Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-04
THE PLANETS IN JULY.
Surprising Beauty of the Moonlit and
Starlit Sky.

From the New York Times.
July is exceptional for the snrpassirg beauty
of its moonlit and starlit sky, and this happens
most fortunately at the season of the year when
outdoor life is most attractive and those who
take pleasure in the study of the starry heavens
are best enabled to pursue their investigations.
Beneath the grand sky reach that arches over
the seashore, the mountains or the rural resorts
the planets are found playing their allotted
parts amid the glory of the stars.
Our satellite is no insignificant member Of the
planetary community during the month. She
passes through five phases, two Of them being
that of first quarter. the list and on the 31st.
Twice she heads her shining path low down in
the south, where she seems so much nearer
than when, on winter nights, she scars high up
in the north. She is lovely as. in crescent
form. she meets and passes the planets. and the
brightest stars which make the July nights
beautiful as q dream.
The earth has also her mission to perform
on the monthly calendar. for she was in aphe
lion on the LIST at o'clock in the morning. She
was then 3 600 900 miles. further from the sun
than in January. The inhabitants OF our north
temperate zone have reason to be grateful that
the heat Of the sun is mercifully tempered by
his greater distance.
The sun now rises about Ais O'Clock and sets
about 20 O'Clock, making the days somewhat
over fifteen hours in length. Before the month
closes we shall find that our dayligh. has been
reduced by an hour from what il at the
time of the summer solstice There is q differ
ence in declination of degrees as the sun
moves toward the equator and his speed visibly
increases at the end of the month, his motion
then being three times as rapid as it is today.
Venus, once so conspicuous an object in the
evening skies, shining she did with unpar-
aleled splendor, is. alas, now conspicuous by
har Aau or fbo cty
night closes in it is with feeling of disappoint-
ment that we turn away without being rewarded
with a glimpse OF heavens fairest twinkler.
On the 9th Venus ceases to be grouped among
the evening stars. she is on that day in in
ferior conjunction with the sun. and, having
passed that luminary, she joins the morning
stars. and once more challenges Jupiter to q
contest for supremacy. In another month,
then, the early riser will see her fair face shin
ing in the east, the harbinger Of approaching
day.
Jupiter is in quadrature with the sun on the
18th, which means that he is a quarter of the
circle or ninety degrees away from the orb Of
day. He will continue to move slowly in u
northerly direction until August 10, when he
turns to the southwark. In September he
reaches his largest size. but will not be any
smaller this year than we see him at present
On the 10th. the day of the last quartering of
the moon. Jupiter and Luna are in conjunction.
and in the few hours before dawn on the 18th
there will be picture of rare celestial beauty.
and the two bodies will form its mos. striking
features.
The pale. dull star in the western skies
throughout the evening is the planet Saturn,
which does not possess quite the came amount
of interest to US at present as he does when his
wonderful rings are showing and he is nearer
the earth. Saturn and the four-days-old cres-
cent of the growing moon are in conjunction on
the 28th and we shall have a fair picture to gaze
upon If the NIGHT Droye clear az Reo,llus opd
Spica. both frst-magnitude stars, and others of
the brighter stars OF less magnitude are in that
locality ready to form brilliant setting to the
piece.
look at him and keep him in view for n month
for it will be number of years before he will
again be favorably placed for our observa-
ton. He rises about 9:45 O'Clock in the even
ing, and gets up still earlier as the month adj
vances until he manages to bob up just as the
sun disappears.
1t is known today that there are many points
of similarity between the earth and Mars. The
Marsian axis inclines to the plane of the eciptic
a: exactly the angle of the axis of this earth
and therefore the Marsian seasons will CORE
spond to our own.
Mercury is evening star and il drawing away
to his furthest eastward from the SUM- which
position he reaches on the 29th, and will then
begin TO retrace his steps. II We look about 10
TO the left of the sunset point after the sun
SINKS TO rest We snail md @ twlnkler brighter
than those about him and shining with a clear
white light. This will be Mercury on one of his
periodical visits to a position where he enables
US to have a look at his face. The planet when
furthest from the sun will be in the constella-
ton of the Lion. and about half way between
Mercury ard the sun is Regulus, bright, first
magnitude star.
Uranus begins the series Of conjunctions with
the moon, being within three-quarters of de-
gree OF that luminary yesterday. On the last
day OF the month the growing crescent and the
distant planet are again together, a closer meet
ing than the first. only space equal to the
diameter of the moon separating the two.
Uranus is an evening star. is in the constellation
of the Virgin and about degree south Of Spica,
the brightest Of the group.
Neptune is the morning star. his right ascen-
sion being four hours thirty-four minutes and
his declination twenty degrees twenty-seven
minutes NORTH and ordinates that change but
little during the month. He is in the Bull
group and 10 not Of any particular prominence
| In this months records. His conjunction with
the moon on the 10th Ia at so great distance in
declination that the meeting is not near enough
for US to determine the planets whereabouts
with satisfactory approximation.
|