The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-04-08

middle of the month they will all. except Uranus, be
between the meridian and western horizon, and visi-
BILE to the naked eye-save Neptune, which never can
be seen without a telescope. A ~good-sized ~spy-glass,
however, will bring it into view, its brightness being
that of an eighth-magnitude star. In the middle of
September, 1886, the five bright planets-Mercury,
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn-were all near to-
gether in the eastern part of Virgo. This, I think, is
the only instance on record of 50 grand an ~assemblage
OF planets ever having occurred.
The brightest gem in the western sky is Venus,
which may be seen before dark half way up to the
zenith. In the evening of April 3 it passed
near the Seven Stars, being two degrees south
of that fine cluster. A few degrees south
erly or southeast from Venus we are greeted
with a view of Saturn, the splendid ring-planet of
sllvery luster, having eight moons revolving round
It, A little further on we meet the red star Aide
baran, in the V, or Hyades group. Extending our
view to the southeast, Orion stares us square in the
face. This is undoubtedly the grandest constellation
in the universe. It's fine belt of three stars known as
the Ell and Yard, with the great Nebula in the Sword
handle just below the left hand star; Betelguese
above and Rigel below, and many other fine objects
for both naked eye and telescope, all combine to
make this group well worth studying. Still further
on the same line we meet the Dog star, often called
olrlusi an hOur or so west OF the meridian. In1S is
the brightest of the fixed stars, and the one so highly
admired byJudge Martindale, who saw a telescope APP.
pearance of its blue and flaming light in my observa-
tory some years ago. By scanning the stars below
and to the left of Sirius, and one or two to the west,
we can trace the outline of the Greater Dog. Away
above Sirius and some further east, Procyon glitters
forth in the Lesser Dog. Nearly on the same line,
but not so far, we hail Jupiter, the giant planet with
its belts and four moons. In brightness it is
little inferior to Venus. A little north are the
twin stars, Castor and Pollux. The further one north
is Castor, a close double star, and splendid object with
power of 200. About as far east of Jupiter we find
Mars, the fiery planet. The fine little beehive cluster
is just south of Mars. But the planet is moving east
ward, and will soon leave the Hive. Regulus, the
principal star in Leo, is about 25o southeast of Mars.
Looking %northerly from Regulus we find several stars
forming the outline or shape of a sickle. The eastern
extremity of Leo is pointed out by the fine star Dene-
bola, as far east of the sickle as it is from Mars. Two
pretty stars, Theta and Delta, are between Denebola
and the sickle. The planet Uranus is 12o south of
Denebola, and very close to Beta in Virgo, a star of
the third magnitude. The planet is north of the star,
and just visible to the naked eye when the sky is clear
and no moonshine. Beta should be distinguished from
a fourth-magnitude star a few degrees west of it. This
is a favorable opportunity for finding Uranus, and
Nt1 AS+N ~ -" ~ ~ 49, NC's GN
be near this star for several months. Two other stars,
Eta and Gamma, southeast of Beta, form a straight
row with it. The further one, Gamma, is about as
far from Beta as it is from Denebola.
1t is also a noted double star. The moder-
ately-bright star near the southeastern
horizon is Spica, or Alpha, in Virgo.
Arcturus is the name of the bright star north of
east. The great dipper over east of the north star
is easy to find. The two upper stars in the square or
cup always point out the north star, which is about
five times as far from them as they are apart. By 8
F. NJ, toward the end of April the dipper is above, or
south of the north star. If you want to know where
to find the brilliant star Capela, look northwest of
the zenith about $50. Menkalina is a pretty star 80
southeast of it. In a row with these two stars west
erly, near three times as far as they are apart, we find
Algenib, in Perseus. The planet Neptune is about 100
nearly southwest of the Seven Stars, not quite so far
as Aldebaran is southeast. Mercury will come in be-
tween the Pleiades, and Neptune about the 22d of
April, when it can be seen very easily with the unaid-
ed eye. By watching closely it may be observed a
week before this time, but considerably further west,
as it moves rapidly eastward. 1t will arrive at great
est elongation and be 200 80 east of the sun April
25, when it will be near the Pleiades. 1t will then re-
trace its course westward, getting nearer to the sun
every day. But it can be followed with the naked eye
for a week in May. By the 25th Saturn will have
moved to a point a little east of north of Aldebaran,
and Venus will be nearly an hour still above Saturn,
the three Respondent orbs being nearly in a row, and
not far from equidistant.
Besides all the planetary phenomena Of April, the
moon puts in a good share of work-the chief part of
which is passing through the earths shadow, whereby
she will be totally eclipsedin the morning of April 10.
The eastern edge of the moon meets the western
side of the earth's shadow, and the eclipse begins at
4:10 A. M, indianapolis local time. The eclipse be-
comes total at 5:1S, and the moon sets about $50, so
that but little of the total phase can be seen here. In
California the total eclipse may be observed during its
whole continuance-on hour and thirty-three minutes.
This eclipse will also be visible in Eastern Asia, be-
sides the intervening Pacific. On the 25th, at 8 A.
M, the moon comes in between the earth and sun,
causing a solar eclipse. But it strikes only the south
ern part of the earth, being visible in southern Africa
and Cape Horn, with intervening south Atlantic.
Sun spots are still numerous and large, although a
periodical waning of solar activity is now due. To
day I see two large groups of about fifty spots each.
One is on the eastern side of the sun, the other near
the western edge, and will soon disappear by reason
of the suns rotation. The latter group has a very
large spot which, on April 8, was visible to the naked
eye. w. DAWSON.
~SPIcELAND, April 4.