The Portland daily press., 1892-03-07
THE HEAVENS IN MARCH.
Movements of Stars and Planets for the
Coming Month.
New York Times.1

New York Times.
The sun enters the sign Aries on the
10th of March at 10 p. m. The vernal
equinox then takes place, the astronomi-
cal spring begins and the days and nights
are equal all over the globe.
This last assertion must, however, be
taken with qualifications. Such would
be the case if it were not for refraction,
which lengthens the day from four to
eight minutes at the expense of the
night. When the suns disk is really be-
low the horizon, to us it has the appear
anee of having risen, sunrise being thus
accelerated from two to four minutes.
The reverse takes place at sunset, the
sun being visible for few minutes after
his disk is below the horizon. Refrac-
tlon, therefore, adds few minutes of
precious sunlight to the short winter
days.
The March phases of the moon begin
with the quartering of the new moon
that came in yesterday, on the 9th; there
is full moon on the 18th, last quarter on
the Dist and new moon on the 2Sth.
On the 18th Saturn and the moon come
within a degree and half of each other,
followed by Uranus on the 10th, which
latter is the nearest that the moon ap-
proaches any of the planets. Mars turn
come on the 21st, the day of the quarter
ing of the waning moon; Jupiter again
on the 9th, Mercury on the 18th and
Venus closes the monthly list by being
honored with a second visit.
Venus is evening star. The queen OF
stars is, during the month, peerless
among, the planetary family. She is
growing larger and increasing in brill
: lianoy, being now only about one-fourth
the size that she will be in July. Had it
not been for the greater interest that We
nus and Jupiter have recently attracted
the place of honor for the month should
perhaps have been assigned to Saturn,
for while Jupiter fades from sight Saturn
once more becomes prominent, as he is
in opposition on the 10Th, or at distance
of $50 degrees from the sun, and changes
from morning to an evening star. If
not as brilliant in the east in the early
evening as Venus is in the west he has
the advantage over his fair rival of being
visible long after she has sunk below the
western horizon.
His rings are now in a far better posi-
ton for our observation than they were,
and to those who have access to a tele-
scope study of these wonderful circles
and outer circles might, in view of the
present discussions that are taking place,
be of considerable interest for the pur
pose of discovering any possible accom-
panying fringes.
Mars is morning star. Rising some
four or five hours ahead of the sun he
gradually widens the interval separating
the two and on the Goth is in quadrature,
or ninety degrees away from the sun.
Mercury is far too near the sun for us
to see him, as he is in superior conjunc-
ton with that luminary on the 9th,
emerging therefrom to encounter Jupiter
some six days LATER as the latter is about
to be embodied In Old Soils warm en-
brace.
Uranus is in the constellation of the
Virgin, about two degrees south of Spi-
ca, which is bright, first-magnitude
star, the. most brilliant of the group.
Uranus is in conjunction with the moon
on the 18th, the two being only about a
diameter of the moon apart, SO that one
can form on that night a fairly good idea
of the planets whereabouts, the latter
being to the southwark. Then, if one
looks about four diameters of the moon
to the northward, he can see lSpica.
q Neptune is in conjunction with the
moon on the 4th, and this begins and
ends the interest in this last known
member of the solar family for the
month.