The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-12-08
STARS IN DECEMBER.
TIE HEA VEINS AT NIGRT TIE MOST
gEA yTIFUL OF THE YEAR.
After tho Twenty. Or We sha'l Have More
Minutes ofSanIigbt--Moon snd Mars
I'm Conjunction

winter begins. The sun then touches inc
almost limit OF southern aeehRstlon the
Gays ave of the minimum length, and the
shadow OF the MINT no longer enStodcheS
apcn the bgnt o. day. Old sol Us, no"
ever, quite lazy about getting out OF pea
thsss l,setmLer MORNINGS, ana inc ma
1oTity OF uf are ny some niue Ine "
fore We can gee glistening golden Deans
in the f.f east. which tclis Us that HiS
titchVn hte has been made.
VI IL sometime hard 70 ten IN nOu
tasg sky what is actually hish ana what
u Low. b., We can saieiy can lhe pam
OF iae winter sun a very low one IN the
heavens. a. We rec them in our lettuoe.
THE shOri. chilly days IN themselves are
yonNinCEg enough ~ they hasten gloom
lily 20 their close without our having
had much more than eight hours OF sun
tght. AS the SABLE pail Of night falls
dsrkly over The earth we cannot help "A
feeling OF desolation. mingled with scr
row. OYER the feceding hght. ava the
fact that the gear is almost 1T us
close.
But &c Is only for little while that the
sun seems to stand stiil in his course, \
Chance soon cones, minute Is addfh 10
the shortest day, and graceful shadows
at this time at their longe1t, once MOI MOI
begin TO shorten. That first precious
minute OF sunlight IS the harbingtI oi
physical life. the sign IN the beavers
chat the laws that sway the universe VIII
not fail tht first trophy IN the compa'
between light and darkness. me ehahee
Invisible at sight is detected IN a lew
days by FAINT lingering IN the glow
of twilight, and. I'm few days more.
there Is no lOngou doubt, the sun mas
turned his smiling face northward ana
she DAYS have percepubly lenStheued, as
qhree minutes have been added 10 their
length whom December closes.
When the last afternoon OF the year
passes. the earth. In pcrhclion, - three
million miles nearer the sun Than IN
July, and the great day star. III nearer
vicinity, Is mildly tempcrlng the winter
oil -. L.. t..t ,l "a fan nf no
~ temperature zone. The ctarlIt December
sky is superb, for IL Is erdced by the
most beautiful stars and consteliations
nj this season Tho nlnc>S runs high' the
celestial picture cannot fail 20 be ennob'
ling and uplifting. and all whose souls
are In harmony with the grand spectacle
spread out above viii no doubt pay their
tribute 10 It's maenilicence.
While tho fixed stars are so far away,
much further than We can fully cOfnpre-
bend, as there ceases 10 be much s'gnih-
canoe TO distances computed TO millions
Of miles. a very ema1l change In their po-
sition can be discovered 4 tolerably
thick pencil mark placed about n hundred
FEET distant VIII Su9tend the angle mat
must be measured rs order to md the
distances OF the fixed stars, and instru-
ments OF precision have fairly accurately
determined these distances. Stellar pho
Biography has come 10 the rescue, and
while fixed star always appears as
point OF light only, in large. as in small
telescopes. photography has enabled a
much more accurate measurement to be
made than any other method
More than the mere ascertainment Of
their distances has been accomplished i'm
many Instances. There is a surprisingly
large number Of binary stars, consisting
OF two cO1npOnents revolving about their
common centre Of gravity. AS soon as
the period OF revolution Is known by OBJ
serVation II becomes possible TO calcu-
late the mass Of the combined system IN
terms OF that Of the sun, and the d.
mansions OF their orbit Wonderful as
this is, II has been surpassed by the dis
ssGVery' by means Of the sp-ctroscope, OF
Olhsry systems whose cOmponent6 are
SO close that no telescope is powerful
enough TO separate them. and yet il is
PosssiiD,e 70 calculate their orbits and We
Ioclues' Mlzar, the second star in tho
tai OF the Great Bear Is an excellent IL
thtrauon. Looked az on a clear might.
IL is tolerably easy 30 zee close Ia il n
by the horses head" Mar nself ,S S" r.e
solved by the telescope into a ,louble
star, and the principal component is it,
't tnd a q, SpectTIostcopic double, with a pc
pu Oh revolution Of l0i days, an orbit
.-nout the size of that of Mars. md a
mass Ts Iorty times that of the sun.
No., ne moon mat came In on the 9th of
.tusr, .ionth arrives at the phase of frs
&C. "a. ter on inc 9Th, and three days later
- IN conjunction with Mars n fairly close
,heetihg that VIII he more interesting
tbe am, any We have had recently. although
a.. ..ie SKY. I'm consequence. somewhat
700 bright. The next lunar conjunction
forr %un aNsptuhe and occurs on the l2th,
ioi""eu JUST after the full of the moon
10y similar meeting with Juniter bIit
mere is roo great an amount of clear sRNS
Tween these heavenly bodies for pretty
80. eaus' ne phase Of last quarter ot-
CUTS on the 18th, followed n few dorg
lster by conjunction with saturn and 9n
me following day with Uranus, Mercurv's
h r1n Lneh comes; and the yearly record is
anti rGisNt 10 close by Venus having a
Huite loo distant meeting with Itnn
Inc last new moon for 1894 comes in on
tne -oth, the moon being far south i'm de-
n , AZ the end of the year the
niuon - -FOUR days old. and this deter
mines the golden number for the year
ilsure or much importance Ia church
Cdiehuars and called golden because i
~. was i9rHlerly written in the calendars
Venus Is now an evening star but her
nrst appearance for the winter will moi
De made until after the new wear has
;G ION H. me lovely fair one is still hid
screen formed Of the brilliant RAYS of
me sun. When this glorious evening
star is above the horizon no other star
T Gan compare with her in softness OF
Hsht and deHcacy of tint. Observers win
aJoce IN her presence, even though at
nrst she be small and comparatiyeIv
rant In lustre for the time of her great
ntss Is approaching. when. on starlt
bhe Will reign without fear OF rival The
pIshet is In conjunction with the moon ON
the %tth, the day after the new moon
which shows fair Venus has not adj.
eanced so very far away from the, SUMS
BY far the most conspicuous object I'm
the evening sky for December is Jupjter
who Is at present approaching the point
at winch he Is in opposition with the SIM
q position which ne reaches on the 31d'
W was IN June that We had the planet
un conjunction, and now we find him i'm
all his glorious radiance. rising about AS
1he sun has disappeared, and remaining
win us throughout the night. and untfl
Ehe gray dawn silvers into clear dav. in.
plter z disk is now half as large again
az ' was SIX months 20. and We can have
q nne look at his moons.
The difference, and a ye~y yreat ono
y unfortunately is. between Jupiter and
Neptune Is that the former is plainly in
evidence. while the latter has TO be taken
saibeR OF rain. Thts perhaps somewhat
hitc remark Is made on account of the
planet which represents the god of he
ocean being also in opposition To the sun
7or. as the latter gides below the west
ern horizon on the 9Th. Neptune hobs M
serenely over the line on the eastern side
OF our horizon, We must turn our glass
ss toward the constellation OF the bun
We would find Neptunes general where
ap9uts, ana about degrees north Of
AIdebaran, the reddish, bright star I'm The
eye OF the bull we shall find NEPTUNE
us present position is well suited for
observation and those who have never
seen this most distant planet Of the avs.
tenn VIII ma amusement III looking him
up before he drifts from sight
Mars mas no doubt been very AT
fractive feature 10 us all ever since he
was ~ opposition In October His ruddy
face brings cheerfulness, as we watch
along no