Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-01-08
He is hidden 30 entirely in the suns

nc III Dluuen 30 entlrtiy III 'ho '"H
rays that he is OF no account to terres-
trial observers during the month.
The right ascension OF Mercury on the
1st is 16h. ION, his declination Is 2f'
% south, his diameter is AS, and he Is
in the constellation Sagittariua
Mercury rises on the LIST Is minutes
before o'clock in the morning on the
3lst he sets about half-past D o'clock In
the evening.
NEPTUNE is evening star.
The right ascension of Neptune on the
LIST is 3h. 43m., his declinatlon is l1o OF
north, his diameter is 2".6, and he Is IN
the constellation Taurus.
Neptune sets on the LIST few minutes
before o'clock in the morning; on the
3lst he sets few minutes before z
o'clock.
The morning stars at the close OF the
month are Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and
Uranus the evening stars are Mercury,
Saturn, and Neptune.
THE MOON.
The January moon fulls on the 18th Mt
Oh. 19m. She is in coniunctisn with
Mars on the 9th, the day of the last quar-
ter, at Oh. 54m. A. NJ, being 2 46
north. She is also in conjunction with
Uranus on the 9Th, at Oh. Bonn. A: NJ,
being A. 81 north. The moon Is at her
nearest point to Jupiter on the 9th at Oh.
Ism. A. NJ, being A. ~ north. She
pays her respects to Venus on the same
day, the 9th, at Oh. Ann. Z. NJ, being Y
16' north. On the mornings of the 9th
and 10th the morning star-it sky
will he charming with Jupiter, Venus,
and the waning moon as the'chief actors
in the shining spectacle. The moon is
in conjunction with Mercury on the
18th, the day before new moon, at lOh.
Aim. p. NJ, being 30 40 north. She Is
near Neptune on the 23d, at 3h. dim.
A. NJ, being 80 26' south. Last OF all
in tn circuit she is at her nearest point
to Saturn on the 2Sth, the day of full
moon, at 8h. 2Sm. A. NJ, being 10 1V
south. The full moon and the planet in
his brightest aspect, in near vicinity, as
high in the heavens they make their
way to the zenith, will form a starry
spectacle of exceeding beauty.
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON.
The moon is totally eclipsed on the
2Sth, under conditions unusually favor
able for observation. The phenomenon
is generally visible throughout North
and South America, Europe, Asia, and
Africa. The time for the eclipse is as
follows:
Moon enters the shadow. Al 30 Pm. r. A.
Total eclipse begins............5 h. Sltm. T. NJ
Middle Of tho eclipse. l9Um- L. p
Total eclipse ends................tn- sum ~
It will be seen that the eclipse begins
before sunset, the sun setting on that
evening at 4h. 5Gm. =. NJ. 1t will, how
ever, bedark enough to watch its progress
when it gets far enough advanced to be
in the most interesting stage. The
magnitude of the eclipse is l.647, the
moons diameter being l.
THE SUNNI PERIGEE.
The sun is Mt his nearest point to the
earth on the LIST at o'clock in the morn
ing. The epoch may find expression IN
two forms. We say the sun is in perigee
from two Greek words signifyiDg
"nearest to the earth" We say, also,
the earth is in perihelion, or at her near
est point 10 the sun. Both expressions
have the same meaning. The sun is
now 100000 miles nearer the earth
than he will be on July Sd, when
he is said to be in apogee, or at his
greatest distance from us. 1t is
we'll known that the orbit of the earth
is an ellipse and that the sun is in
one Of the foci of the ellipse. Mathe-
maticians foundou the shape OF the ell
| lipse and the relative distances OF the
sun from the earth by measuring the
suns apparent diameter from day tc
day throughout the year. When II
perigee, as on the LIST, the suns diameter
! is 80 SO" in apogee it is 81 32". The
variation in angular measurement be-
tween these two points is as accurately
known for every day in the yeal
as the difference in Longitude be
tween Greenwich and London and The
vast sweep the earth makes in her annual
revolution round the sun IS as accurately
mapped ont and is as unerrng IN 1t:
figures as the ratio of the diameter tC
the circumference of sphere. When
therefore; we look upon the sun in peri
gee we see his face taking on its largest
proportions, and we know that the great
central luminary is at his nearest pom
TO the planet that ranks the fifth Ii slzC
in his retlnue of worlds.
JANUARY
is alive with stirring events among oul
celestial brothers and sisters, member
like ourselves of the suns family. Ju
piter and Venus meet and part on thu
celestial road, and while rapidly recedine
from each other make the morning SIX,
glorious with their bright presence. Sa
turn reaches opposition and IS beautiful
TO behold as he shines with a soft anC
serene light from sunset to sunrise
Mars and Uranus are in a quadratur,
with only four days difference il
the time of reaching the goal
They also meet on the celestial track
Mars overtaking Uranus and out
distancing him in the race. The sun, il
perigee, puts on his brightest aspect a
he looks upon the earth, to whom hi
heat and light are breath and being
The moon, the lesser light, adds he
share to the enjoyment of the month
When her fair face has reached its FIJI
round proportions she plunges into tn
earth's dark shadow, and for a time !
lost to view in the interesting pheno
menon of total lunar eclipse. She vii
not, however, be entirely invisible, bu
will family shine with weird, copper
colored light. This light is refracte,
into the shadow from the earth's atmoG
phere.