The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1894-01-06
The Planets for january
n Astronomy and Ast-o Physics.

/ From Astronomy and Ast-o phvsics.
/ Mercury having been at greatest
western elongation December Ii, will
III January be too close to the sun for
observation. He Will be at Superior
conjunction January %, at h. So N.
\. u.
Venus, which has been such a bril-
liant object in the early evening sky
during the past month, Will be still
more brilliant during the first part Of
January. This planet VIII attain its
maximum brilliancY on January 10,
when the light viii be 2l8, as compar
ed with 1i5 on December !. The pos
ition of Venus is becoming a little
more favorable for observation in
northern attitudes, as the planet
moves nOrthWard in declinatiOn.
Venus and the crescent moon viii be
in conjunction on the morning OF Jan
nary 10, and the two Will form a pref
ty pair on that evening and the pre-
cedng.
Mars will be morning planet during
January, visible in the southeast after
o'clock The low altitude Will pre-
vent good observations in our lati-
tude, but south of the equator
something may lie done in the study of
the surface markings of the planet,
Mars and the waning moon viii be in
conjunction on the morning Of Janu-
airy 3. the latter passing t deg. south
Of the former.
Jupiter Will be in excellent position
for observation during the first half Of
the night in January The planet viii
be stationary among the stars Of Tau
rus on January -, after which it viii
move slowly eastward. The great
red spot" was well seen by us with the
1G inch telescope on the night of Octo-
Der 81 It's center was on the central
meridian OF Jupiter at II h. 81 IN,
Central time, as near as we could es-
innate This time agrees closely with
that predicted by Nh Marth. The
spot was seen without difficulty, al
though the color was quite faint The
color was exactly the same as that Of
the belt just to the south of it, and the
two objects merged into one another
without the slightest change in inten-
sty Of color. The outline of the spot
seems to be the same as in past years,
except as stated above, that its south
ern edge is merged into the belt. There
seemed to be two white clouds over the
central portions of the spot, the fol
lowing Of the two being the larger,
The seeing was excellent during this
observation and much of very minute
detail was seen in all the belts.
Saturn is getting into better posi-
ton for observation in the morning,
but the majority Of observers viii pre-
fer to wait two or three months until
the planet is visible in the evening.
Saturn VIII be at quadrature, 80 deg.
west from the sun, january II Sa-
turn is II tie constellation Virgo, a
little northeast OF Spica, and is NOV
ing very slowly eastward. The moon
viii be deg. south Of Saturn at noon,
january II
Uranus is III the constellation Libra
a little way east Of the star a. 1t
IS not yet in very good condition for
observation in our latitude.
Neptune, having passed opposition
in December, will be in excellent posi-
ton for observation in January. It
VIII move very slowly westward dur
ing the month, the position January
being a little more than one-third Of
the distance on straight line from
to Tauri. There is no star of equal
brightness within radius of / deg,