Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1884-08-07
URASo1eeY FOE AUeUsr.

The greatest treats in August skies await
the early riser. Venus and Saturn are on the
morning side Of the Sun; Jupiter is fast
fastening thither, and Mars is low in the
west when the evening shadows gather. The
glories of the dawning morn when the air is
clear and the sky fairly free of clouds are
enough to tempt clover of nature to forego |
his forty winks and forsake his bed. From |
out OF the midst OF n flood Of rosy light Venus |
glows with ailvery brightness excelliDg in |
purity her appearance when viewed |
through the air of twilight; while well up |
toward the zenith Saturn CLEANS with
less bright, but not less pleasing lustro As
the light Of the approaching Sun grows |
stronger the planets steadily fade from view, |
the brighter Venus, however, remaining visi- |
bic for a considerable time after the paler |
Saturn has entirely disappeared. Indeed il |
is not improbable that by the middle OF tho
month Venus may be kept in sight until after
the Sun has risen with good opera glass
her course may doubtless be followed even at
midday.
The phases OF the Moon for August, in
18th meridian time, are; Full Moon, COS p.
m. of the 9Th last quarter, 10.0G p. m. OF
the 18th new Moon, 1853 p m. Of the Goth
first quarter, 10.41 a. m. Of the 2sth. There
will be no noteworthy oceultations Of fixed
stars during the month.
The Moon will be in conjunction with Nep-
tune on the morning Of the 14th with
Saturn on the morning Of the 10th with
Venus at 4.45, p. M, Of the 18th with
Jupiter on the morning OF the Goth with
Mercury at 9 o'clock on the evening of the
22d with Uranus at . "A on the same even
ing, and with Mars at 1887, a m of the oath.
or these conjunctions those with Mercury,
Venus and Mars would be exceedingly inter
estng il they were visible, which unfortu-
nately will not be the case in this longitude
In some localities west OF the Mississippi the
conjunction with Mars, and possibly that with
Venus, will probably be close enough TO be an
occultation; that is, the Moon will pass be-
tween the observer and the planet and hide
the latter for short time from view. In this
locality the distance from the centre Of the
Moon to the centres Of the planets at con-
junction will be as follows: Venus, % minutes;
Mercury, so minutes; Mars, 10 minutes.
As the Moon is about 80 min
utes in diameter it will be seen
that Mars is almost certain to be occulted
but the conjunction will occur after the Moon
has act, and the same will be the case with
the other two planets. Venus sets at 4.21 on
the 18th "a minutes before the conjunction.
Being at her greatest brillianoy on that day,
however,if the weather is good, her proximity
to the Moon will make it easy for those who
wish to try their keenness Of vision to find
her position throughout the day she must
be looked for short distance behind the
Moon and that distance will Of course be
growing less as the day advances.
, Mercury is an evening planet during August
7 and reaches his greatest eastern elongatior
| on the 23d, when he will set one hour and
: three.quarters behind the sun and may bt
: caught by naked.eye observers, but he will b
, 80 low down to the southwark that this is no
certain. On the morning Of that day, at II
o'clock, Mercury will be in conjunction witt
Uranus, at distance Of three degrees.
Venus having attained to her greatest bril-
Il
d above stated, continues steadily on her oours,
!. to greatest western elongation, which she vii
reach on September 2lst. She appears nov
v in the telescope as slender and brillian
!, crescent at elongation she will appea
, dichotomized- the moon at half full.
Mars has dwindled very much in size an,
brilliancy, presenting disc Of only fiv
seconds in diameter. On the LIST Of Februar
d his disc measured 10 seconds. He is ais
q getting low in the west, setting now at $50
n p. M, and at sos at the close OF the month
!, He will pass eastward through Virgo durin
a August, being about two degrees north Of th
4 first magnitude star spica Virgins on the 3Oth
Jupiter is just now lost from view in tn
light of the setting Sun. He passes to til
, westward Of that luminary on the It'll, an
after that becomes morning planet
Towards the close Of August he will be clearl
= seen by early risers, being one hour ahead @
10 Of the Sun on the 90th.
" Saturn rises now at Las a. M; at the clos
ia of the month he will rise at midnight. He
now near Zeta Tauri, at the point Of til
southern horn Of the Bull. Telescopists ar
!. now studying Saturn with special interest, a
IN there are reasons 10 suspect some change
TO going on in his rings. The Messrs Henri
II Of Paris equipped with instruments OF gres
Il power and light grasping capacity, hay
recently declared their inability to see til
well known Encke's division in th
ia outermost ring and have suggeste
that the narrow dark line seen
other observers for many years past wa
70 either an optical illusion or that it hs
10 disappeared. Considering that this divisio
70 has frequently been seen in telescopes Of yer
l. moderate aperture and that not very long az
r. it was observed so clearly by an Englis
"a astronomer that he was able to measure il
AZ apparent diameter with considerable meet,
- the declarations Of the Messrs. Henry hay
attracted great deal Of attention. Ii
planet will be very favorably situated II
70 observations of this kind in another montl
10 Uranus sets now at 920p M; at the clot
u Of the month he will set at Ills p. m. H
T. course during August lies between Beta an
" Eta Virgins. He is invisible to the make
NJ eye and unfayorably situated for telescop
"A work.
:, Neptune is an early riser, getting up now
midnight and at 10 p. m. on the 3lst. 4
% has passed out of Aries and is entering u
shoulder Of the Bull. The slOwness OF h
apparent motion is such that he CONSUME
nearly IA years in travelling through sing
ii constellation or 1874 years in completing OF
Il, revolution around the Sun. So far away
~ this distant planetary brother that it hi
Ia been computed that a train OF cars movir
"A day and night at the rate of 80 miles per hol
~ would require more than twenty thousar
d years to make the journey thither. Yet til
"a is mere tritle to the distance OF the neare
fixed star.
CO The comet discovered by Mr.. Barnard
w few days ago is not likely to become wish
=. to the naked eye. 1t is situated low down
~ the southern sky and is moving toward Il
ht Sun, Which it will pass on the 18th at abo
l3O, 100000 miles distance. Its brightness
increasing but slightly. Its inclination
be very small and its motion direct, peculiariti
". which suggest that it may DO a periodic
comet.
to
vs. CURRENT LITEKArURE.
HARPER's for August gives their usual Gle
GO beauty to illustrations accompanying Cart
nd Strolls in Holland" This time architectur