The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-05-11


Two interesting events in the move
ments OF the planets are due in May.
One is the opposition of Uranus, and
the other is the conjunction of Venus
and Jupiter. On the 8th of this month,
Uranus, the first planet whose discovery
is recorded-the others having been
known from prehistoric times-is 1SO
degrees from the sun and in best posi-
ton for observation. If any discoveries
are made regarding this distant member
OF our solar system. it will be at or rear
opposition.
Now Uranus generally has but little
interest to the amateur observer, be-
cause at his brightest he is equal only to
sixth magnitude star, the faintest vis-
ible to the naked eye. Then it is nat
urally supposed that planet which it
took the eye of Herschel to discover
must be too remote to allow of consider
alton by any one other than profes
sional astronomer. Such is not the case,
however, and if one is ambitious to see
Uranus, he may rediscover the planet
with no other aids than good opera
glass and a sharp pair of eyes.
The planet is in the constellation
Libra, which is we'll above the horizon
soon after eight o'clock during the even-
ings of the first week in May. 1t may
be recognized by three bright stars
forming triangle with the obtuse angle
to the west. 1t also looks like bended
bow, in which, if the stars represent the
string, the arrow would fly toward the
east. The two upper ones of the three
stars are the brighter. With those two
Uranus at present forms an equilateral
triangle. The constellation will be more
easily found as it gets higher in the sky,
and for this reason, the nearer the hour
chosen for observation is to midnight,
the better. For the benefit of those
readers who can consult star map it
may be said that the two bright stars
mentioned are Alpha and Beta of Libra.
Uranus, of course, to the naked eye and
with an opera glass will appear the same
as star. and consequently the only way
toidentify the planet will be to make a
very careful map OF the small stars IN
that immediate vicinity, and then to
compare the map with the sky three or
more evenings later. If one of the stars
fhof i. hn
satisfaction with which one will be filled
at having discovered an object which
escaped astronomers for over hundred
years after the invention of the telescope
will be ample reward for the trouble. If
one is successful in finding Libra and
patient enough to map the small stars
visible in an opera glass for several sue
cessive evenings, success is almost GER
tain.
Because of the moonlight it will be
better to defer the search for Uranus
until the middle of the month, when it
rises about seven o'clock. The moon
blots out the smaller stars, and the diff
ference between the exact time of op
position and one or two weeks later will
have no effect as far as our purpose is
concerned. At nine o'clock on the even
ing of May 9th, however, the full moon
is in conjunction with Uranus and only
five degrees to the south. By fixing in
mind the position of the moon at that
tina tho 0bearuar mill hauo N 4cloralIx,
accurate idea of where to look for the
planet.
Uranus was discovered by Herschel
on the 18th of March, 1881, and was at
first mistaken for a comet. The discov-
erer announced it as such to the Royal
Society and it was nearly year before its
real character was generally admitted.
Herschel wanted to call the new member
of our system the Georgium Sidus in hon.
or of England's king; but, as some one
has said, the heavens contained the
names of too many immortals to permit
the addition of a mortal and the name
Uranus was finally adopted. Uranus is
some $50 millions of miles from the sun
and consumes 81 years in making his
circuit of the heavens. The most pecul-
lar thing about the planet is the fact
that its four satellites revolve around
their primary backward or in an oppos-
ite direction to the motion of everything
else in the solar system. certain comets
and the satellite of Neptune alone ex-
cepted. This fact has been urged as an
objection to Laplace's nebular hypothe.
sis.
The other May event to which atten.
tion should be drawn is the conjunction
of Venus and Jupiter. For months the
two planets have been drawing nearer
together and simultaneously the former
has been becoming brighter than the
latter. Venus is now almost too bright
TO be compared with any other star or
planet; but one must be very careful
not to use the superlative in speaking of
the light of the planet now, as she does
not attain her greatest brilliancy until
late in July or early in August. That
statement will be hard to believe as one
admires Venus in the western sky dur
ing the early May evenings. No direc-