Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-03-08
THE MARCH HEAVENS
7ue ASTRONOMICAL SPRING BEGINS
ON the 10Th OF THE MONTH.
v.,,. WIN Ne the Morning STAR Mars
and Jupiter Illuminating the Evening
ehx-Apcieni Notions of the Planets.
pi,ubursh Dispascb.l

IEltuDufEn b'f~'f
Tho ann enters tho sign OF Aries ON the
oo,h vcnal eouinox then takes place. as
Economical spring begins. and as the golden
49, orce more illuminate the North Pole
the DAYS and nights are equsl all over the
sIoho The eouinoctial crosses the ecliptic
ararv vear when the sun enters Aries, but
not at the same point. 1t retrogrades
about ffty seconds of arc IN ayear, ana
this complicated movement is called the
procession of the equinox
This backward movement continues Tor
ahout 25 600 years. when new cycle pc
o;ns Iftbe earth were perfect sphere
sbaya would be no procession OF the equi-
moves. There IL, however, pIotuoerance
~ matter at the equator, and tne power
ful influence of the sun and moon actl1g
IL Attraction. and causes rolling OF wao-
bl;ng motion of the pole OF the earth
aro,,nd the mole Of the ecliptic. IN small
circle and with 30 slow motion that
rayol1tion il completed in about 5000
re,ps The change in the polar star IS an
ofhar result of this movement. The pres
emf polar star will not hold that distinction
. ooo hears hence, but will be replaced by
the bright star Vega.
MOVEMENTS OF THE sun AND MOON.
Tho am rises on the LIST about $3.50 and
ssts abortly before 7. the day being one
bour and a quarter longer at the close or
fha month than at Its beginning. Inc
March moon dOesnot come IN unili the lotn.
Before the waning moon taxes US 4epart-
nre IL Is in opposition with Jupiter. venus,
and Mercury. but planet and crescent are
ether TOO far apart and the meeting at
Too sarly period of the day for any but
The earliest r;sers to obtain view. Mars
and the Young moon meet on the l3th.
ToIioyed two DAVIS later by conjunction
WITH Neptune. On the 23d the moon and
Saturn come fairly close TO each other, but
the disk of our satellite IS TOO wen rouuueu
20 admit to Saturn's light oelng seen 10 ao-
vantage. .. r.
ne the church calendar Is concerned, occurs
ON the 25th. when the moon luis. Inc
sunday following this full moon IS Easter
sunday from which the date OF Ash We'd
nesday and other church days are reck-
oned. Conjunction with Uranus on the
9th closes the lunar events torth month.
Venus is morning star ana Is during the
month peerless among tle planes mes. que ste
is the most glorious object that adorns the
armament during the early morning hours
among the myriad hosts that glitter and
twinkle in the celestial world archlng
above the observer who rlsss IN time to be-
hold the enchanting picture.
VENTS APPROACHING CONJUNCTION.
Her Ulster has been growing dim during
the uast two months, though the change
can scarcely be perceived. She Is approach
inc the sun now. and will be twenty min
utes nearer that luminary when the month
closes than she is to-day. 1t requires go
DAYS to make the journey from western
eloneation to superior conjunction, winch
occurs on September 18th, but only
seyenty-two days are necessary IN passing
from interior conjunction TO western elon-
cation. The conclusion has been reached
bv astronomers that the period OF rotation
of Venus around her axis Is equal to the
period of revolution around the gun. and
that the actual period OF the length OF the
day in the planet is ga Of our days.
Nothing has so far been disclosed IN rela-
tion to the progress of the eight-hour labor
movement, as TO whether laborers appear
TO be paid by the day or by the hour.
Jupiter is also morning star, but Just at
present he is not very brilliant. He has
not emerged sufficiently from the suns
rays TO admit of our seeing him. as he
rises only half an hour ahead of the sun.
He is. however, gradually widening the
distance. and at the end of the month Will
be I'D one hour and half before sunrise,
snd an his size is gradually increasing he
will be beautiful object some little time
before morn begins cleaning. in the
east. Jupiter Is moving rapidly TO
the westward and is approaching
Venus as the latter moves to the eastward.
and the two are also getting closer together
in declination, Venus moving north with
greater rapidty than Jupiter, so that early
IN April there will be rare treat afforded
us, as the two brightest PLANETS Will DO III
conjunction.
SATURN AN INTERESTING STUDY.
II will be we'll worth the sacrifice of q
portion of the morning nap 20 take peep
at the time of the event, as the conditions
are much more favorable than IS usually
the case. -, e.,
Saturn is morning star until the '4th,
when he reaches point 30 degrees from
the sun, or what is known as opposition.
which. on account of its being the most
favorable for observation. IS the one in
which astronomers like best 10 catch
him. Owing to the motion of the
earth the times when the edge OF Sa-
turns ring is turned toward us do not
accurately correspond TO those when it is
turned toward the sun. and the points of
the planets orbit in which this may occur
range over space OF several degrees. The
most interesting times for viewing the
rings with powerful telescopesare on those
rare occasions when the sun shines on one
side of the ring while the dark side is d.
rected toward the earth. On these occa-
sions the plane of the ring, If extended far
enough, would pass between the sun and
the earth. Saturn's declination to-day is
degrees rs minutes north, he comes to
the meridian shortly after midnight, his
polar diameter is 16 minutes seconds, and
he is found in this constellation of the
| lion.
Mars is evening star. and to careful OBJ
servers who have followed his course and
noticed his gradual reduction in size and
in appearance from the fiery red and very
bright planet to the very modest proper
tons he has attained will probably have
but little difficulty in picking him out, as
his rudy glow has not entirely faded out,
| and he remains above the horizon almost
three hours after sunset. When he does
disappear he goes down about nine degrees
to the northward Of the spot at which the
sun sets.
MARS, MERCURY, NEPTUNE, AND URANUS.
1t is difficult, however, to realize that
this can be the planet that aroused so deep
and worldwide an interest at his opposi-
tion in 1888. His right ascension is l hour
and SO minutes, his diameter minutes,
and he is in the constellation of Aries.
Mercury is morning-star until the 23d,
when it IS in superior conjunction with
the sun and becomes again an evening"
star. He is now too close to the sun to be
seen with unaided vision. Even were the
distance greater, the southern declination
of the planet would render it almost i'm
possible 10 pick hun out in the early twi-
light. He is rapidly coming north, and
his size is also increasing very fast, so that
we shall soon be able to see him at his
best.
Neptune is evening star, and we can get