Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-11-01
SKIES In NOVEMBER.
A BRILLIANT DISPLAY or METEoRs
MAY BE EXPECTED.
An Ee,,pso Of tho Moon VIII Not Ne visi-
bic in This Lstitade--Movemsntso OF
the Planets During the Month.

the meteors. The earth In November wiil
surely plunge through the great meteor
zone that lies in her pathway about the
f4th. and meteors will be seen on ths
nights OF the 18th. 18th, and 18th. says The
New York Times. though no one can tei
beforehand whether more. brilliant dls,
play than usual will reward the patien,'
watch OF the observer. or whether tne IAN
ing stars will be few and far between.
Every wear brings Us one step nearer fht
expected epoch when the neteors IN NO
yember win fall like the raindrops IN
tropical storm and the heavens will seen
to be on FIRE. The year 1899 is set Tor this
grand celestial illumination, and IT'S not SC
very far away. Zach succeeding year be-
tween now and then may show Us An IN.
creasing pyrotechnic display. tits thought
that III course of time. instead OF num-
Der of years elapsing between successive
meteoric showers. there Will be display
well worthy our admiration each year.
The msteors are technically known as
Ieonids. because the point from which
they seem to radiate is IN the constellation
of the Lion. which is known astronomi-
cally as Leo, and are easily distinguished
from other groups. They move swiftly.
are characterized by q Rreenish or blush
tint. while the trains they leave behind
are brilliant and remain for some Sc
conds. The best time TO look for Leonids IS
about 8 o'clock in the morning. whom Leo
il well above the horizon. though they
may be seen at any time during the night.
ROMANTIC HISTORY.
The Lconids have romantic history.
II has been proved that in the year 12G of
our era Temples comet came very near
Uranus. which turned the comet from its
course and imprisoned II IN our system. IL
has ever since continued to revolve in the
orbit in which it was compelled 10 move
by resistless mower. the perihelion rest
ing on the earth's orbit and the aphelion
reaching bevond the orbit of Uranus. The
comet reaches the earth's crossing place
once in tnIrty-three aud q quarter years,
and then the great meteoric showers occur.
In the case of the Leonids the meteor
swarm follows the comet. Many astro-
nomers believe that the comet itself is the
thlckest part of the swarm, and that the
meteor swarms are simply the debris Of
the comet.
With q speed considerably lessened from
the brisk pace taken in October. the sun is
iourneYIng on toward the winter solstice.
his motion in declination at the close of
November being only half what it is ct
present. The decreasing foliage warns us
that winter is approaching. and that SHOWS
and frosts are to be endured before we
again have Old Sol on our side the line.
The radiance of these autumn twilight
evenings and their golden setting. the
ever-varying lights and shadows. the
magnificent coloring of the leaves, oil pro-
duce halo of wonderful beauty that be-
longs to no other season of the wear.
November also contains as an interesting
celestial phenomenon an eclipse OF the
moon, the last event of the kind for the
wear: but, unfortunately, we are not al
lowed TO see il in this latitude. IL is all
the more interesting from the fact of its
being total eclipse. Its beginning will
be visible generally in the northwest por-
ton of North America. the Pacific Ocean,
Asia, and the easterly portions OF Europe,
while the termination of the spectacle will
be seen in the northwest Pacific Ocean.
Australia, Asia, Europe except ENGLAND
and SPAIN, and the east portions of Africa.
The event takes place on the dav Of full
moon. which is when the earth is in line
with sun and moon and between the two,
so that it forms shadow into which the
moon moves and 80 loses its light from the
sun. Full moon occurs on the 4th, and.
although no new developmentsaree expect
ed. a description of the coloring of the
moons disk is always of interest. The
phase of the LAST quarter of the moon oc-
ours OH lut llbHs lpilOMth ~
new moon, which makes its appear
ance on the 18th. and the first
quarter. on the 9th. The first Of
the monthly lunar conjunctlons is with
Jupiter, on the I'd, and were 1t not that
the moon Is so near the full we should
have q rare treat. as the planet is so large
and beautiful and the two are so very close
together. Still, if the night prove fine we
shall find ourselves taking a second look
at the picture. Neptune has his visit on
the 9th, but fails to give us any particular
pleasure, as he is so far away and so very
hard TO determine. Saturn, Just after the
day of last quartering, will offer something
worthy of an encore. as the waning crescent
and the planet are very close to one an
other.
AN ATTRACTIVE NUMBER.
The most attractive number on the pro-
gramme will be on the 18th, in which
Venus and Luna are the star performers.
Less than a quarter of degree will sepa-
rate the two, and as the moon IL about
halfway between tho third quarter and
the new the size of her disk will not be
sufficient TO interfere. On the 18th Uranus
and the moon are at their closest for the
month. Mercury follows, and then Mars.
the last on the goth; but not one of the
three will be of any particular interest to
about midnight on the 29th, and although
the meeting is not quite so close as the
one earlier in the month it promises to be
most inviting,
Venus still reigns triumphant in the
morning skies and shines most gloriously
some hours before sun-up. She is drdwing
altogether too close to the sun, and II will
not be long before we shall cease to see
her beautiful face. The eclipse. however.
will result in our having to gaze upon her
at more favorable time, for her disap-
pearance as q morning planet means that
when she comes back to US IL will be as
queen of the evening skies. She is at pre-
sent in the constellation of the Lion, and
the wonderful mcteOrs that have been
mentioned may be taken as rays of daz-
Zling brilliancy emanating from the faireSt
of all the planets.
Jupiter Is quite the most interesting of
the evening planets, and although he Is
drifting slowly away and his diameter IL
steadily decreasing. his bright disk sparkles
in the heavenly vault, rendering him very
easy to distinguish from his surroundings.
His two meetings with the moon-the one
on the I'd and the other on the 29th-are
rather remarkable on account of the close
proximity in which the two will find
themselves upon both occasions, so il we
miss the first night we can promise our
selves that the second will be equally
worth looking out for.
Saturn is coming is coming out from his
long retreat and is again attracting the at
tention of those whose early rising admits
OF their taking in some OF the most inter-
esting of the ta5leaux recorded on the
monthly bulletin. He is gradually draw
ing away from the sun, and when we find
him next year ranged among the evening
twinklers he will be larger and more bril-
liant than We at present see him. He is in
the constellation of the Virgin at present.
VOLATILE MERCURY.
Mercury reaches his greatest eastern
elongation on the 23d. This means that he
is at his point of greatest distance from
the sun during this period of bis swinging
around the circle. Every now and then
Mercury bobs up serenely, and we are
somewhat surprised to see him, and often
wonder why we have not seen him in
apparently the same place night after
night, as we do the other planets. His
volatile disposition evidently needs closer
watching than that of the other men,
bers of the solar family-so Old
Sol keeps him close under the pa
ternal wing and only occasionally allows
him to wander far enough IRON home to
be seen by mankind. A night or two onl "