Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-01
THE DECEMBER SKIES.
Five Times the Moon Will Show Her Fun
Round Face, While Lovely Venus Steals
From Jupiter His Evening Glory-A
Partial Eclipse of the Sun.

The ann .nt.-, ~. s;rr of Canricornus
nm Decen,her OF 80 ,.ronomicaIIv snaoL.
w. uin,o, 49,, 1~;s Tba en-, tben
toncbas b;s f,,.,.hs r.. =; sortbe,n do
cIination oao o., a. aa-s .,o OF thar short.
oct ond fro,,, th,. E .;,.a ,u. I'd for a neriod
~ siI ,,ontns .,,. ...a ~ night No 1ono-
~ oncrooc,, ~, .,,a 49,. - d.v The ~. tb
~ tna sun Ia -. tha beaya,o tha :
the short da,,s go go, 20 has.en oIoomilv to
their close, and it will be well into the new
year before it becomes apparent that the
sun ID again approaching us, says tne New
York Times.
There will be a partial eclipse OF the sun
on Wednesday, invisible in this portion OF
the globe, and, in fact, it so happens that
the eclipse takes place between the space
occupied oy the far southern countries OF
Soueh America and the northern coast Oh
Australia, and SO will be visible TO put very
few of the worlds inhabitants. 1t lasts a
little more than tbree bours and half dur.
ino which soy,euhot more than one half of
I MI.
.no sun uish wiz ue opsouieu. po,
tlon Oh the eafth Will be more eIor1uha'e neA'
year, for at the time of the partial eclipse
in October it will be within the limits of
visibility.
Tho new ,,,,x g., ,r;r,. o,d ear,n
A., no ~" naoon COMES IN .,.,'nn Dlso "no 90.
the morning OF the lSt. AltnouSn, speaking
after the reckoning by which astronomical
data are compiled. there were five phases of
the moon Iost n,onth wi,en IL Is considered
I,. -. "Un, nv. ~ - IL
III 'he .,n,e ny which e'ehUs arc ueual.y
measured the phase ofnew moon lapses over
from November 30 to December1. This VIII,
therefore, give five phases of the moon for
December and 40 tho now moon comes in
- 90, 80 " W. NV -, ~, ;.
oh VIC OWN anu Is Duta uay oio "heh 'iio
year closes, the epact for 1891 will be one.
When the Moon is Full,
=,
difference between those phases of the moon
in which q portion of its disk is apparently
biddap and ,to dis,n,oor,noe 1rbile ecl;nsed
poao,,. a,.s;1,e. - -, -. .,,o ,,,oon
recent articies nave toid ABOUT the moon
passing into the shadow caused by the
earth's cutting on the sun's light While
the whole of the sun is ALWAYS bright. half
If +h. ,,oo,, 20 a,,,,.,,a =, d.yiross Nbcn
~ ~. 0no inoon 20 asways III , ia, Nne
the DllSnt sue OF the moon Is turneu oirec.hIy
uoMaiu Lhe en- III, a cOhpiete cpo may uo
anu ~ Is saaa sIat 'i,e ioo Is SAT- az IIS s
I iuli. On other occasions portion Only ol
the Drlgnt surface Is turned toward tne
cartl, ano mus are Pr0uuceu tne oea,tiiul
Of tbe moon p
Suppose case that may aid in clearing up
thrnh th,s httea t anu t9r enamPae. & ,ake peep
see how ne yiews the earth To him the
earth probably appears the same as the
moon does to the earth's inhabitants. only
very much larger. AT tne perloo caIiea ne"
u1oa tue d;Is SUI " Se ett tn. W %r Iii
see an earti, nearIw tni, and conseonentIv
Douring forth a Hood of light. Think of the
brightest of ali the bright moonliRhts ever
seen, and then try and think OF what it
would be if there were 13 moons, all as large
and as brilliant as the full moon, shining to-
gether
That is about the sort of illumination
the circumstances. The earth-lighted side
of the moon naturally cannot he comma red
in brilliancy with the sun-lighted side, but
the brightness will still be nerceptfble. so that
he sees this glow distributed all over the
dark portion: that is. he observes the feebly-
lighted globe clasped in the brilliant arms Of
the crescent At later phase the dark part
of the moon entirely ceases to be visible
and this for double reason; first, the bright
side of the earth is then not so fully Turned
to the moon. and therefore the illumination
It receives from earthshfne is not SO great,
and secondly. the increasing size of the sun.
lighted part OF the moon has such an aug
mented glow that the fainter light is over
powered by contrast.
AR,x., for Jrn,ter
AVA
In December jupiter will no longer
zb,ne unrivo,ed ae the most consnicnops
-, - - ~ ,p.
pianet IN the evening SKIES. riVai Is COM
giant and wrest from him the sovereignty
that he has welded for so many weeks Fair
yenus has already emerged from her long
recInsion within. fhe ennis ravs and NAV he
-,
seen serenely sniIlns IN 6ne sunset gov
by those VINO are Diessed by Keen power OF
vision. Sne Is now only an h0ur Denlnu the
sun, pmI tne alseahce Is Srauuaiiy lncreasiag'
ana Will continue TO 40 SO until MAY, Wnen,
navlng gogten TO 1ne emu OF ner traveiS IN
1hat olrectlon, sne VIII oegln reeracihg ner
steps: que P[oniises, nomesSr, W De iaISei,
anu II possiSse' NOR Ueauria tne co'lnlH t Ie
wear than Sne nas peeh oulIhs 1ne Pas' II
h9ntHs, anu 'nao nt Is say g,iI Ing sIeac usal
within Sao Of the sun Or will he on tha date
In what is known as quadratnre. From this
II can Dc seen 'ta' t As eaAem snv sneF ef
tha nath in which f. moves as in Febrnarv
he was in opposition, or 1909 from the sun
1t will be matter of great interest from
THIS on during the clear, bright, crisp
wnter evenings 10 wNness tne Grauusl
coming toeeImer ol bne Two rlVals-oupller
ana venus. Ihelr meeting occurs early IN
feDruary, Wnen tne TWO viii De very close
together, ana the tableau will be well worth
Drawing the frosty air to view. On December
!, Just before quarter1ng, the moon and
= Juplter VIII De IN conjunction, put the great
lu alneTence IN aecilnaIion sepafatlng Ine TWO
Will detract very much from the Dfilnancy
Of the meeting.
. saturn Is morning star, ana ms serene
llSnt VIII oe seen sninihS soitly LII tne east
ern sky at about the time the society devo-
tee IS returning home from his nightly
round OF gayety. On the 2lst at the time Of
the winter solstice, Saturn and the sun are
in quadrature. One might very naturally
suppose that this would mean that Saturn
ana Jupiter we're close togetner during the
month, but investigation reveals the fact
that, one being an evening star and the
other morning, they are on opposite sides
Of the sun and almost 1902 apart. On the
I'D Saturn is in opposition with the waning
crescent of the moon, but the meeting will
be devoid of the interest sometimes at
tached to these events, as the distance be-
tween the two is too great.