Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-11-04
NOVEMBER PLANETS,
SOME BRILLIANT DISPLAYS FOR AS
TRONoMERS.
s,.,...,ns Of tho Suns speed--severai
Conjunctions and Partial he''pse
lesser Planets.
rrr0rihnncn .innrnAl.l

FRS. ten DAYS. The daylight is dimin-
ished by'an hour, MS it is ten and a ns'i
hours in length to-day and only nine
and half on the goth. Tho sign OF
sacittarius or .he Archer, in which the
sun now travels, symbolizes the hunt
ing season.
The November phases OF the moon be-
Gin with the last quarter on the 4th' new
moon ON the 10Th, first quarter on the |
18th. and full moon on the 2eth- Inc |
conjunctions for tho month begin with
visit 10 Saturn on the 9TH, Uranus on the
10th. Mercury on the 18th, Venus on
The 18th. Jupiter on the nth, and Mars
on the same day. None Of these Is very
close. but on the 18th, when the three
heavenly bodies are together, the pic
tire will be lovely, as the sweet regent
of the sky will he in crescent shape, ana
The two planets will be only ten minutes
apart.
A partial eclipse OF tho moon will take
place on the 26th, which will not be vis'-
Sic in this latitude, but can DO seen IN
Asia. India, and on the Pacific. Only
little piece Of the moon is obscured, the
mart in shadow being only .OO5 OF Its
snvfacc. II will perhaps be noticed that
the moon is at it's full on the date oil
the eclipse. and il is only when IN that
phase that an eclipse is possible. The
moon being illuminated by the hght OF
the sun. the earth, coming IN between the
two. cuts off the suns rays and forms
shadow. As the moon enters the shadow
n portion OF her surface seems to DO cut
of and 10 disappear entirely, and her
visible portion continually grows smaller
until in case OF total eclipse.
her whole disc is immersed III
the shadow. In about half OF the
lunar eclipses the moon passes
so far above or below the centre of the
shadow that part Of her body is in it and
part outside at the time OF greatest
eclipse. This is called partial eclipse
Of the moon. The magnitude OF par
tial eclipse used TO be measured 10y the
ancient astronomers in digits. The dia-
meter of the solar or lunar disk WIS d.
Vided into twelve parts or digits, and the
surface cut off by the shadow was sald
10 be SO many digits The general inter-
pretation of the saying that the body was
eclipsed four digits, for example, was
Tint ono third of the surface, and not
one third Of the diameter, Was ecllpsed.
I'm this case, from the time the moon
first enters the outer shadow. or penum-
bra until il leaves. there is an interval OF
more than four hours, the time IN the
deepest shadow being seventeen minutes.
At the beginning OF the month Venus,
Mars and Jupiter are evening stars
Neptune. Saturn. Uranus ana Mercury
morning stars. While greater In num-
her the hrilliancy OF The latter group
does not compare with that Of the former,
ns Saturn is the only one that is at all
attractive. Early risers will find HIM
in the morning in the eastern sky. about
four hours before the dark is trimmed
with a length OF bright horizon. The
size OF the ringed planet is gradually IN
creasing. and rs he gets to our meridian
two hours earlier at the close Of the
month than OF its beginning. before the
end of the year We shall see his serene
yellow light shining in the eastern sky
some time before midnight Saturn IS
TO he found in the constellation Of the
Lion in about Y north latitude.
URANUS AND NEPTUNE
Uranus and the far-distant Neptune
ore in the morning group, the former IN
the constellation OF Virgo, not very far
from Mercury, the two having just been
in conjunction. Uranus is moving fur
ther TO the westward away from the sun,
and now rises about 5:30in themorning.
The distance, however, separating the
two is so small that the planet cannot be
distinguished in the silyery brightness
that illumines the eastern clouds Nep-
tune is again 10 be found in the constel-
lation of Taurus tho Bull, which will
serve to find his position, as his distance
is beyond the reach Of human vision and
we are never allowed to see him, al
though he is one half the size OF Saturn
and almost five times as large as Venus.
Mercury is retracing his steps toward
the sun, and is now no longer IN favor
able position for us to see him. We shall
not be allowed to see him again without
the use Of telescope until next year.
He is 70 be found about % north of the
sun at present, distance lessened by2'
ut the end of the month. Mercury is IN
conjunction with the moon on the 18th,
but as this is the day of new moon, we
shall not be able to witness the meeting.
In spite OF the beauties Of Venus
greater portion Of the interest III the
evening planets centres III the meeting
between Jupiter and Mars. 1t has been
an interesting thing to watch these two
-. ell tsrtx~
lance that separates them, and this Will
be intensified as tho time draws nearer
the period of conjunction. The pres
ence OF the moon will add greatly TO the
loneliness Of the tableau, which, when
il closes, will find Mars to the eastward
OF Jupiter. Unfortunately for thor
ough enjoyment of this rare picture, to
which Venus, Jupiter. and the crescent
moon, and Mars all contribute, the last
named body hes now drawn SO far away
from us as no longer to appear SO i'm
portant as We once considered him.
Mars is moving rapidly north and is IN
the constellation OF Sagittarius. He
comes TO our meridian just after the sun
acts. getting there earlier and earlier as
the month advances
JUPITER
Jupiter has Just passed the point Of
quadratnre with the sun and is in fine
position for telescope observation, espe'
cially in regard TO the eclipses of bis sa'
telhies. According TO the best determi
nations the diameters Of the satellites OF
Jupiter range between 1900 and 3, zoo
miles, the volume of tho smallest Of the
four being very near that of our moon
The light of these satellites, which it hai
been declared can sometimes be seen 10y
the naked eye, varies to an extent which
Il is difficult to account for except By
supposing very violent changes constant
~ in progress on their surfaces. 1t ba
been sometimes supposed that some o
them, like our moon, always Present th'
same face toward their planet, and tina
the changes in their brilliancy are due 4
differences in the color Of the parts 0
the satellites which are successivel
turned toward Us during one revolution
around the planet. But the careful mes