The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1895-12-19
TINE HEAVENS IN oEceuBER.

Of December will be a. follows: Full
on the End, last quarter on the 9th, new
moon on the 10Th, first quarter on the
oath, and full moon again on the 3lst.
OF all the heavenly bodies the moon,
next to the sun, 10 the most important
to us. The moon il not . very large
body, its mass being only about l-s6
that Of the earth; but owing to its
proximity to the earth 1t exerts con-
siderable influence upon the latter.
This influence manifests itself by two
important phenomena. viz: the tides
and the procession Of the equinoxes.
The power Of the moon to raise tide
In to that Of the sun as the ratio OF 2.
If the moon and sun are in . straight
line with the earth, or to use the Ian
guage Of science, when they are in con-
Junction and opposition the tides are
equal to the sum Of the lunar and solar
tides. These are known IS the spring
tides. When the moon il at the times
Of the first and last quarter, each Of
these two attractions raises a tide at
the expense Of the other, and these are
known as the neap tides.
On the 9th the moon will be in peri
gee, and on the 23rd in apogee. 1t
may not be amiss to remark here as to
what is meant by perigee and apogee.
That point in the moons orbit nearest
to the earth, Is called her perigee, and
that point furthest from the earth her
apOgee. There is conjunction Of the
moon with Neptune on the End, with
Jupiter on the 9Th, with Venus on the
18th, with Herschel and Saturn on the
18th, with Mars on the 14th, and with
Mercury on the 18th. The AstrOnomi-
cal winter begins on the 2lst at 38
minutes past 8 o'clock p. m, at which
time the sun enters the sign Capricor-
nus. The sun at this time seems to
stand still for several days, he has
reached his sOuthermOst limit, the win
ter sOlstice is now taking place, after
which he will again turn his face
nOrthward to bestOw his light and heat
upon those living in the northern hem
isphere. Although the dominion Of
snow and ice is now shattered it will
be weeks and months before the change
will be perceptible in our ATTITUDES, but
each succeeding week will bring us
nearer the time when spring and fOw-
ers will hold full sway.
With the oldest heather nations Of
the earth, their year began at this
great natural epoch, when the sun had
reached its sOuthernmOst limit. 1t was
to them the time of dancing and the
making Of offerings to the various gods
they worshipped, and on whose power
they relied with the greatest conf
dence. The difference between appar-
ent and mean time, or better known as
the equation of time, is at its minimum
about the time Of the sOlstice, and there
is not much change in the time of sun
setting and sun-rising; but by the first
Of January there will have been an in
crease of day light amounting to little
over three minutes. The extraordinary
splendOr Of the winter skies has at
tracted the attention of mankind in
every age, from the time the PharaOhs
held the children of Israel IA bondage,
and Rome levied tribute 81 the world
to our own present time. When upon
a cold, clear night one looks upward at
the magnificent panorama spread out
before him, is it not enough to excite
a feeling of amazement? Can we won
der that the science of Astronomy has
been cultivated by mankind in all ages?
For 1t is at once the most interesting,
the most exact, the most sublime, and
the most useful of all the fences,
When we consider that many of these
stars and planets are much larger than
our own world, how can we think that
they were created simply for US to
view? Are we not almost forced to be-
lieve that many of them are inhabited?
Some, no doubt, by mortals, like our
selves, and others by the immortals.
During this month Venus, Mars, Jupi-
ter, Saturn and Mercury are all morn
ing stars; an occurrence by no means
common. The kingly Jupiter will
rise several hours after night fall, and
shine the balance of the night. He is
distinguished from all the other plan
cts by his enormous magnitude. His
volume is more than 400 times that of
the earth; in shape he is very spheroi-
dal, and his brilliancy renders it very
easy to distinguish him, as he Outshines
all his surroundings. Can we wonder
that the Romans called Jupiter the god
OF the air? Jupiter, at this time, is in
the constellation Of Cancer. Last year
this time he was in the constellation
Gemini, and next year this time we
have to look for him in the constellation
Leo. Jupiter requires about II years
to make one revolution about the sun
so that he dwells about year in each
Of the twelve consultations of the
zodiac; Arels, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer,
Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius,
Capricornus, Aquarlus, and Pisces.
Jupiter is much distinguished for the
remarkable manner in which his satel-
lites or moons are situated on the
border line which divides the objects
visible to the naked eye from those
which require the aid of a telescope.
Some nave stated that they have seen
these moons with the naked eye; but it
seems little strange that although
Jupiter has been a familiar object to
the unaided eye for thousands of years.
yet the satellites were not discovered
until Calico looked at them through
his newly-lnvented telescope.
saturn can be seen in the east for
several hours before daylight during
this month. Next toJupiter, Saturn is
the largest of the planets. 1t is like
wise attended by Satellites. But still
more strange appendage is it's Ring.
broad wheel which encompasses the
planet at great distance from it.
Saturns system ia on an exceedingly
grand scale, but owing to his great dis
lance from US, something like 100000
OOO miles, we are unable to obtain the
same clear views of his phenomena as
we do for the phenomena of Jupiter.
Saturn and Venus will be in coniunc-
tion on the 22nd, being not quite a de-
gree in declination apart. The beau
tiful Venus rises about O'Clock in the
morning. She is in perihelion on the
nth. We know less about Venus and
her phys condition than we know
OF many planets that are at a much
greater distance. This is because of
her proximity to the sun. The d,ame-
ter Of Venus is about 1905 miles. It
has been recently established that she
mas an atmosphere; but its extent and
density have not been yet established.
Mars rises just before daylight in the
morning. The deep red color of Mars
renders it particularly distinguishable
from the fixed stars or other planets:
perhaps, ofall the planets, Mars possesses
the most interest for us. The time of
IFS dIOPnAl rotation 80 .hore