The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1884-05-04

, these complicated movements 10 that Venus
seems to move In straight lines east and
west Of the sun aud TO follow closely In his
steps. As Venus appears TO terrestrial
observers, so the earth appears to Marian
observers, oscillating east and west In the
same way, and sometimes like Venus and
Mercury, making a transit over the suns
disc.
Venus will be the loveliest star In the
heavens through the month Of May. as
after elongation she turns her steps west
ward. moving rapidly towards us. and
Fastening on TO her period Of greatest
briliancy. She will form delightful
planetary study for the naked eye.
and also for telescope observation. Seen
through the telescope, at elongation or
few days after, she takes on the aspect OF
the moon at her last quarter, hall her disc
being ilumined. Then, like the moon. she
becomes waning crescent, less and less OF
her enlightened surface being turned to-
wards, but increasing i'm size az she ap-
proaches us, more than enough to counter
balance the lessened light. At the end Of
the month she has nearly reached her cul-
minatipg point, while her high northern
declination adds TO the length OF her stay
above the horizon, and the favorable con-
ditions for observation.
The beautiful planet il specially interest
ing on account OF the striking resemblance
she bears to the earth. In size, in density,
in position in the system, in the length OF
her revolution, in the time OF her rotation,
i'm the possession OF an atmosphere, i'm the
form Of her orbit, and in the amount OF
| light and heat she receives from the sun,
she is more like the earth than any other
member OF the solar system. She Is our
nearest planetary neighbor, and, II moon
were following in her track TO complete
the analogy, Venus and the earth would be
the twin sisters OF the solar family. In
deed the planets seem to be in pairs, Jupi-
ter and Saturn are the gionts Of the family,
Neptune and Uranus follow next to the
giants. and Mars and Mercury complete
the list.
The right ascension OF Venus on the 1st
| /, 5h. 4Sm., her declinatiOn is go AS north,
and her diameter is 23".6.
Venus sets on the LIST few minutes be-
fore II O'Clock in the evening; on the 3lst
she sets at hall-past 10 O'Clock.
! MERCURY is evening star until the 18th,
when he follows the example OF Neptune
in deserving The ranks OF the evening stars
On the 18th, at O'Clock in the afternoon,
Mercury is in inferior conjunction with
the sun. He is then between us and the
sun, and passing TO his western side. be-
comes a morning star. He is Of no mpOr-
lance after the first few days 81 the month,
when he is visible as evening star, being
still near the Pleiades.
The right ascension OF Mercury on the
1st is 3h. SON.; his decination is 300 49,
north, and his diameter is 1927.
Mercury sets on the 1st about hlli-past
o'clock IN the evening; on the Dist, he
rises shortly before O'Clock in the morn
ing.
THE MOON.
The May moon fulls on the 9th at seven
minutes after II o'clock in the evening,
standard time. On the ID, the day OF her
first quarter, she is in conjunction with
Mars, and on the 9Th with Uranus. She
then encounters no planet in her path I'M
TIL the 23d, the day before her change,
when she passes near Neptune. On the
oath. few hours before new moon, q
beautiful phenomenon occurs. At thirty
seven minutes after l o'clock in the morn
ing. the moon is in close conjunction with
Mercury, passing one minute north.
Moon and planet are then below the hOrl-
ZOn, and OF course invisible. IL they were
above the horizon, and were not too near
the sun to be seen, the waning moon d.
minished to slender thread OF silver
light, and the sparkling planet almost
touching her bright limb would form a
lovely picture. In some localities living
between the limiting parallels OF SO north
and 80 south latitude, Mercury is occult
ed by the moon.
The waning moon, after paying her re-
spects to the morning stars Neptune ant
Mercury in the eastern sky, reappears il
the western sky as the new moon that ont
never tires OF seeing. On the 18th she |,
IN conjunction with Saturn, the first planet
in her pathway. On the 9th she pays he
respects to Venus. but as she is 50 south
the conjunction will hardly be noticed
On the 18th she is a. her nearest point to
Jupiter. and on the 30th TO Mars. The
cOnjunctiOns with Saturn. Venus. Jupiter
and Mars occur between new moon and
the first quarter, showing how near the
planets are together aud the order Of their
distance from the sun.