Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-04-05


New York vi Il and Express, Saturday.
There is some prospect now that it will
be possible once more to see the sun. the
mocn. and the st"rs. april skies are pro-
verbally changeful, but we may reason
ably expect that there viii be no more
blizzards, and that there will at least be
more clear evenings in April than there
were in March.
The lengthening of the days has been
very perceptible for some time past. The
sun rises about $50 now, and does not set
till after g. Before the end of the month
he will rise at D. and will not set till nearly
:. making a day about fourteen hours
long The sun is now 1 degrees 81 min
uteS North of the line, and on the 30th he
will be 10 degrees minutes still further
North, so that he viii ride perceptibiy
higher in the heavens.
The moon is just at the full now. and
viii not be full again until the 2Sth, at
1.22 a. NJ. During the month she will be
in conjunction with all the planets, bat
none of the cOnjunctiOnS will be especially
remarkable, except that with Jupiter on
the evening of the 9th, she being then
full and Jupiter at his brightest, and the
two being only 3 degrees % minutes apart
in the Southeastern sky.
Venus will not be visible this month,
being so close TO the sun that she is lost
in his light Mars, however, does his best
to make up for the absence of his beauti-
full and brilliant sister. lie is in opp0Si-
ton on the 11th, and is brighter then
than he will be again this year. being at
that time only about 100000 miles away
from US. Observers with good telescopes
will seize the opportunity, of course, to
scan him as narrowly as possible during
the month, in order to find out, if they
can. the mystery of the parallel canals
that cross his continents. Their best
chance. however, will not occur until 1892,
when he will be, at opposition, at his near
est to the sun, while the earth is in aphe-
lion, or furthest from the sun. Then the
two planets will be only 35,0J000O miles
apart, and the great Lick telescope, of
which many discoveries are expected, will
be in position. Mars rises about o'clock,
and is now near the bright star Spica, or
Alpha Virgins. If there is any difficulty
in finding him, follow the curve made by
the handle of the Big Dipper, through the
very bright star ArctuTuS, down to within
10 or 20 degrees of the horizon.
Jupiter is technically morning star, but
he rises now at II O'clock, and by the end
of the month he will be up before 9. He
is in the constellation ScOrpio, from whose
brightest star, AntareS, he is only 3 de
grees distant. They are the brightest pair
now visible.
Saturn is not so bright as Mars and Ju-
piter, but he has two brilliant compan-
D,l ,1r1i
still more brilliant are not far away. He
is about on the meridian at sunset and
sets about midnight. He is in the con-
stellatiOn Cancer.
Uranus, it is predicted, will be actually
visible this month to the naked eye. lie
is in opposition, and nearer to US than
usual, being only 1. 745,0O0G00 miles away.
That is about as close as he ever comes to
us. The best time to look for him will be
in the moonless nights in the middle of
the month. when he will be about de-
grees Northwest of Spica. Neptune and
Mercury, the outermost and innermOSt of
the planets, are still in their places, SO the
astronomers say, and nobody can contra
dict them, for no one else ever sees those
members of the solar family.
The fixed stars are moving rapidly to
the West. Orion and his splendid fore
runners and attendants are on the merid-
ian about sunset, and fill the Western
skies with brilliant train until midnight.
ArcturuS is visible in the East late in the
evening, and by the end of the month the
summer constellation, Sc0rpiO, Will rise
before bedtime. Then the great winter
consultations will pass out of view, and
we shall see them no more until late Sep
tember