Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-12-30

Interesting Planetary Display for
January.

| January.
From the Providence Journal.
Venus is evening star and easily wins the
first place on the January record. for, during
the month, she puts on her brightest aspect
| On the 18th, at 10 o'clock, she reaches her
point of greatest brilliancy evening star.
There are two of these periods of greatest bril-
iiancy. One occurs thirty-six days before in
| ferior conjunction when she is evening star, as
| in the present case. The other occurs thirty
six days after inferior conjunction when she is
| morning star. On the first of these occasions
she IS 4O0 east of the sun; on the second she is
400 west of the sun. She takes on the form,
when evening star, of a waning crescent. and,
wnen morning star, ola waxing crescent In
both cases about one-fourth of her disc Is illum-
| lned; Venus, at superior conjunction, has her
whole bright face turned towards us, but she is
SO lar away That her diameter Is only 1O. AS
| she advances towards the earth, less and less
OF her illumined disc is turned towards us. But
ner increasing size more than counterbalances
| the loss of light, and she grows more and more
bright until she reaches her period of greatest
brilIiancy After that event the loss of light
/ more than cOunterbalances the increasing di-
mansions, and her light grows dim, until at in
| ferior conjunction, she Is lost to sight as she
being then about 64". After inferior commune.
| ton, as morning star, she repeats the same
| process in reversed order
| There is no need of calling attention to this
| fascinating planet during the month, for no one
can look at the western twilight sky without
or without wishing to imprison her there for.
| ever. This superb star will repay close watch
| Ing In her present phase. She casts a percepti-
| MONDAY to the naked eye as an intense white
point to those who know her position in regard
to the SUM- Under favorable atmospheric con-
ditions, she is charming telescope object,
| taking on the form of a beautiful crescent, and
| growing larger, sharper and thinner as she
apparently approaches the sun, and really ap-
prOaches the earth. The fact of her approach
TO the sun Is plainly evident to intelligent
observers who watch her appearance from night
! to night Her light will be lost in the evening
| SKY, 80 days after she CLOVIS, in her brightest
colors, and 5s4 days will pass before she comes
lacks but one element for making her present
| conditions for observation as favorable as pos
sible. She is not in her highest northern de-
clnation, although she is turning her steps
| rapidly nOrthward. Venus sets on the LIST
| few minutes after o'clock in the evening; on
| the 31st she sets about quarter after z o'clock.
Saturn is evening star. He wins the second
place on the monthly record, for he is the sole
planet visible in the early evening sky in the
! eastern portion OF the heavens, and Is almost
| bright enough to dispute the starry supremacy
with his fairer rival, Venus, who holds her
| while she sinks below the horizon about three
| hours after sunset, he graces the sky the live
long night, shining serenely among the bril-
liant galaxy OF stars that sparkle in the winter
| heavens. one among them, but not of them.
For while they pierce the sky-depths with their
| own inherent light, his light is borrowed from
sun far less in size than many OF the bright
points cleaning around him. Saturn is still
beautiful to behold, for though perihelion and
opposition have passed, he has not yet reached
his highest northern declination. He scarcely
| changes his position during the month in his
Occults New Geminorum, a star of the third
| magnitude. Unfortunately the phenomenon
occurs at O'Clock in the morning, when Saturn
/ is too near the western horizon for observation,
! but star and planet will be near each other
during the night. The occultation of a large
star by a planet is a rare occurrence, and OBJ
4 fortunate ted as IN
behold the sight. Saturn sets on the 1st about
a quarter before o'clock in the morning. on
| the 31st he sets about half-past o'clock.
| Jupiter is morning star. Those who watch
! the breaking of the dawn will find Jupiter
snper1 object i'm in the morning sky brightly
heralds the suns approach, as he looks down
from his high position near the zenith. Jupiter
and Uranus, who have long been near each
other, meet and pass on the celestial road. The
| conjunction takes place on the Oath. at eight
6ein@ IN me m1rming Jupiter, at that time'
Our brother-planet is becoming more favor
ably situated for observation as he approaches
| take advantage of the improved conditions.
| MIR. Denning, a specialist in Jovian interpreta-
ton, describes a view Of the famous red spots
| The spot was more plainly visible than it was
on the 9Th OF July, his latest observation before
however, not so dark as the equatorial belt, nor
nearly so conspicuous as it was five six years
ago. He found it distinct, Notwithstanding
the low altitude of Jupiter, and that it retained
| much OF its original form and size. This mark
ing has now been observed for seven years, and
its present aspect seems to fOretell that its ex-
| istence will be Indefinitely prolonged. It may,
| therefore, be regarded as a feature of singular
permanency. The prospect is that during the
ensuing opposition it will attract general OBJ
| servation. Astronomers have always the ex-
citement that something unexpected may
| reward their patient work. 1t may be that
during the present year light may dawn upon
the meaning OF the mysterious red spots SO
| long q mooted question. Amateur observers
i nri yhara Snn cfS foil
1 astronomical victories are gained by those who
| have not Won the laurels OF the conqueror. Ju-
| piter rises on the list few minutes before halt
past 1 o'clock in the evening; Oh the 31st he
| rises about halfpast O'Clock.
Mars is morning star. He keeps on his mo-
pOrtance on his way, but growing larger and
| taking on more ruddy tint as he draws near
| the earth. Mars rises on the list soon after 10
O'Clock in evening; on the 31st he rises about
| half-past eight O'Clock.
| Mercury is morning star. He is at his great
| est western elongation on the 9Th at o o'clock
| in the morning. He is then 23o 90, west of the
| sun, and were it nOt for his great southern de-
| ing sky before sunrise. A sharp-eyed observer
| who knows his exact position, may succeed i'm
finding him; Mercury rises on the LIST at half.
! past fve o clock in the morning; on the 31st he
rises about a quarter after six O'clock.
Uranus is morning star His conjunction
| with Jupiter on the 21st has already been re-
| ferred To. Uranus rises on the Ist soon after
haif-pasf eleven o'clock in the evening; on the
3lst he rises about halfpast nine o'clock.
| Neptune is evening star. At the close of the
! month Neptune Saturn and Venus are evening
| stars; Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury are
morning stars. Neptune sets on the LIST at about
$3.50 O'Clock in the morning; on the 3Ist he sets
| about 1890 O'Clock.
| THE MOON
| The January moon fulls on the Goth at Oh,
45m. a. IN. The waning moon is in conjunction
| with Mercury on the Sd ut 1h.46m. a. M. being
90 81 north. A beautiful conjunction takes
/ place between the moon and Venus on the 9th
at In. ON. a. m, the moon being 80 north
Moon and planets are invisible at the time of
conjunction, but the three-days-old crescent
and the evening star will make a charming
picture on heevening of the Sth as they a D.
| proach their nearest point On the 18th the
moon pays her respects to Neptune at III
36m a. M, being 90 So south. On the 18th
she is at her nearest point to Saturn ut III 59m
a. M, being 10 q south. On the Odd she is in
conjunction with Mars at Sh. 43m. D. m being
| 20 So south. On the Oath, 4Sm. after noondaV
| she is very near Jupiter, being IT. north. On
the 24th, the same day, at :5h. 5m. p. M, she is
also very near Venus, being 10 - north.
| OCCUPATIONS.
The moon occults both Jupiter and Uranus
on the same day for the pleasure of some
favored mortals on the earth's crust The oc-
| cultationS take place at the same time that
the close conjunctions already referred to occur
IN this vicinity, the phenomena occurring near
midday, and OF course being invisible Oh
servers on the evening of the 24th will find that
Jupiter has survived the occultation and is
shining with his usual luster near the moon