Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-09-08
SKY STUDIES.
The Beautiful Picture in the Sep
tember Heavens.
Jupiter the King and Venus the Queen of the
Starry Hosts-The Beauties of the
Coming Harvest Moon.


the most brilliant opportunities for the
pleasures and profits to be derived from
| study OF the many.sided science of astro-
nomy, There il now no moon to dim the
splendors OF the starry hosts, and it is well
worth the while to spend an hour or two
gazing at the sublime spectacle afforded by
the September heavens. The other morn
ing, after the labors Of the night had been
concluded, q REGISTER artist was sent out
TO feast his eyes upon the star studded
canopy. By singular coincidence, the
astronomer of an E-stern paper had also
been sent out for the same purpose and
one of the two journalists produced very
readable report.
KINGLY JUPITER.
Pre-eminent among the glittering host
shone the lordly Jupiter, beaming with
wonderful light, as, well above the horl-
zop, he rose gradually toward the zenith,
the acknowle dyed leader Of the radiant
tbrong. The brightest stars that crown the
night did homage to their lord. Saturn,
his subordinate in size, shone in serene
light, higher up in the heavens al
most in line with the glimmerinS
Pleiades and forming a fine con-
trast in color with rudy Aldebaran. The
constellation of Orion filled the southeast
its starry feet marking the equator aud its
leading brilliant Betelguese, glowing as lar
below the princely planet as CapeIla shone
high above him, The night was luminous
with the tremulous brightness of the stars,
and the picture was one OF exceeding
beauty. Two months hence the same scene
will grace the evening hours, but 1t will not
be as impressive as il is when viewed in the
solemn silence that fills the hours before
the breaking of the dawn.
RISGED SATURN.
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 dis.
| tinguished member of the solar family is
| steadily coming nearer, and has SO lar adj
| yanced toward his nearest approach or OPP
| position that, at the end of the month, his
Serene face will come glowing above the
| horizon at s O'Clock in the evening, TO be
| followed two hours later by that OF his
brother, Jupiter. Saturn plays the
| second part in the picture OF the Septem-
ber morning sky we have attempted to
| draw. Indeed, for months to 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
| Est of morning stars. Saturn's diameter is
| now about seventeen seconds. Both Ss-
turn and Jupiter reflect more light than
| their immense distance from the sun would
| warrant 1t is not improbable that pOr-
ton of their own surfaces, for the larger
the planet the longer it takes to cool, and
these giants of the system are supposed to
| be in condition more nearly resembling
| that of the sun than the earth.
Neptune is morning star and retains his
! place as herald of the morning trio, purSu-
ing his unseen path among the stars with
out an incident to break the mOnotOnous
routine.
QUEEN OF THE EVENING.
Venus is evening star, and reigns with
| quecnly and acknowledged power over the
morning and evening stars as well as the
mighty multitude of glstening suns that
stud the celestial track. No student OF the
skies will fail to grant the ascendancy, or
fail to note her increasing size and brillian-
! Cy. Her diameter now measures nearly
| twenty seconds, and at the end OF the month
| it will measure twenty-six seconds.
The progress of Venus during September
| is made specially interesting by the occur
| renee of an important epoch in her course.
| On the 9th, at , o'clock in the morning,
| she reaches her greatest eastern elonsation,
| or most distant point from the sun on his
eastern side. On the Goth OF February she
| was in superior conjunction with the sun,
and became evening star. A month or
two later she was visible as small star
close to the sun, disappearing shortly after
sunset Ever since she has been trav-
enns .as:tr~-., cOttinS later every
evening, and growing more brilliantly
beautiful. On the 27th she will reach the
end of the invisible chain that binds her
to the sun. Not a second further can she
swerve The suns resistless attraction
turns her course and directs her retro3rade
steps westward, until in our view, she has
retrod the whole eastward course and
reached her inferior injunction and tran
sit. Millions of observers are watching her
receding STEPS with eager interest, for the
goal she is bound for uShers in the great
astronomical event OF the year, if not the
century.
OTHER EVENING STARS.
Mercury is evening STAR and contributes
an unusual share to the incidents that d.
versiiy the annals of the month. On the
2Sth, at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, Mercury
reaches his greatest eastern elOngation, the
day after Venus has touched the same
point in her course.
Mars is evening star and scarcely worth
mentioning for any part he plays among
his peers Contented with the laurels won
in August when he bore his part in the
lovely evening pictures, with which in con-
junction with Venus, he diversified the
sky, he now hastens to retire into tenn
porary eclipse of the suns bright beams.
Uienus is evening star until the 18th,
| when, at 3 O'Clock in. the afternoon, he
/, comes into conjunction with the sun. He
is the last of the four giant planets To
reach the goal, turning the point when they
far THAR nnnnSItinn AT
conjunction he'is joined with the sun, ris-
ing and setting with him and as completely
hidden from human gaze as he was until
1881. when Herschel introduced him to
terrestrial observers. After the 18th,
Uranus is morning star, and will hold his
place on tie list until his opposition.
Uranus sets on the LIST about o'clock in
the evening; on the GO.h, be rises about
half-past o'clock in the morning.
THE MOON.
The September moon fuIls on the 9th
at 26 minutes after midnight 1t is the
beautiful harvest moon, and possesses spe-
cial claims to distinction. For owing to
the position of the eCliptic in regard to the
equator at this season, the moon rises for
several successive nights with only COM
paratively small interval between the sue
cessive risinSs. The short autumnal days
seem thus to be prolonged by the floods
of silvely moonlight that make the
night beautiful as day. The phenomenon
is as easily explained as the axial rotation
Of the earth. But in the older time, when
man was nearer to nature, the harvest
moon was considered a direct interposition
Of Providence to assist the husbandman in
gathering in the harvest. The waning neon
is in conjunction with Neptune on the %,
with Saturn on the Sd, with Jupiter on the
5th. and with Uranus on the 18th. The new
moon of the 18th is in conjunction with
Mercury and Mars on the l4th and with
Venus on the 10th, passing a degree and
half north OF her.
Thus during one short month the OBJ
server Of the planets will find material OF
| unusual interest Venus and Mercary will
reach their eastern elongations; Mercury
will be in close proximity to Spica, and
make near approach to Mars; Jupiter will
be- in qusdrature; Venus and the crescent
moon will shine together in the western
| sky, and the full harvest moon will be
the crowning feature of the nights
of the eally autumn. Every night the