The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1894-02-17
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BRIEF stats.asats - 20 ths csusso -
These Csleseial Fhs.onAsse-z5
! The time Of moonrise on any da1 -,
/ on the average about fifty one mim4seo.
| later than it was on the preceding Aeyss
This retardation is. however, hy5Sm0s
means constant IN amount, bein9s -
times very much less. than the average
and at times very much greater. A.
very marked diminution in the tinn0 Of
retardation occurs about the tan1e OF
the full moon which falls in Septem-
Der. This moon IL called the harvest
moon. The same phenonenon, fM5as
less degree, occurs at the time OF the
next following full moon, which In
time of rotardation during the harvest
moon is less than half an hour In oar
latitudes. instead of its average value
of nearly an hour, and for several suc-
cessive nights the moon seems to 7rise
at nearly the same time. Z
Briefly stated the cause of the phe-s
nomenon is this: At the time OF the
rising of.the harvest moon the appar-
emit path of the moon among the stars
is much less inclined to the horizon
than it is at other times, and the ofdi-
nary days motion of the moon along.
this path makes an unusually small
change of position of the moon with
reference to its distance from the
horizon.
A more detailed explanation may
make the matter a little more easily
understood. In addition to the Ordi-
nary apparent daily motion which the
moon has In common with all other
heavenly bodies, it has another motion
by which it completes the circuit Of
the heavens relatively to the sun ones
a month, and the direction of this mo-
ton is generally net PARALLEL with the
direction of the diurnal motion. it be-
ing generally northward or south
ward as we'll as eastward. Anyone
may see the motion by hours
watching of the relative positions Of
the moon and star near it.
The diurnal motion is always on
line at right angles to a.,
celestial pole, the point in the heavens
approximately Indicated by the pole
star. 1t is always perfectly uniform
about the pole as a center, and 1t is
this which we take as our ordinary
measure of time. ~
Now consider the position of tho
moon and the sun at the time of full
moon. The moon rises just as the sun
sets. On the next evening at sunset
the moon will still be below the hori-
zoH, because it has moved eastward
among the stars relatively to the sum-,
and it will not rise until the diurnai
motion of the heavens brings il above
the horizon. If the moons motion were
uniform and always along the line OF q
diurna1 motion, this retarda-
lion of the time of rising would always
be the same. and would, as stated at
the outset, be ffty-one minutes per
lay. But at the time of harvest moon
The direction of motion of the moon
among the stars is considers bly, north
ward as we'll as eastward, and
1t the time of moonrise this line
makes a comparatively small angle
with the horizon, very much less than
t does at other times of full moon
Turing the year Therefore, at sunset
IN the day after the full, the moon
anving moved along a line which il m
lined to the horizon at a much smaller
lng1e than usual, it's distance below
he horizon will be less than the aver
lge, and hence a smaller amount of
liurnal motion will bring it into view
Using is less than it is at other times.
This condition continues for several
lays.
Several other things, notably the i'm
lima ton of the moons orbit to that
# the earth, and the varying rate OF
notion in the orbit due to variation OF
[istance from the Garth, tend to change
he amount of daily retardation, but
hey do not depend on the time of the
ear, and they ometimes intensity <
nd sometimes diminish the peculiar
of harvest moon Lati-
ude has strong effect, and in north
I'm Europe the phenomenon is much
more noticeable one than it is in the
United States. In fact if one goes far
enough north, the harvest moon NAV
Use even earlier on any night than it
lid on the night preceding. -Popular
science News. -
SHE MERELY WANTED TO KNOW.
And Did Not Realize that Her CurfOsity
Was Delaying Trahdc.
The cable car had just stopped at
he corner when she started to enterft.
Let the passengers off first yelled