Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-02-18
AMONG THE PLANETS.
February's Morning and Evening Stars
Jupiter in His GlOry-Venus the Ra-
diant Queen of the Skies and saturn
with his Serene Glow.

February's Morning and Evening Stars
Jupiter in His Glory the RAJ
diant Queen of the Skies and saturn
with His Serene Glow.
Among the planets whose phases are
noteworthy during the present month be-
sides Mars, whose course has already been
pointed out, are Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and
Mercury. Saturn is evening star. He has
not made so fine an appearance for nfteen
years. and may be easily known as the
| bright star nearly half way between the
| Pleiades and Aldebaran, He is near his
| greatest northern declination, near perl
helion. and near the point where his rings
are most widely open, these favorable
pOsitions all eliminating next year.
| Nearly thirty years must pass before the
same conditions are repeated. Saturn Is
in Quadrature on the eastern side Of the
sun on the odd at MONDAY. He then rises
at MONDAY, is on the meridian at O'Clock
in the evening, and sets at midnight. Half
his course from opposition to conjunction
is completed, half his race as evening star
is ended.
He is now a superb object in the tele-
scope. and astronomers are diligently at
work to see what may be learned from the
markings on his disk. Mr.. lanyard, of
in November a narrow belt on Saturn's
surface of a bluish-brown color not quite
twice as broad as the Cassini di-
vision of the ring. Such narrow
belts are rarely seen on this planet,
though not uncommon on Jupiter.
Jupiter is also an evening star. Al
though he has passed opposition, he is in
creasing his distance from the earth and
approaching the sun; as we follow his
course in the heavens, he is magnificent
object in the star-spangled canopy that
nightly unveils its glory to our admiring
eyes. He is now more than an hour high
at sunset, and traverses the sky with
stately step till about an hour before sun
rise, when he slowly sinks below the Wes-
tern horizon. He is still fdcite princepS
among the bright twinklers that surround
him. He yields his starry scepter from
point of the sky nearly between Castor
and POllux on the north and PrOcyOn on
the south. Mars follows his lead at re-
spectful distance, while brilliant Orion
| and glittering Sirius precede him toward
| the southwest.
Venus Is another evening star, and by
far the lOYeliest of the brilliant quartet Of
planets that shed their radiance upon the
winter nights. She possesses charm
that surpasses the majestic bearing of
Jupiter, the warlike aspect OF Mars or
the serene glow of Saturn. She is increas-
ny III Eduldub beauty. WulIC uct luI6e
rivals have passed their eliminating
point, though the diminishing hrilliancy
will scarcely be discernible during the
month. Observers who watched her
| course in January did not fail to admire
the bewitching grace Of her presence in
the glow of twilight.
Mercury is morning star throughout
the month. He reaches his greatest west
| ern elongatiOn on the 31st at II O'Clock in
the evening, and is then 26 deg. y min.
west of the sun. He would at that time
| and for week before and after be favor
ably situated for observation as morning
star were it not for his great southern
declinatiOn. Sharp eyes may pick him
up about an hour before sunrise, for at
elongatiOn he rises an hour and three
quarters before the sun. He will be found
l deg. 30 min. south of the sunrise point
in the constellation CapricOrnus. The
sky and atmosphere must be exceptional
ly clear to lure him from his hiding place.