The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-01-02
THE DECEMBER PLANETS.
rhs Positions and Movements Of Mars, Mercury
and Uranus During the Month.

Saturn lS DIAL I'LL tuO t@eii,
when he takes on new role accord
ipp to astronomical classification.
Whatever may be the position of
superior planet, he is classed as morn
iip1 star from conjunction to opposition,
and as evening star from opposition to
CONJUNCTION. Though Saturn has been
!, Arominent object in the evening sky
lfor the last two months, he has, for
This reason been numbered among the
morning stars. The great epoch in
b;s course that transfers him from one
side of the sun to the other occurs du-
RING the month, and as this is the most
interesting period in his circuit round
the sun to jewellers on the earth, -FOUR
ring-girdled neighbor easily wins the
MACE of honor on the December plane
tarv annals. The much desired epoch
ocesa,s on the 18th. at two o'clock in
the&orning. He is then in opposition
with the sun. opposite to him in the
heavens, 100 degrees from him, or as
far away as possible. Observers may
verify this assertion for themselves,
for when the sun sinks below the west
ern horizon, this beaming planet
shows his radiant face above the east
lern horizon, and shines during the en-
tire night. descending in the west as
the great luminary appears in the east.
Saturn may be easily recognized
ans3sg his starry neighbors, being
nearly east of Pleniades, and about
halfway between Capella on the north
and Betilguese on the south. He
shines with serene light entirely diff
ferent from that of the twinkling stars.
He rises on the 1st at 5: ID o'clock in
the evening, and is the only visible
planet in the heavens until Jupiter APP
pears upon the scene. The conditions
under which he may now be observed
al very favorable, but they will be
still more so at his opposition in 1885,
for he will then be farther north and
only month past perihelion. He will
at that time be 100, 100000 miles nearer
the sur than at aphelion. and, since
perihelion and opposition nearly coin
eide, about the same distance from the
earth.
The telescope Saturn is now the per-
ssonifcation of grandeur and sublimity.
Even in small instrument the pic
9ure is one of passing beauty. II
we seen the planet single, and now
- Git double" was Galileo's wonder
ing exclamation as he turned his i'm
perfect instrument to the heavens in
the dawn of the astronomical day.
Forty years passed before the strange
appendages, sometimes visible and
invisible, were proved to be
the. rings of Saturn. With our finer
and the flood of knowl-
edge poured forth from observation
and research. we have still to thank
tho pioneer astronomers for the first
fruits of this enrolling science, and
for a devotion to the cause that cost
them obloquy, Imprisonment, and even
martyrdom.
"A very powerful glass is required to
bf7ng out both the magnificent and the
delicate aspects of the most charming
telescope object in the heavens, as
well as the brilliancy of coloring,
which is a grand feature in the Saturn
ian system. Mr.. Browning, an opti-
clan and practical and enthusiastic
observer, thus describes the coloring
of the planet on one of the exception
ally fine nights that are the delight of
the telescopist: The rings were of a
golden hue, in varying tints. shaded
with brown; the body of the planet
was yellow, orange, red, purple, shad-
ed with brown; the division in the |
rigs pale brown, and the poles and
narrow belts near the poles were pale |
blue. 'But said the observer. there |
is a muddiness about ell terrestrial |
colors when compared with the objects
seen in the heavens. These colors |
M ha in
6llliancy and beauty unless we could
dip our pencil in rainbow and trans
fer the prismatic tints to our paper"
The observer must not be discouraged if
be cannot, in his first or in his hundi edith
observation, detect these varied hues
described by Mr.. Browning. Saturn
reveals only to his devoted and long
june votaries the soft markings on his
Ncs, in their tenderest tones and deli
,iously blended hues. The eye must
De educated to discern celestial beauty,
md great is the reward of those who
search diligentlyin the heavenly fields.
Saturn, now so pure in tint and tone,
md soTadient member of the starry
lost, before many years have passed
Elll change his aspect as his rings be-
i'm to close, and as he bends his steps
'outhward. He will again become the
planet that in ancient times, on ac-
count of his dull, yellow, and dismal
Tue and sluggish motion, was held by
lstrologers to exert a malevolent infu-
nee on human affairs, and to be the
source of many of the evils to which
be human race is subject. We can
ave no better illustration of the super
tition of the age than is found in the
blowing extract from the poet Chau-
q In an address of the god Saturn to
mus:
dere daug hter Venus, quoth Saturne,
cows, that hath so wide for to turn,
,ath more power than wot any man.
me Is the drenching In the sea SO wan,
!ine Is The prison In the duke-cote, ,
line Is The strangel and hanging by the throte. ,
ne murmure and the churos rebelling, &,
ne groyning and the prive empowering,
DO Vengeance and plene correction
nile dwell In the sign of the Leon. r
line Is the ruin OF the high hailes, =
he falling of the toures and of The WALES
pom the minour or the carpenter,
slew Sampson IN shaking the piler, q
Science has changed all this. Since il
ne discovery of the rings the ill-omen- 8
l planet is raised almost IN tho d;rn;t,r /;