Morning journal and courier., 1882-09-05
Planets i'm SepLemb er.

Jupiter is morning star, and holds the palm among the radiant throng that in the small hours of the night make the star lit canopy of heaven glorious to behold. He has the advantage of Venus in one respect, for his light is brought out in grand propor- tions against the dark background of the sky, while the disc of Venus loses portion of it's golden radiance in the bright glow of twilight. Jupiter reaches quadrature at o'clock on the morning of the 23d. The magnificent planet then hangs, self poised, half way between conjunction and opposi ton, ninety degrees from each point, rising about midnight and reaching the meridian about G o'clock in the morning. Thence forth, he will be nearer the earth than the sun, will increase correspondingly in size. become prominent object of interest in the eastern sky during the evening and delight the eye of astronomers, who will eagerly watch for changes in the prominent markings that last year diversified his disc. His diam eter now measures thirty five seconds. At opposition. in December, it will measure for ty five seconds. His high northern declina ton is worthy of note, being almost twenty three degrees. This, accounts for his being seen so far to the north. Jupiter rises on the first, about twenty minutes before mid night. At the end of the month he rises at 10 o'clock in the evening.
 Saturn is morning star, but yields pre- eminence to Jupiter in size and brightness. His progress during the month is marked by no incident worthy of note. This distin. guished member of tho solar family is stead lily coming nearer and has so far advanced toward his nearest approach or opposition that, at the end of the month, his serene face will come glowing above the horizon at hours later by that of his brother, Jupiter. Indeed, for months ts come the two planets will be inseparably linked in the attention of the observer who will gladly welcome their appearance in the evening sky, though they are still included in the list of morning stars Saturn's diameter is now about seventeen seconds. Both Saturn and Jupiter reflect more light than their immense distance from the sun would warrant It is not improba ble that portion of this light comes from | their own surfaces, for the larger the planet | the longer it takes to cool, and these glants ! ton more nearly resembling that of the sun ! than the earth. Saturn's declination is sev- ! enteen degrees north, being six degrees less ! than Jupiter's. Saturn rises now a few min ! utes before 10 o'clock in the evening; at the ! end of the month he rises at o clock.
 1 Neptune is morning star and retains his I place as herald of the morning trio, pursuing his unseen path among the stars without al ! incident to break the monotonous routine 1 Those who wish to trace his position on the ! star maps will find it on the lst in right as tension 3h. I'm, and in declination 150 42 north. Neptune rises now about half past
 o'clock in the evening; at the close of th' month he rises about half-past o'clock.
 Venus is evening star, and reigns witl
 queenly power over the morning aud evening 1 stars, as we'll as the mighty multitude O glistening suns that stud the celestial track ] Her diameter now measures nearly twenty
 seconds, and at the end of the month it will
 measure twenty six seconds. It must be re
 membered that the more her diameter in
 creases and the more nearly she approache
 the earth, the less of her enlightened disc i
 turned towards us. If, when she passed be
 tween us and the sun, her bright side wer
 turned towards us instead of her dark side
 she would be glorious planet, such neve
 was seen by mortal eye. The progress o
 Venus during September is made special
 interesting by the occurrence of an impor
 tant epoch in her course. On the 27th, at
 o'clock in the morning, she reaches her great I est eastern elongation, most distant poin from the sun on his eastern side. On tn
 2Oth of February she was in superior con
 junction with the sun, and became evenin ! star. month or two later she was visibl
 as a small star close to the sun, disappearin shortly after sunset. Ever since she ha
 been travelling eastward, setting later ever
 evening and gro wing more brilliantly beaut ful On the 27th she will reach the end ( the invisible chain that binds her to tE
 sun. Not g second farther can she swerv, < The suns resistless attraction turns ht
 course and directs her retrograde ster
 westward, until in our view, she has retro 3 the whole eastward course and reached h, ] inferior conjunction and transit. Millions