Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-06

Celestial Evsaes Down on the Program for
the Month.

Celestial Events Down on the Program for
the Month.
From ths New York Times.
April. the fourth month In the year. presents
many attractions for those who follow with I'M
wavering interest the ever-changing movements
OF the heavenly bodiea The greatest gift
however. that the month bestows upon rs Is
the full moon Of the 18th. for il holds the most
important place on the lunar records Of the
year. II is the first full moon after the vernal
equinox, and 1t determines, according to eccle-
sastical usage, that Easter shall fall on the fol-
lowing Sunday.
On the 9Th. three days before the full, the
moon and Saturn are in conjunction. the
planet being degree and three-quarters to the
southwark. The day after the full Of the moon
there is conjunction with Uranus, the latter be-
ing less than degree to the southwark. On
the 18th our satellite draws as near Mars as it
viii get for the month. Jupiter's turn comes
on the oath, just two days before the new
TO the sun and on the side opposite that on
which We last saw him. Opposition with Mer-
curry occurs on the 18th and with Neptune on
days old.
The closest as well Is the last citing for the
| month is on the goth with Venus, in which we
are promised a very pretty picture. only
three minutes of arc separate the two bodies,
distance 80 slight that it will hardly be per-
ceptible 10 our unaided vision. The two will be
drawing closer and closer throughout the even
ing. and 1t will be almost midnight before they
! are at their closest 1t will probably be some-
what hard for us to realize that the planet is
three and a half times the size Of the moon,
but its greater distance from us of course ac-
counts Tor the moon being apparently the
larger.
There will be q total eclipse Of the sun on
| the 26th which, unfortunately for u.s. will not
be visible in this portion OF the world. 1t ex-
| tends quite generally over the south Pacific
ocean. including the extreme west coast of
South America on the one hand and New
Zealand OH the other.
Saturn comes next to Venus as an object OF
planetary interest, as he is in sight almost all
night throughout the month and Is at present
III quite q favorable situation for observation,
low down in the eastern sky an hour or SO after
sunset He Is all the more conspicuous from
the fact that there arc no very brilliant stars in
his immediate vicinity. He is moving TO the
westward, but at SO SLOW a pace that he seems
to be ever in about the same place. He is in
| the constellation of Virgo and is getting graiu-
ally further away from the earth.
Mars Is morning star, rising about 80
CLOCK In the morning and gradually getting
up earlier as he draws away from old sol to-
ward opposition. Ibis long looked-forward-, TO
event will occur in August and, while it win
not have the beautiful features Of the last oppo-
stion. nor be CT such intense interest to the
superstitious, it may be the means OF thrilling
the whole world with intelligence of the most
startling nature. The last favorable opposi-
| ton" was in 1877, but a great advance in
astronomical knowledge has been made since
then. and it Is thought that the more powerful
telescopes OF today will reveal to US definitely
whether Mars IL inhabited. A stirring piece OF
news may be in store for US in the enervatins
dog days