Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-29
Written for TIE EVENING STAR
ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR MAY
Positions of the Planets and How They
May BE Found.

4 -
| May Be Found.
| SOME INTERESTING IMPORTATION About MFR
CURY-wHAT HAS BECOME OF THE OTHER PLAN
| ETs-cHASGEs IN sArURS's RISGs-BRILLIANT
| CONSULTATIONS ~ MAY-THREE LITTLE COMETS
| Mercury may probably be regarded as the
most interesting planet during the coming
month. not because it will be conspicuous
object in the sky, but because it will be in one
| of the tolerably rare positions in its orbi. in
which il becomes easily visible to the naked
| eye. Mercury, as Prof. Young says in his new
work on astronomy, il exceptional in the solar
| system III a great variety OF ways. /: is the
! nearest planet TO the sun. receives the most
/ light and heat. is the swiftest in is movement.
! and Excepting some OF the asterods) has the
most eccentric orbit. with the greatest inclina-
ton to the eciiptic. 1t is also the small
est in diameter (agGin excepting aster-
| oids). has the least mass and the great
| est density of all the planets Revolving
about the sun. then. at such comparatively close
| quarters as about thirty-six million miles. or
nearly sixty million miles within the earth 5
orbit, 1t seems to Us to swing from side to side.
east and west of the central luminary. never
getting TO greater apparent distance from it
than IS. 1t was on account OF this popularity
that the ancient astronomers seem to have
failed 10 recognize it as the same body or the
eastern and on the western sides of the SUM- SO
that the Greeks had for a time two names for it.
Apollo when ii was on the west, a morning
star. and Mercury when it was on the east an
evening star. As stated. ii is so near the sun
that 1t Is comparatively seldom seen, and the
great COpcruI@uS Is reported to have gone to
his grave without ever having caught glimpse
OF 1t. When it reaches the end of its rether,
or greatest elCngation'' from the sun it
Is quite readily detected low down in the twi-
hight, perhaps not SO bright Sirius, but GER
talnly brighter than Arcturus. 1t is usually
visible for about fortnight at each elongatiOn,
and Is best seen in the evening at such eastern
elonSations as occur in March and April.
MERCURY IN MAY.
Turning to the "Ephemeris' and translating'
the hieroglyphics there, it appears that Mer-
cUry reaches its greatest elongation on May "a,
when it sets about 9i5 O'clock or two hours
after the sun. and g. farther north: that
Is. for Washington Observers it will disappear at
point on the horizon about 81 north Of west
In a large telescope it viii look like little
half-m0CH, The planet is in rather an eXcep-
tlOnaiiy favorable position for observation
nearly tine whole month, and will repay a
search with the opera glass or even the una lded
eye. Among several ''cOnjunCtions" of Mercury
with Other stars-that Is Mercury crosses an
imaginary line drawn from the star in question
through the pole star-may be mentioned one
with the 81 magnitude star Eta Tauri on MAY ),
Mercury being IS to the south Of the STAR a
conjunction O.: May - with the first magnitude
star AldenarGn. o. Alpha Tauri; while on the
Jth hc passes Mars. the latter being only Little
o,or degree farther south: andO the 3Oth he
Is 4 il'tic north OF the new moon
Venus. the wonderfully brilian: evening
star for several months past has disappeared
IN the sun : rays. On April 80 she passes be-
tween the sun and our globe. or. as il Is tech
n!caHy put. comes into inferior conjunction.
to rc"ppe"r upon the otEcr side of the sun as a
morning STAR.
Mars is too near the sun to concern us at
present. Jupiter IS in the constellation Sagit-
:arluS, rising during the first part of the month
conjunction with the moon. Saturn is already
familiar object in the evening sky lie
crosses the meridian 81 south of our zenith
during twilight. or about quarter of
I clock on May l, and is one of the first stars
70 be picked up after the sun goes down. lie
Is almost on "A line between the bright stars
PollUX and EegUlus, third of the distance
from the latter. Saturn is IN Quadraturc or
30 III longitude from the sun. on May 3, and in
conjunction With the moon Oh the 9Th.
THE CHANGES IN THE RING
announced by NJ. Terby. of Louvaiu. Belgium,
and reported by telegraph on March - last.
have no: been confirmed by Observers in this
country. NJ Terby's announcement was in
effect that white spot had appeared upon the
ring. 1t was Immediately looked for by Prof
Hall with tine 26-inch telescope at the naval OBJ
seryatory. but nothing Unusual was seen. and
We now have a detailed account of careful OBJ
scrvdtiOus made ny four observers with the
giant 35-Inch Of the Lick observatory. to which
We. OF course, ali now look to settle such ques-
tons. Prof. Holden says that they have not
detected any abnormal appearances whatever
upon the planet. and astronomers conclude
therefore. that the appearance noted by the
BcIglan astronomer. II not entirely an illusion.
was due to some local and temporary atInos-
phcrlc disturbance.
Uranus Is easily picked up with an opera
glass i'll the constellation Virgo about / north
of the bright star Spira: it crosses the meridian
on May at 10 Ii. 80 M, and or the 3Ist AZ 5 Ii.
~ IN. Neptune Is invisible i'll the suns rays
OF the larger members of the asterOid group
Ceres can be seen with the unaided eve by those
pos-csSing very keen vision. TO the north of the
STAR psi. phi and gamma Carcri. It's position
on May - right ascension ) h. 30 NJ dccIiua-
ton . 81 north.
PallaS ana Juno can be seen with an opera
glass, the former III Orion, the latter i'll Virgo.
THE CONSULTATIONS.
The most brilliant consultations visible are
Taurus. Orion and CAMS Major in the south
west. Gcmini and Leo nearly overhead, and
Virgo and BOotes coming up in the east The
dpper il high mp III the northeast and the two
pointers. by the way. will serve as a good
yard-stlck by winch to work out scale for
'ti'0t4'si liit'''ill Dear III nilt t!dt
these two stars are very nearly five degrees
apart. brilliant. peculiarly white star in the
northwest Is Cdpclla in the constellation Auriga
Sirius is the very bright star i'll the southwest
lnme diatcly after sunset.
COMETS
Astronomers are following with a good deal
of interest three little cCmets-rnerc wisps of
ight-that have been caught by the sharp
sighted Barnard, OF the Lick observatory. the
first or September last the second on Octo-
Der 30, and the third on March g. The first
one promises to be good deal brighter than
al present, but of that We will give due notice
hereafter. The third i Just now something o.
Il puzzle: Its extreme fIlntness has prevented
astronomers from obtaining many observations
50 far. hence the difficulty in calculating ac-
curatelv its orbit. The early predictions from
California. promising great increase III bril-
Iancy. are not sustained by later calculations.
From an orbit computed by DR.. Won Herpcr-
ger. Of Vienna. which furnishes the most relia-
bic Information available at the time Of writ
ing. IT appears that the comet will not reach
Its perlhcllOn. or nearest point to the sum-
until July q. 1t does not then get very close
something like $4,000 900 milcs-and for a
comet, this = rather q wide berth to give the
sIH. II IS nov III the constellation TAURUS and
Is moving south and west. but Is ta< too faint
70 be seen with anything but very powerful tel
Escapes. W. {. WINLoCK.