available
this year, will come off May 25th at 10 a. M,
when the moon will appear directly above
Venus, on the meridian 81 degrees distant at
the altitude of 62 degrees.
For the two hours preceding sunrise ON the
morning Of that day, Venus may be seen 4
degrees below the moon, with Saturn II de-
grees lower, and Jupiter degrees to the left
of Saturn; thus forming more compact group
than either of its antecedents. A circle of 8
degrees diameter will embrace the whole.
1t will be the finest display of the season.
but few will be up at that early hour to wit
ness the gorgeous spectacle. J.H
Bath, February z, 1881.