Delaware gazette and state journal., 1884-02-07
UR4NoLoGr Fon EkHRUARY.

paragraph which has been making the
rounds OF the plets during the past month
calls attention to the brilllAnce Of the celes-
tisl display spread out upon the eastern vault
of the early evening sky at this period OF the
year, hs one which Will not be- eqnalled for
many years to come. Whether this be liter
ally true er not the writer has not taken
pains u ascertain, but the present exhibit is
certainly d very iine one, Take the aspect OF
the enHtern SKY at 80 o clock on a clear. cold
dark night. Midway between the horizon
aud tine zeuIth glows Jupiter iii
majestic spleudGr directly above him
are Castor and rolltiN, the bright stars of the
Twins; below aid to the eastward is the
ruddy Mars; i'll The southward IL spread out
the respeudent ORION, the king Of the con
stellatiuns; Sirius. the brightest Of the fixed
stars blazes below, and Aldebarau with
Saturn close by, nearly overhead, while the
PlelHdch are Just beyond, III the northeast
the Dlpper stands erect, the bowl upward and
the handle pointing stralgLt downward toward
the horizon.
The phases of the Moon during February
are AZ follows, in 18th meridian time First
| quarter e.57 d. nj. Of the ith full Moon,
| III, ~ p M. u the 10th last quarter 1912 u,
III. Of the 18th; new Moon, l.3j p. III. Of the
10th.
| Leap year day, the 29th Of February, will
| be marked by an occutatlon of Venus by the
| Moon. OccnltatiOn6 Of Venus are somewhat
rare and, when happening under fayoring
conditions, Of exceeding interest. Unfortu
| natuly this occultation will take place il
| the day time, at sjS o'clock in
| the morning, and consequently will be in.
| visible to the unaided eve The Moon will
be but slender crescent, little more THAI
! 90 hours past the new, and will be barely al
hour high in the east, moving with her darl
edge toward the planet. The eclipse Of tht
latter will last for six minutes ia the lonyl
F. fIIlp Ut MA5ItnUfpTI = il tr,ti.
ouger here, Perhaps good spy glass
steadily held may show something Of the
phenomenon, If the air II clear.
On the morning of the.,ith there will bt
another planetary occultation-that of Nep
time; but it will take place below the horizon
IN +tateH north Of the Carolinas and be in al
probability invisible even through the bes
telescopes south of those states
Mercury has become a morning star anC
Will reach his greatest western eongation OF
the 18th, rising on the l4th "a hours befor,
the Sun. His low southern declination, how
ever, places him unfayorably for the observa
ton Of carly risers.
Venus now reigns in the west, queen Of tn,
early evening, She is steadily growing il
brlllancy as she falls farther behind the sun
on her way to eastern elongation, which sht
reaches ON May %. Viewed through the tel
escope she now presents the shape of blaz
iug gibbons moon. On the 29th Venus vii
RN 'illkt ElOht u tllt HtdI Lpbluu llpCluul
tlcr occultatiOn by the Moon has alread,
been referred to.
Mars reaches opposition at 6 o'clock on tn,
morning Of the lat The diameter Of hi
disc il now l6 seconds and a good telescop,
will readily show the snow cap at his asutl
pole and some OF the more prominent mark
iugs which represent the land and waite
lines on his surface. The snow cap il quit,
conspicuous in 6 or inch rejecting tele
scope, under power of 200 times tht
other features require some study
After passing opposition Mara and tht
Earth gradually drift apart ant
the former seems to grow smaller ant
smaller till, at the close OF the year, he pre-
sents to our view a disc only seconds il
diameter. Under the most favorable circum
stances, when the Earth and Mars are in tn