Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-06-09
HEAVENS In JUNE.
THE MONTH or THE LONGEST DAY
AND SHORTEST NIGHT.
Tho first Eclipse Of tho Sun This Year
Jupiter the Morning
star.
Nov York TimeaI

quite important so far as the suns nlOe,Oh
ia concerned. az ON the 21st the sun reaches
its highest point north and the summer
golstice occurs. The meridian height Is
the greatest, the sunrise point as well as the
sunset point are the furthest north, and the
longest day Ia succeeded by the shortest
night. The.earth in verdure clad, the per-
lection Of foliage. and the abundant
flowers bear witness TO the creative power
evolved by sunbeams. all, however,
are mingled feelings OF sadness. LOT WIil'
the twilight, so enjoyable IN our tenptI-
ate zone, will cease TO lengtneIn a. .no
great day-star turns his steps southwark
and n will not be many weeks before we
shall again find the days becoming 100
short for our amusements.
Another important event in the suns
career for the month is the fact that there
will be a partial eclipse on the 9Th, which,
Although not visible in New York, can De
seen in that part of North America, Wnlch
lies north and west of a line drawn through
the northern part OF Newtoundlanp' Que-
bee. Toronto. Detroit, ST. Louis, and
norton OF Texas and Mexico. This is the
first eclipse of the sun for the year, ana
there viii not be another until December,
which. when il occurs, is no more, tavora-
blv situated for our observation than the
one that will take place next Saturday.
THE PARTIAL ECLIPSE.
The June moon comes in on the 9Th, the
day that the partial eclipse occurs, and
those who are fortunate enough 10 be IN
the portions of the world above referred
TO will behold the beautiful phenomenon
when the moon is so situated IN regard 10
the sun and earth that her dark body does
not cover the suns disc entirely, put
leaves mass OF glowing sunlight whlch
seems all the brighter from the CONTRAST.
The moons monthly VISITS 10 tne
planets begins on the 4th, when the waning
crescent finds Venus and Mercury such
close neighbors that she calls upon them
both on the same day. This proves to US that
all these bodies are not very far removed
from tie sun. the old moon is about to be
burned up, as the ancients used 70 THINK,
and the two planets are so close to the sun
that we can hardly discern them with IN
aided vision. Besides these natural diffl-
entities there exists the fact that the meet
ing takes place so very early In the morn
ing that few persons will be up to see 1t.
On the 9TH there Is O meeting with Mars,
but the tiny red star and the one-dsy-old
moon will not be far enough away from
Old Sol to afford an interesting picture;
We next find Saturn and the quartering
moon coming as near together as they VIII
be for the month, but as they are sepa-
rated by three degrees of deellnatlon little
interest will be excited. Uranus on the
18th and Neptune on the 18th are followed
by Jupiter on the 9th, when the conJunc-
tions for the month are brought to close.
Venus rises about an hour and half be-
fore the sun, and is so close that IN the
brilliant rays of early dawn the queen OF
the planets is no longer capable of assert
ing herself. Her diameter Is only ABOUT
one quarter of what it was early IN the
year, and is daily growing less as she trav-
els toward superior conjunction, when
it is at its smallest.
MORNING STAR.
Jupiter is also morning star, and rising
almost four hours ahead of the sun, sur
rounded by thronging clusters of brllllants
he forms the central point of most beau
tiful celestial picture. Ever since his rival,
Venus. welded him the supremacy of the
heavens his size has been increasing, and
with it his brightness. He passes one OF
the most interesting epochs IN his course
ON the 7th at noon, when he Will be IN
ouadrature at 80 degrees west OF the sun.
The right ascension of Jupiter on the LIST
is % hours 10 minutes, his declination is 6
degrees so minutes south, and he Is to be
found in the constellation of Aquarius.
Saturn is evening star. aud as he IS still
evening sky he remains the greatest at
traction for the ordinary star-gazer. be
comes to our meridian about 6 o'clock in
the evening. and when darkness has made
his serene yellow light will be found in
the southwestern section Of the Heavens
in the constellation OF the Lion. The
bright star Regulus will serve as point
| from which to measure the journeyings OF
the planet, as the distance separating the
wi HafnTn
continues on in his direct motion east
ward.
Urapus as viewed by the naked eye has
no particular interest TO us, and, indeed,
unless we have been keeping watch Of him
during the last two months we can hardly
hope to see him now. 1t is only by CON-
pairing has position with that OF some OF
the brighter stars in his vicinity that any
trace of him can be kept, as neither in size
nor in brllliancy does he differ much In
glory from his immediate surroundings.
His apparent motion is so very slow, owing
to his great distance, that it is only by &C
curate observation that we can see that he
moves at all.
Neptune is, if anything, rather more lost
to us than Uranus. He has recently
changed from an evening to morning
star and is at about his greatest distance
from us, being about 2,600,O0O,0O0 miles
away, so tudL an 6ACelleul OpbIb-sluoS Luubt
be called into use TO enable us to keep any
track of his wanderings. Neptune's di-
ameter is only two seconds and q half OF
arc: he rises little after 4 o'clock III the
morning, and is still in the constellation OF
the Bull.
OUT OF SIGHT.
Mars, once so large and fiery red, has
somewhat drifted away from our inter est,
furnishing one more proof OF the old
adage about being out of sight and out OF
mind. We have watched the principal
planets one after another, in obedience to
laws that they cannot resist, draw
closer and closer to the source OF
| all light until they have become engulted
| in his powerful embrace. For the time
| being they have been lost to our view,
only to reappear on the other side of the
sun TO again grow brighter and brighter.
| And so with the warlike planet. He fought
| the good fight and in the height of his
| strength was gem of the first water, but
now, shorn of his glorious light, he no
| longer attracts US. The promise, however
! of better things to come in the next year
keeps us from losing all our interest IN his
welfare and makes his temperance as he
| again approaches us an event TO look for
ward to.
Mercury remains morning star through
| out the month, but we can seldom see
| much of him, and our greatest interest IN
| his whereabouts liz generally centred in
| looking him up when he is evening star.
The great event III Mercury's career fol-
this year has already occurred, and in his
transit across the face of the sun he played
q role of considerable importance, the re-
| suits of.which are watched for with con-
siderable eagerness. Mercury and the
moon are in conjunction on the 4th, but 1t
will not be sufficiently close to attract any
| great amount of attention.
There is always something to enllVen the
! skies, and when the planets fail to smile
upon us we have an array of brilliant first
magnitude stars TO keep US wondering at
the machinery that keeps such regular
motion and brings them all upon our me-
ridIan lust at the exact second that they
are expected. There is Spica glowing in
the south and forming with Arctu-
| rus on the northeast, Denebola on
| the northwest, and Cor Carroll on
the north, nearly overhead, the beau
tiful combination known as the diamond
of Virgo The semIcircle of the northern
crown lies northeast of Arcturus. while
still further northeast. the brilliant Vega
appears, followed by Cygnus with its starry
cross resting on the Milky Way. The name
Al.