The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-04-06
Our Special OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
STUDIES IN APRIL SKIES.
By GEORGE T. HUGHES.

ABOUT seven o'clock in the evening
during the first week in April there
rises in the southeast a bright star
conspicuous for it's pure white light.
1t is Spica, the chief brilliant in the
constellation Virgo. At the same
time higher up in the northeast shines
another star fully as bright, but
yellowish red in color. This is Arc
turus, one of the three brightest stars
north of the celestial equator. These
two are the only first magnitude stars
in the eastern sky at this time and
for this reason cannot be mistaken.
Arcturus and Spica are stars of the
spring, while in the southwest the
great Orion and the flaming Sirius,
the glories of Winter, are setting.
No surer warning of the passing of
time is afforded than by the rising
of the stars. They rise about four
minutes earlier every night, and
consequently when late in January,
between eleven o'clock and mid
night, / catch the first glimpse of
Arcturus slowly rising above the
northeastern horizon, l hail it as an
indication of spring as joyfully as
the bird lover does the first notes o.
the song sparrow.
1t may be somewhat later than
seven o'clock before. Spica gets high
up enough to be readily recognized.
A little more than an hour later an
other beautiful object rises, but
slightly farther to the south thln
Spica. 1t is not star this time, but
planet, and none ether than Saturn,
whose rings have made him famous
ever since Galileo with his little tele-
scope discovered them. Saturn is in
opposition on the Oath of April, and
consequently holds first place in the
planetary record for the month. As
an additional means of identifying
the planet, notice that the three last
stars in the handle Of the "big dipper,"
Ursa Major-a constellation with
which every one no matter how mea-
ger his astronomical knowledge, is
well acquainted-notice that these
three stars form curve. Prolong-
ing that curve to the east and you will
come to Arcturus. Continue and you
will come toSpica, while the only con-
spicuous object below Spica is Saturn.
The deep yellow luster and steady
light of the latter also serve TO dis
tinguish it.
Having found Saturn, watch from
night to night how slowly he changes
his position, and remember that this
planet was we'll known to the ancients
whose only method of discovery was
to observe that the planets shifted
their places among the consultations,
while the stars preserved their rela-
tive positions unchanged from year
to year, even from century to century.
The opposition of Saturn last year
took place on the 11th of April and
he was then very near to Spica, 80
that in years time the planet has
not moved farther than the distance
which now separates it from Spica.
1t takes Saturn twenty-nine and one
half years to complete the circuit of
the consultations.
The rings OF Saturn are turned up
to the line of sight at an angle of
about II degrees, SO that they are
much more plainly visible than last
year. 1t was the fact that the plane
of the rings, like the earth's equator,
remains fixed as the planet revolves
around the sun, that so perplexed
Calico when he first found them.
This causes the rings to appear to
observers on the earth twice in each
revolution of Saturn as inclined at
an angle of 2S degrees, and twice
they disappear altogether because we
then look at them edgewise. One of
these disappearances came soon after
Galileo's discovery and he never
solved the mystery, and Huyghens
in 1866 was the first to explain their
true structure. OF course to see the
rings requires a powerful telescope;
but it is interesting to know what
wonders are concealed in the soft,
calm light of the planet on the spring
evenings. Saturn is in conjunction
with the moon on the afternoon of
April 10th and the two will be not
far apart on the evening of the same
day.
A planetary event of some interest
is the conjunction of Jupiter and Mars
ON the evening of April 25th. The
two planets at that time will be les,
than two degrees apart. They are
both in the constellation Gemini, or
hetwe6n Aldaharan and the T,v;ns