The Portland daily press., 1881-11-02
TIE PRESS.
Planets in November.

He wins the place Oh nOnor On the NVVSApSA
record, for on the 9TH, he makes transit
across the SUMS disc. Unfortunately, the tran
cit commences at s o'clock in the evening,
when sun and planet are safely below the hori-
zon in this longitude, and it is invisiblei but |
jewellers on the Pacific coast, if the sky Is
clear, will have fine opportunity for ooserv-
ing the phenomenon, Observers fortunate
enough to have access to good telescope VIII
see Mercury passing over the suns face, LOOK
ing like black ball, and taking about nVe
hours for the passage. The event is Interesting
as celestial curiosity, as well as for its connec-
ton with various astronomical problems. Inc
cause Of the transit may be easily explained
AS Mercury revolves within the earth's orbit
he must come between US and the sun at every
;nfarior conjunction. If his orbit lay in the
same plane as that of the earth, there would be
a transit at every revolution. But his orbit is
inclined seven degrees to the earh's orbit, and,
therefore, he must be at or near his nodes or
crossing points, or else he will pass above OF
below the sun, and there will be no transit
The earth arrives at Mercury's nodes or cross
ing-points about the 10th of November and the
7th of May; therefore, transits of Mercury
must occur near these dates. The earth makes
thirteen revolutions in nearly the same time
that Mercury makes ffty-four. When, there
fore. a transit has occurred at one node, after
an interval of thirteen years the earth and
Mercury will return to nearly the same rela-
tive position, and another transit may occur at
the same node. The last transit at the ascend
.ng or November node was on November 4th,
1865; the present one occurs on November 7th,
l,a cd NAUlmlHr
10Th. 1894 The same is true of the descending
or May node. The last transit was most satls-
factorily observed in this city May 6, 1878. The
next NAV be looked for May 9th, 1891. This is
the general law, which, however, is subject to
variations, for transts may occur at the same
node at intervals of seven years. and transit at
either node is generally preceded or 19nowed
after an interval of three years ana nan ny
one a. the other node.
As soon as it was known that mercury NOV
ed around the sun, il was evident tnat ne pa
mel must sometimes pass between us ana me
sun. As the planets diameter Is 100 snaI 10
ALLOW him 10 become visible TO the naked eye,
in this position, many years passed before as
tropomers observed transit Gassendl was
the first to see an actual transit, IN lo5l, ana
he came near losing the sight, as he expected
the planet would look much larger than II dld'
Ii was not till 1877 that an observation OF SCI
entifc accuracy made. HALEY, WINE az
St Helena, waf the fortunate observer. Iran
sits Of Mercury are OF comparatively mus We Con
seouence when compared with those Of Venus.
She is SO much larger and nearer thar Mereo-
nv, and her tIansts occur so seldom, at inter
walls of eight and two hundred and thlrty-nve
years, that they are looked upon as among the
most i'm portant phenomena that terrestrial Oh
servers can study. Venus will make transit
on the 9th of December, 1882, which Will be
visible throughout this country. The study OF
the less important transit oil mercury WIN 70
far. haD mn
produced by precisely the same causes
Mercury reaches his inferior conjunction al
the same time the transit occurs, and then
passing to the western side OF the sun, plays
the role of morning star for the rest OF the
month. He moves rapidly in this part OF his
course and on the oath arrives at his greatest
western elongation or most distant POM rom
the SUM- He rises then about a quarter after
O'clock an hour and three-quarters before the
sun. 1t is the only opportunity for observing
him as morning star before the year closes, ana
his southern declination will increase me dlin-
entity of picking him up. He must be looked ior
seven degrees north of the sunrise point. Mer-
cnrv sets on the first of the month about TWEEN
tv minutes after o'clock in the evening; at
the close of the month he rises at half-past
o'clock in the morning o.,
Jupiter is morning star till the 18th, when,
passing to the eastern side OF the sun, ne pc
comes evening star. If Mercury deserves the
palm ON the planetary annals OF November as
the hero of the transit, Jupiter Will win equal
renOWu for the most Dflllldub 6pOCu III LIE
course his opposition with the sun. This grand
event occurs at O'Clock on the morning OF
the 18th, when Jupiter will be nearer 10 us
than he will again be for more than year to
come. He will then rise at sunset, being OPP
posite thelsun, and no one who looks at the east
ern sky almost as soon as the sun has disap-
reared below the western, can fail TO recognize
the prince of planets as with majestic steps ne
treads his sparkling pathway towards the zen
it'll In brilliance and size he exceeds every
@l,a xricfh Ia in "a heavens.
every star-gazer tributes of wonder and admir-
alton at his magnificent appearance. he VIII
be a superb object in the heavens durln2 the
frosty nights of November, when the neon is
out of the way, and for three months to CONS
teen DAYS behind Saturn in reaching the same
goal, and passes the meridian when in OPPOSE
lion at forty two minutes past IL o'clock, forty
minutes behind Saturn. Jupiter is now about
four hundred aud eight million miles from the
earth instead of five hundred and ninety-one
million miles, as when farthest away. One
hundred and eighty-three million miles, the
difference in distance, is something our finite
powers can form little conception OF, but 1t is
OF insignificant dimensions when used in celes-
tial distances. For the distance OF the earth
from the sun, more than ninety million miles,
is the unit of measure for computing the dis
lance of the fixed stars, Alpha Centauri, the
nearest star in the myriad host, being estimat-
ed to be more than two hundred thousand
times as far from us. as the sun. In comparison
with these distant shining orbS, Jupiter is our
near beighbor, and his mean distance from the
sun is not much more than five times greater
than our own. This superb planet now rises
about half past O'Clock; at the end of the
month he sets at half-past 3 O'Clock in the
morning.
Neptune is morning star until the 7Gh, when
he takes his turn in reaching opposition, and
thereafter takes his place among the evening
stars, reaching the goal seven days after Saturn
and six days before Jupiter. II will readily
be seen how nearly in line with the earth aud
the sun the three great planets, Saturn, Nep-
tune and Jupiter, are at the present lime, and
it will be interesting to note il the prepoDdeT-
ance of attraction on the same side Of the great
luminary leads to any perceptlble increase OF
connection on his storm-tossed surface. Nep-
tune is too small to be seen by the unaided eye,
but he is in fine position for telescope observ a.
ton. Neptune is near Saturn, passing the
meridian about quarter of an hour after, and
being three degrees further north He rises
now about eleven minutes after O'Clock in
the evening; at the close of the month he
sets at quarter after three O'Clock III the
morning.
Saturn is evening star, and still retains his
place as the leader OF the five planets travel
ing toward the sun. He would make more
brilliant appearance if his rival Jupiter were
out of the way. But he is now in one OF the
best aspects he ever presents. and deserves
Careful study when at opposition for four years
to come. No one will have any trouble in rec
ognizing him few degrees above Jupiter, for
he shines with serene light that distinguishes
him from the stars twinkling around him. he
has passed his prime and will soon glow with
a milder radiance, as he travels from the earth
aud al proaches the sun. He sets about
O'Clock i'll the morning, at the close OF t ne
month he sets about o'clock in the morning.
Mars is morning star, and increasing in III
terest as he takes on a more ruddy hue and
larger dimensions. His increasing northern
declination is to sbe noted, for he is nov seven
degrees further north than Saturn. He must
therefore be looked for in the northeast, rising
quarter before 8 O'Clock, and may be easily
recognized by his fiery color aud the line he
forms with Jupiter and Saturn above him.
Mars now rises quarter before 8 O'clock; at
the close of the month he rises at quarter
before o'clock.
Uranus is morning star, and his movements
during the month possess little interest. lie
rises now at 2 O'Clock in the morning; at
the end of the month he rises seon after mid
night.
Venus is morning star, and appears each
morning later above The horizon as she draws
nearer superior conjunction with the sun.
She measures now eleven seconds in diameter,
while Jupiter measures forty-six seconds. But
her day of triumph will come when, III De
cember, 1882, she reaches her inferior coDjunc-
ton and treats the world TO grand display
at her transit. She rises now at quarter after