Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-03
THE vERxAL SKIES.
Aspects of the Planets in ApriI-Eclipses
Of the sun and Moon.

April Of this year is a remarkable
month automatically. One point Of in
terest is that the planets are all evening
stars, something that happens very sell
dom. On Monday they Will all be grouped
on the eastern side Of the sun, Mercury
nearest, then Venus, the Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn. Uranus and Neptune.
There will be two conjunetions during the
month, one Of which, that Of Neptune and
Mercury, is invisible, but the other may
be seen plainly. and will present a beau
tiful sight. On the 18th, early in the
evening. a group that is seldom seen to-
gefher viii adorn the western sky. Venus
is the most prominent gem in the cluster,
and about four degrees south is Saturn. a
bright planet shining with a serene and
mellow lustre. About four degrees fur
Their south still is the ruddy Aldebaran
with bis attendant Hvades. and only half
a degree west OF Venus the little Pleiades
are found, almost eclIpsed by the light Of
the beaming goddess.
The deceitfulness Of appearances was
never better illustrated than by this re-
markable conjunction. Venus, by far
the brightest. Is also much the smallest
Of the entire group. saturn. which shines
next in brIlliancy, is nearly 900 times her
less brilliant than Saturn, is a magnifi-
cent flaming sun many times larger than
our own central luminary. while one Of
the apparently insignificant Pleiades, Al
cyOne. is supposed by many astronomers
to be-the grand central orb around which
turns the whole universe of suns in
Thythmical harmony.
But Venus does not reign sole monarch
Of the western sky. Her glory is hidden
behind the horizon soon after 10 O'Clock,
and from then until midnight Jupiter is
supreme. Him follows. at half-an-hOuT's
interval, the now fast fading Mars; aud
the feeble Uranus. scarce visible at all
closes the magnificent procession at 3
O'Clock in the morning.
4 better chance than usual OF viewing
the elusive Mercury will be afforded on
the 18th, soon after sunset. He will then
be short distance southwest OF the Plei-
AIDES, and may be found by keen-sighUed
/ observers.
The moon fulls on the 10th at 6:44
O'Clock, standard time, and wins the honor
Of being the Easter moon and thus deter
mining for the year the dates for the
movable fasts and feasts of the church.
/ On the Sd, the day after the first quarter,
/ the moon is in conjunction with Jupiter,
on the 4th she is at her nearest point to
Mars, and on the 8th to Uranus. She
then proceeds on her way without draw
ing near to a planet until the 10Th, the
day after her change, when she is in con-
junction with Neptune and Mercury.
On the 9th she is in conjunction with
saturn, and on the 2Sth with Venus.
a total eclipse Of the moon occurs on
the 10th, partly visible in this vicinity,
and visible as a total eclipse in portions
Of North America, the Pacific ocean and
Asia. The eclipse begins three minutes
after 4 o'clock in the morning, standard
| time. The total phase commences at
eleven minutes after > o'clock, just before
the moon sets. when the exhibition closes
| for this longitude. and observers further
west enjoy the total observation.
a partial eclipse Of the sun occurs on
the 18th, invisible in the United States,
! but visible in the Southern Pacific ocean.
| The greatest magnitude Of the eclipse is
.7j4 of the suns diameter.