Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-12-09
THE SKIES IN DECEMBER.
Brilliancy Of Venus and Jupiter-Particuiar
Beauty OF the Winter skies.


The four phases OF the moon during the
month OF December are As follows: New
moon on the sth, first quarter on the l6th'
full moon on the 22d and last quarter on
the 30th. The two planets. Venus and
Jupiter, seem 20 rival with each other
In brilliancy. The former Is In the south.
west. and may be seen before the twilight
has darkened into night. In It's superb
beauty II cannot but arrest the ATTENTION
terest In the beautiful map OF the heavens
which lies rolled up before him. Inc
part Of the evening star II has. however
TO share with Jupiter, with this difference,
that, while Venue sets about quarter
past 8. the klngly Jupiter will continue
sending it's brilliant Hight until nearly
5 O'Clock In the morning What enhances
lts appearance Is the fact that II is IN
the beautiful constellation Of Taurus, ana
in the proximity OF some or the most
brilliant stars OF the whole vault or tne
heavens. 1t may be quite pertinent 70
remark here that the position OF Jupiter
can De more easily ascertained than that
Of any other planet. The time which Ju-
Piter requires to accomplish one revolu-
ton about the sun Is twelve years so that
II stays about n year In each ots the
twelve cancellations OF the zodiac: Aries,
Taurus Gemini Cancer, Leo, virgo,
Libra, Scorpio. Sagatarius. Capricornus,
Aquarlus, Pisces. For instance, last year
at this time, Jupiter was In the constel-
lation OF Aries, and this year It Is In
Taurus. which Immediately succeeds
Aries. and next year We have to look Tor
IL In Gemini.
During this month IN course OF which
the sun reaches it's southermost limit,
the winter solstice, thence to return north,
says the Baltimore SUM-, the ASPECT
OF the sky IL OF extraordinary beauty.
Some Of the consultations which have
BEEN attracting our attention for months
have either set or are on the point OF
setting. among others, Hercules. Aa9llSa;
Lyra, and Cysnos, and with these bright
stars Altar and Vega and the beautitul
northern cross. as Cygnus IL sometimes
appropriately called, are passing from our
view. no longer to delight our eyes IN
the evenings until the warm rays OF the
sun melt the ice and snow OF the mount
aims. and cover the fields and forests
with verdure Of spring and summer. Au-
riga, with milk-white Capella ana Iau11
rus, with Aldebaran, have nearly reached
their meridian. Taurus, including the re,
markable cluster of the Hyades tand
Pleia1es forms i'm itself one OF the strik-
ingly beautiful considerations OF the hta,
yens. but harborlng In It's midst the royal
planet Jupiter. IL presents this winter
a douby fine and impressive picture. BE
low 1t, toward the east the hnest CON
stellation in the whole armament, Orion
IS climbing up. IL Is so eKuberantly beau
tiful that to see II once and know itS
name IL will indelibly imprint itself
upon our memory. II displays us granu-
eur TO both the northern and the south
ern hemispheres. and can therefore De
SO n by the whole habitable world. There
are three stars together in a straight line,
constituting the belt Of Orion ana per-
distances from II above and below are
two stars of the first magnitude-hlgei
and Betelgeuse. There are seyenty-elgnt
stars In this constellation which may
be seen with the unaided eye. OF when
two are of the first. four OF the second,
three of the third. and htteen OF the
fourth We parenthetlcally mention here
that by an eye of normal power OF vision
and unaided by magnifylng lenses stars
Of the first six magnitudes may De seen.
With the noble instruments now In use
AT our leading Astronomical Observable
rias the stars becoming visible preclude
enumeration.
BELT OF ORION.
The three stars OF the second magni-
tude which, as just mentioned. form the
belt Of orion, make 2 line eXacty tnree
pairing celestial angular distances on
this account they have been not inappro-
priately called the Ell and Yard. Some
for their relative position Is different rom
any other three stars In the armament
We find them also mentioned occasionally
as the Three Kings; because on one sue s.l
and on the other Sirius. the most brilliant
fixed star In the heavens. In the Book OF
lob they the called the Bands OF orion.
When Europe lay PROSTATE at the French
hirh rank obseQuiously gave them the
name OF Napoleon. which like the French
imperators power ard glory, proven
ephemeral. Three small stars below the
belt form the sword OF Orion; This con-
stellation is further distinguished by con-
tanning the most prominent of those ce-
lestial phenomena which for centuries
have attracted the attention OF astrono-
mcrs-the Nebulae. The so-called Great
Ncbula OF orion IL situated in the sword
below the middle star of the belt, ana
n can be seen with telescope OF mode
rate power. This nebula surrounds a
star which. with the aid OF powerful
Telescope has been found 10 be septuple.
We reserve for a future article an eX-
PLANTATION Of the exceedingly interesting
subject Of nebulae and multiple stars
two phenomena OF which prove in an
eminent degree that the human mind In
its thirst Tor knowledge and It's power
Of discovering the means OF penetrating
even the giant depths of the heavens,
shrinks from no obstacles and no efforts,
ami finally succeeds In unravelling mys-
ferries which have bafled mankind for
thousands of years. In the splendid array