The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1882-11-09

|
! And that somewhere beyond the stars
r Is a love that is better than fate
l. When the night unlocks her bars
| Ishall see him-I will wait
Aspects of the Planets for November
Venus is evening star, and leads off in the
programme by initiating the most brilliant event
| of the month at its commencement On the
| LIST of November she Ireaches her period OF
greatest briiancy as evening star, as every
one who looks upward to the heavens will
gladly acknowledge. She is also beautiful
object in the telescope, especially when OBJ
served in the daytime, for her light, unpleas-
antly dazzling on a dark sky, is then subdued
to soft, pearly luster. In the present part of
| her course she takes on the phase of waning
crescent, becoming larger, sharper, and thinner
as the month advances, and she comes really
nearer the earth, and apparently nearer the
/ sun.
| ing planet need be told that the variations in
her appearance are very great. When at
superior conjunction, and on the opposite side
of the sun, she is one hundred and sixty mil
lions miles distant, and presents the aspect of
| small round disk, 10 seconds in diameter
When at inferior conjunction, where she will
be on the 9th of December, she is directly be-
tween the earth and. the sun, is only twenty
| five million miles distant, and, if her whole
| face were visible, she would be ga seconds in
| diameter. But her dark side is then turned
| toward us and she is invisible, Between these
| positions she takes on all the phases that the
| moon takes on from full to new, The law of
her movement is that the nearer she comes to
| the earth the smaller is the portion of her il
umined disk; but the larger would her disk
greatest brilliancy occurs thirty days before
| her inferior conjunction. After that period
| her illumined crescent dlminishes so rapidly
| that the increasing nearness to the earth is in
sufficient 10 make up for lessening light and
her glory vislbly wanes. This month s,there-
fore, the time to enjoy the lovely evening star,
which at its close, will be nearly eclpsed in
the suns rays, and will for many months cease
to shine in our evening sky. co rAs
The right ascension of Venus is now 17h.
52m; her declination 80 deg. south, land her di-
| ameter is AZ seconds. Her place is in the con-
stellation Sagittarius.
Venus sets about half-past six o'clock in the.
evening; at the end of the month she sets
few minutes before five o'clock.
Saturn is morning star until the 18th, and
evening star for the rest of the month. On
the 14th,at 10 o'clock in the evening he reaches
| the most interesting point in his course, as far
as terrestrial observation is concerned. He is
| then in opposition with the sun, apparently
farthest frcm the sun, anG really nearest to the
earth. The sun, the earth, and Saturn are in
straight line, with the earth in the center, and
the planet is one hundred and eighty million
miles nearer to us than wheE in conjunction.
He is literally opposite the sun, for he rises
when the sun sets, and sets when the sun rises
The present opposition of Saturn is one of
remarkable brilliance, combining three favor
able conditions. all tending to increase the in
terest Of his appearance as he comes glowing
with soft light above the eastern horizon in
| the early evening. He is in high northern
declination, and the law is, the farther north
the planet the better is the position for OBJ
servation. His rings are opening to their
widest extent, thus largely increasing his size
and brilliancy. He is approaching perihelon,
the happy combination of events all lending
an eclat to the Saturian opposition of 1882 The
wonderful planet deserves the closest study,
/ hoc
should fail to improve the opportunity for a
| view of this magnificent member of hesystem,
with his rings, belts, and moons
| 1t seems anomalous to call Saturn morn
| ing star when he rises before six o'clock in the
evening. But astronomy has memorable laws
and one of these laws is that the outer planets
including Mars, Jupiter. Saturn, Uranus, Nep-
tune, are morning stars from conjunction to
opposition, and evening stars from opposition
to conjunction. Therefore Saturn is classed as
morning star until the 18th.
E..His right ascension is 3h. 28m. his declnation
is 16 deg. % m. north, and his diameter is 80
sec. His place is in the constellation Taurus,
| differing little from that of last month. G
| Saturn rises on the 1st quarter before six
l d
| o'clock in the evening; at the end of the
| in the morning.
Jupiter is morning star during the month,
! and the brightest star in the heavens while he
| is above the horizon. For before he reveals
! his regal presence the short-lived glory of
| Venus has passed away, the peerless planet
| being hidden below the horizon.
The right ascension of Jupiter is 6h 5m.;
his declination is % deg. north ; and his diam
eter is 1875 seconds. His place is in the con-
stellation Gemini
Jupiter rises on the 1st a few minutes before
| eight o'clock in the evening; on the Both he
rises few minutes before six O'Clock.
Neptunei is morning star until the 9th, and
evening star the rest of the month. On the
9th, at four O'Clock in the afternoon, he is in
opposition with the sun as he is then at his
nearest point to the earth, he may be easily
seen in a good telescope. He is the first of the
four giant planets to reach opposition, pre-
ceding Saturn five days. The same laws gov
ern his movements at opposition as those that
have been described in the case of Saturn but
| owing to the immense distance of this wanderer
on the systems verge he is never visible to the
naked eye.
Ncptune's right ascension is 3h. 3m.: his
declnation is 10 deg. 90 min. north and his
| diameter is 2.6 sec. His place in the constella-
| tfon Taurus, near that of Saturn. There is
only twenty-one minutes difference in the time
of transit of the two planets
| Neptune rises on the 1st about half past five
o'clock in the evening; on the 3Oth he sets
about quarter after five o'clock in the morn
ing.
Uranus is morning star during the month,
but possesses little interest for the student.
His right ascension is 11h. 31min.; and his
declination is deg. "a min. north. He has
entered the constellation Virgo, where he will
remain for the next seven years.
Uranus rises about half-past two o'clock in