Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-26

on the appearance OIL snsit feu s'~'
Tho right ascension 81 Mars on Inc
ist IL Sh. 4sm. /; his decIination u ~
degrees 8, north, his diameter Is o'>'s,
and he is in the constellation Cancer. :.
Mars rises on the LIST about hall
hour after midnight; on the 3lst ne
rises four minutes after midnight.
JUPITER Is morning star. He is too
near the sun to be Of much present IN
terest. but he is making his way "a
visibility, and, when the month closes
rises more than three hours before the
sun. He is in conjunction with Beta
Virgins on the 2lst, at 2 o'clock in the
afternoon, being 25> north. Observers
will not be much the wiser for this
meeting Of planet and star, but 1t takes
place all the same.
The right ascension Of Jupiter on the
LIST is llh. 29m. his dcclination is 4
degrees 26' north, his diameter is
1915, and he is in the constellation
Virgo.
Jupiter rises on the LIST at quarter
after 4 O'Clock in the morning; on the
3lst he rises quarter before 3 o'clock.
MERCURY is morning star until the
10th, and then evening star. On the
10th, at 5 O'Clock in the morning, he is
in superior conjunction with the sun,
having completed one Of his swift cir
cults from superior conjunction to
superior conjunction again in ll5
days, his synodic period. On the
4th, at s o'clock in the evening, he is in
conjunction with Uranus being degree
l3> north.
The right ascension Of Mercury on
the LIST is l2h. his declination is z de-
gree 8, north, his diameter is 5".2,
and he is in the constellation Virgo.
Mercury rises on the LIST a quarter
before 5 in the morning; on the 3lst
he sets at 5 O'Clock in the evening.
URANUS is morning star. He is so
near the sun that he is Of little conse-
auence for terrestrial view his path is,
however, enlivened by meeting with
Mercury.
The right ascension Of Uranus on the
LIST is 12h. l4m. his declination is 49,
south, his diameter is 3".4, and he is
in the constellation Virgo.
Uranus rises on the LIST quarter
after 5 o'clock in the morning; on the
3lst he rises at half-past 3 O'Clock.
NEPTUNE is morning star.
The right ascension of Neptune is Oh.
33m. his declination is 16 degrees 90
north, his diameter is 2".6, and he is
in the constellation Taurus. Neptune
rises on the LIST at halfpast 7 O'Clock
in the evening; on the 3lst he rises
about half-past 5 O'Clock.
THE MOON.
The October moon fulls on the ODD
1t 4h. 22m. p. NJ. The moon is in con-
junction with Saturn on the LIST, the
lay of her last quarter, at Oh. On. A.
NJ, being at the time 4 degrees l5>
south. She passes near Mars on the
3D. at Oh. 5m. p. NJ, being 5 degrees 4
south. She is in conjunction with Ju-
piter on the 9th at llh. 49m. A. NJ.
There is very close conjunction be-
tween the moon and Uranus on the 9TH,
1t Oh. som. A. NJ, the moon being e.
north of the planet. The new moon Of
he 9Th is in conjunction with Venus on
he 1lth, at Oh. 39m. A. NJ, being 6
degrees 90 north. On the 25th, at sh.
ism. A. NJ, she is at her nearest point
% Neptune, being 2 degrees Az south.
She is in conjunction with Saturn. a
second time, on the 2Sth, at Oh. Am.
p. NJ, being degrees i south, and
With Mars on the 3lst, at llh. I'm. p.
NJ, being 4 degrees - south.
October's starlit sky presents one
prominent subject for observation and
study. 1t is the perihelion Of Saturn.
The sun and the most richly gifted of
his sons are at their closest point of
approach, 100, 200, 900 miles spanning
the distance that intervenes between
the planets perihelion and aphelion.
Fortunately, at the same time, the
earth approaches a point where her
small orb is almost between the sun and
Saturn, and profits largely by the prox-
unity. The increased size and clearer
radiance bear testimony to the nearer
neighborhood Of the riug-girdled planet.
But it is almost absurd to speak Of the
nearness of an object whose mean dis
lance from the sun is SSl 900, 600 miles.
We are at sea without pilot in seek
ing to comprehend dimensions where a
million Of miles is the measuring unit.
We can, however, see results in the
beauty and brightness of planet that,
fifteen years hence, will shine with a
dull, murky light, in striking contrast
with his present serene aspect. AS
tronomers who make Saturnian investi-
cation a speciality will gladly improve
the favorable conditions. 1t will not
be unexpected if they find out whether
the dark spaces between the rings are
merely standings in or between the
myriad satellites that make them up,
or even if a ninth moon should b,
found faulty cleaning among its breth-
rem.
If twenty-five years exhausts an
astronomers highest power Of obserya
ton, before Saturn returns again tc
perihelion in 1915, observers who are
now in their golden prime will find thai
their eyes have grown dim; observer:
who are just entering the Astronomical
field will rejoice in the maturity o.
visual power; and observers who ar,
but children now will become aspirants
for the laurels the heavens bestow or
those who devote their lives to the
study Of celestial mysteries.
Nearly generation ofthose who now
tread the earth will sleep peacefully III
its bosom, while this wonder of the
skies traverses the vast path that form:
his circuit round the sun. A genera.
ton Of men lives and dies in one Sa'
turnian year! Well mag it be said that
the study Of astronomy promotes hu.
mility, teaching, az no other science
can, the .insignificance of humanity
For what is our earth with her one