The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-08-15

The Things To he seen In the Sky During
the Present Month.

The chief celestial event for August ~
the attainment by Venus OF her greatest
brilliance on the night Of the 18Th. or
more strictly speaking. the morning OF
tho 18th: vet this can hardly be called an
event. either. since IL Is part OF
continuous phenomenon. Venus having
gained gradually In light ever since she
became an evening star, cary IN ""
wear And although from the lftn, I'll.
will begin 10 lose light, get ne loss W." Nh
not become conspicuous unul near ~
end OF the month. Now Is the time lot
All nossessors Of good telescopes anu
good eyes 20 study Venus, writes ras
rett L. Seryiss I'm the Scientinc Atn.t'-
can, for the possibility exists OF il"h st
an important discovery concerning that
planet. -, <-o.,,
Europe the news that curious hotch
had been detected at the Vienna ooser-
vatory near the south horn of venus anu
observers I'm this country were adviser 10
look for the phenomenon. ana note ~
pcculiaritios. The meaning ot TINS IL
that Venus. which now appears IN W
form OF crescent moon. mas on lhe
inner. or concave edge OF the crescent,
near the southern end, narrow scaIVP
as if a bit Of the face OF the planet hau
been cut out there. The Ihenomehon -
not new one. II J as been seen many
times before, and reas Oning on inc pass
of what plainly appears on the moon III
similar tircumStances II would seem
that this notch in Venus may he caused
by the shadow of gigantic mountain
mass In the Antarctic region OF lnt
planet The importance OF caretui
study OF this and other faint MARKINGS
on Venus depends not merely upon the
information H. may give concerning the
surface features Of that interesting CLONE,
but also upoa the bearing It may have ON
the question Of the rotation period OF
Venus.
SchiaparelH has asserted that the fo-
tatOn Of Venus Is very slow, and that
probably II turns but once on its axis
while making 4 revolution around the
sun. u a. easy 10 see that. II such Is
the case, Venus possesses no aiterna-
tion Of day and night, such "a we en-
joy on the earth but that, on the
contrary. Il Is always day on one side
OF the planet and always night on the
other side. And the orbit OF Venus de-
parts so slightly from circle, ana her
axis is apparently so nearly perpenfic1-
lar 20 the plane Of the orbit. that there
can be very little iibration. Ia either
latitude or longitude. 20 affect the pre-
sertatfon Of the planets surface to-
ward the sun.
Now it must be confessed that without
drawing freely upon the imagination.
* is not easy 10 reconcile such state OF
things as that just described with the
conditions which would seem 10 be ueces-
sary In order 10 render a planet habita-
course. perpetual sunshine might not
prove destructive 10 highly organized iiv-
ing forms. for they could. In various
ways be shielded from the effects Of
such a superabundance of radiant ener-
gy and, on the other hand. life might ex-
list whore the only radiation received
came from the stars. But as | have re-
marked In a preceding article. venus y
so much Ike the earth In several otner
RESPECTS that one wOhi prefer NOT 10
oh "a - 50 much unlike 10 IN TINS.
unless the evidence OF the peculiarly as
cribed 10 her by the Italian astronomer
can be shown 10 be irrefragable H. -
very much 10 be desired, therefore, that
the present opportunity shall be fully
utilized 10 add as greatly as possible 70
our knowledge Of the markings ana the
motions OF Venus.
At the beginning Of the month Venus
Is In the southern portion OF Leo, ana
before the end she viii have passed mic
Virgo. Everybody. OF course. knows
where 20 look for her-iH the west afifr
shutdown. and nobody Will have 20 look
twice 70 ind her, but ANYBODY VINO can
see her once and not look again Is inter
TO toe despised than that imaginary crea-
ture OF Shakespeare, who hath no mu-
sic IN himself
Next to Venus. Saturn IS the most
conspicuous pinet now on view, AMI /
repeat my advice TO everybody who can
get the opportunity TO take "a good look
az it, marN ellOus rings. one might trav-
el 10 the confines OF the universe with
out finding anywhere an exact duplicate
OF them. To see them With an adequate
telescope is 10 become on the instant
astronomer. in spirit If not in practice.
Saturn remains some ten degrees east
~ Spica. the bright star OF Virgo. by
the end OF the month n will set too early
10 be adyantageously studied with tele-
Mercury. Mars. and Neptune are too
near the sun FOR observation. Jupiter
begins 10 emerge from the sunlight as
a morning star early in the month, but
will not be seen before the autumn
months. Uranus remains in Libra Few
degrees east of tho star Alpha.
The moon fulls on the morning or Au-
gust 9Th, in the constellation CaprcOr-
nus, and reaches last quarter near noon
on the 18th In Aries. Beginning It's cir
cult again as new moon on the morning
Of the 10Th In Leo, 10 attains first quar-
ter on the nth. about a quarter before /
A. NJ in ScOrpiO. In it, perigree on the
29th and Ia aposee on the an. \ parlni
eclipse OF the sun occurs on the morning
Of the 18th, but viii not BE- Visible IN TINS
country.
Ii will be observed that the moon is
IN perigree, or nearest 70 the earth. on
the day OF the eclipse, when, or course.
IL win be just In a lire from the ga rtn 10
the sun. Under such circumstances not
only is the moons tidal attraction great
est, bat its attraction IS al tae same
time united with that Of the sun. .Ihe
consequence must be higher tides than
usual. while those who believe tnat the
moons tidal pull on the earth is an eie-
mcnt IN the production 0f earthquake
should expect unusual phenomena or
that kind about the time Oh the eclipse.