The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-25
THE HEAVENS IN DECEMBER.
Venus Now mt Her Brightest, Jupiter
on High at Midnight.

December is always sure of having
one very important event distinctly to
mark it in the early calender, and that
is the arrival of the sun at the ex-
IRENE southerly point in his journey
The winter solstice, as this is termed,
occurs on the 2Ist when the sun
enters the constellation of Capricornus,
and astronomical winter begins The
sun on that day will have reached
% degrees q minutes in southern de-
clination, and, all powerful as he is,
cannot move a second further south
ward, but, to the universal joy of all
who dwell in the northern attitudes,
turns northward his smiling face. His
motion in the heavens is so slight for
a few days that he seems to be almost
at a standstill, but then a change
comes, q. minute is soon added to our
day, and when the year closes, four
minutes have been redeemed from the
grasp of pitiless darkness. Although
the mercury is falling as the cold
becomes more intense, and the storm
king binds us firmly in icy letters, the
sun is coming north, and we find our
shadows at noon getting longer.
The new moon comes in on the 9Th,
quite early in the morning.
The earth on December 80 is at its
nearest point to the sun for the year,
or in perihelion, as it is called. The
orbit in which we revoIve about the
sun is $50 million miles in circumfer-
ence. So that we glide along at the
rate of no less than $4,000 miles an
hour, or 1000 miles minute.
Among the planetary brotherhood
the place of honor for the month be-
longs to Neptune, the most distant of
oil hn nj -
companions, for he is today in opposi-
ton to the sun, or just twelve hours
behind
Saturn is gradually becoming an at
traction before the cycling dawn of the
early morning sky causes the golden
points of light to pale from sight
Mars. another of the morning stars,
is moving away to the westward of the
sun, and as the month closes will be
almost three hours from his majestic
presence. The rudy planet is growing
larger, and consequently presents a
far more imposing appearance than
offered few months ago. On
the 9Th we will find that Mars and
Uranus are quite close together, as
they are in conjunction, with only a
very little space between.
The fair face of Venus needs no
praise Ever since early May it has
peeH growing larger, untll now 1t Is
almost four times the size it was then.
The Respondent queen has also come
almost as far to the eastward of the
sun as she is allowed to wander, and
on December 6 she will begin to move
toward the sun again to gradually
lessen her time above the evening
horizon, and finally to melt away from
view. AT the time Venus is following
the example of the setting sun, Jupi-
ter's majestic presence is becoming ap-
parent in the east We have him to
grace the sky throughout the night.
He and the stars surrounding him,
that glimmer and throb in the grasp
of the midnight, are high in the zenith
about IL o'clock, reaching there earlier
and earlier upon each succeeding night,
and at present remaining in view until
the pallor of the morning steals over
the heavens and shuts out the piano.
rama of the nigl1t.--N. Y. Times.