The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1896-08-08
THE SKIES IN AUGUST.

THE SKIES IN AUGUST.
The moon will bs In her LAST quarter
during the month Of August on the LIST
and 31st, new on the 9th. in her first
quarter on The 18th and full on the
I'D. She will he IN perigec on the lth
and In apoger on the 97th. The sun.
which OH the LIST of the month is Il de-
grees. 80 minutes. 81 seconds north Of
the equator, Will on the last he only
5 degrees minutes, A second distant
from 1t. rhus quickly iraversing In
course of the month an arc of degrees.
A. minutes. 81 seconds. We must needs
remind the reader OF This important fact
that neither the suns apparent motion
in decination. nor its apparent motion
in right ascension, nay, nor even the
actual orhital motion of the earth is
uniform and can not be 50 on account
of the obHquity of the eclipic and tho
elliptical form of the elrh's orbit.
When it happens t'iat Il; the time of
full moon she is near her noAesthat is,
the two points where her orbit around
the earth cuts the eclptlc--a lunar
eclipse takes place. which may be total
or partial. but never anniilar, siAce tine
thickness OF the carth'6 shadow at the
than the moon. y, tho time of new
moon, when the latter is between the
which varies in length, is long enough
70 reach the cartn, all places within
that shadow enjoy tho imposing spcrta-
Gle OF total eclipse of the sun. The
the shadow whore it strikes The sur
face Of the earth is 1G7 miles. Such IA
n1r'aI lunar and total solar eclipse
mer ON the 20 and the latter ON the
Sih. The lunar eclipse will ha visible in
our latitude but no. 50 the solar. The
pHih OF the solar eclipse viii he through
ing Nova Zemlia and passing in a
snuthoastern direction through Siberia. the
northeastern portion % the Chinese
CT yezo. The government, Of vari5 1ii
nations have detailed astronomers 10
phenomenon and especially to apuly the
much-improved methods OF photography
to II.
The planet Mercury VIII during tho
month pass from the constellation Cancer
into Virgo, while Venus will he in Leo.
We may catch glimpse of Venus toward
tho end Of the month. close to the western
horizon. Mars is in Taurus and does
not rise until late at night. Jupiter is on
the boundary lire of Cancer and Leo and
low down the horizon ready to disappear
from the evening sky. Saturn is In Virgo
about 10 degrees from the rathei bright
star Alpha Libra We have repeatedly
remarked that the distant planets | ranu5
mna Mf,hl'h" WIN their long periods OF
heavens relatively to the other stars with
exceeding slowness.
Before We continue our remarks on the
comets. II IS Indispensable 10 say some
thing of the Only possible PAINS y hlch
p;ahe,ary bodies, under the Influence OF
ecis raj forces. can desCr he We can not
ne supposed TO eater into a discussion,
the proper place OF which is In scientific
ftdtlsts, hui any reader, no matter how
'mil'd ihe mathcmati al training OF MS
nhd may be, " III readily understand the
hrici remark which We intend to MAKE,
anu which We can not help making. since
| ~ IS closely connected with the motions
| Of comets. Under the Influence Of such
forces as come into play TN all orb tai
motions, bodies can move only in three
| Huicront curves. called collectively comic
se;tiors, and distinguished by the names
/ Of cHlpse paraNoa and hypcrhola, The
sll!pso, of which the rircie $ only a spcc.M
| turns into itself and Is a closed curve,
/ while the TWO others never r~turn into
| thcnsclvcs, and consequently a celestial
! body which moves in rither a narabo'a or
( hypcrhola Will vanish forever and never
| -turr. Comets which have n more
! than ordinary degree engaged the atten-
/ non of the astronomer Dear The names
/ OF other The discoNrtcr or of some a iron
omcr who made important Investigations
!
year If their discovery, with "a Roman
| number au!Nod to them, which ind Gates
| "a" order OF pcrlhcliou passage. Some
times comet has two names, ore re-
! ferrnE 10 the lrs, h'scoV. rer ard the
! second 10 the rodiScnvcrer. As to the form
/ of their orbits the majority move in para
! bolle curves. "A the focus of 'shich, of
| course. the sun situated. OF the 20
comets, III" orbits of which have been
such parabolc curves. so that ccnpara-
lively very few move N cllips"s ard re-
tuln. The first of those whose orbit was
computed and found 10 be enip ioll is
| HalleY's. who discovered ii ~ lGSl. 1t has
a pen cd of 'wcrty-siN years, and after
/ having been observed several times since
,he year lsll. The second of tn, class
En-, ke's which ot all comets thus far
and onc-half years.
There Is quito a number OF comets hav-
ing short periods for instance, besides
the already mentonad ilanoys AMI
Enckc's, DC Nico's, Tnye's. R.cla's.
| l'rosons. \ very singular and important
feature Of these consists in the fact OF
thir approaching at times the planet Jul
pter 50 COSBY as TO render i, amos,
certain that there is connection he.
tween them and that planet There are
two comets which thus approach Saturn
closely, three with reference to Uranus.
on of the three last being Tempcrs
comet. which also has something 10 do
! with the November meteors, and Is IN
ne expected IN the year 1890 Uaucy's
eymtd, WITH five others stands In this
! nv'u''f rtaiion to the pA1et Neptune
ms SINGULAR connection that seems 10
tNlSt between a number Of comets ami
thesr arte planets Las led TO the theory
which hundred years ago was suegsstsj
hN inc great French astronomer Ianlaro'
ara vi en- IS simply this: That the plane'
orIs,,oi i,u'ur,. ne comet changed its