The evening times., 1896-11-30
BRIGHT DECEMBER SKIES
Consultations Visible to the Oh
server ofStarry Firmament.
VENUS PECULIAR LUSTER
She Will BE Morning and Evening
Star-Mediaeval SuperstitiOns Re-
gardfng Planetary Influences.
Some Traces of 1t Still Left in
Our Language.

In course OF tne mOntn oil DeceinueI tht
moon will be new on the 4th, in the first
quarter on the 1th, full on the 9th, and in
her last quarter on the 9th. She will be
nearest the earth or in pedigree. ON the I'd
and 30th, and most remote, or in apogee,
on the 4th. II the moon moved around
the earth In "A circle there would lie neither
perigee nor apogee, as she would always
maintain the Same distance from the eartii-
The orpit;i paths of these celestial bodies
have been found to be in ellipscs OF greater
or less eccentricity, and in no instance IN
circle; in fact it would he Incompatible with
the laws OF such ce ntral forces AS act upon
those revolving bodies If their paths were
circular.
lnt, line which joins the points of the
moons ma Ximum and mi minimum distance is
called, as in the case OF the earth with re-
spec; to the sun, the line of apsides, and IL
is Il singular fact, though sufficiently
natural one TO anybody that is versed in the
principles of analytical and celestial me-
chanicS. that his line Of apsides, both i'll the
case of the earth and of the moon, Is in
continua; motion, only in the case OF the
moon far more swiftly than in that of the
earth. The time of the complete circuit of
the moons line of apsides is nine years.
WINTER SoLSTICE NEAR.
The sun in its north and south motions is
slowly approaching the winter solstice,
WIlltH1t VIII ifit - lsi pI the illOHlH,
when its declinatlon will be % degrees, %
seconds aud . minutes, while at the be-
ginning of the month it was 21 degrees 56
minutes and 80 seconds. The length OF
the shortest ,iay for this latitude will be
hours 81 minutes. which time, of course,
does not include the morning and evening
twilights The first glimmer OF the morn
ing twilight will appear 1S minutes AZ
seconds before q O'Clock, and the last IL
lumined spot in the celestial vault viii van
ish s minutes AZ seconds past o'clock
in the evening.
puring tn- tiDn.h OF December the planet
Mercury will traverse the consultations
Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricornus. In
any clear December night soon after the
king of the day has descended below TIRE
horizon. and considerable while before
the evening twilight has been absorb al 10y
the darkness Of the night, one cannot fan To
see Venus shine forth with her peculiar
luster, which makes her the morning and
evening star par excellence on the soIth-
western portion of the sky. She will dis
appear from view about $50 O'Clock.
During the eariv ia Z OF the month V-nIs
will be in the constellation Sagittarius, and
during the remainder dwell In Capricoraus.
MARS AS EVENING STAR
Mars, like his sister planet, will figure
as an evening star, not as brilliant as the
latter, but outshinng all other stars that
are visible, with the exception of Sirius
This planet will form. with the brilliant
first magnitude stars Capeila and Aide
baran, very conspicuous triangle that
cannot but arrest the admiration and stt,.n-
ton of anyone thay looks up at the sky
in n northeastern direction.
Mars and the distant planet Neptune will
h.. ciose together about the middle al. the
month, at a distance equal TO Phad and
Megrez in the Great Dipper Both are in
TO- n
and Uranus are in Scorpio at the short uis-
tance of two degrees from each 9th .r. Close
conjunctions of planets. at least of the light
er ones. have never failed to attract the
attention OF the behoItier, elicit his admi-
ration and imprint themselves upon his
memory.
In November. 1924. the three bri ght plan
cts Venus, Jupiter and Saturn were so close
together as TO excite at that age of super
stition and ignorance feeling OF appre-
hension that this phenomenon might fore
bodc a great catastrophe.
SUPERSTITION PREVAILED.
Until more vigorous diffusion Of knowl
edge gradually dispelled that dense cloud |
of ignorance and superstition which forms |
such peculiar characteristic of the me- |
diaeval age, not inappropriately called the |
dark. an Influence upon the destiny of man |
was attributed to the planets and stars that |
never existed and never could exist. And |
even now there are stlil persons who look |
at those astral worlds with unat feeling of !
awe which is engendered, not by the ma |
iesty Of the universe, but by puerile fear |
of superstition.
The fact that for so many centuries even |
men not destitute of me eutal power could |
put faith in the charlatanry of astrology |
proves how firm a hold these notions had |
taken of the minds OF men. Our very Ian |
guage shows traces OF this undue influence |
by such words as consider contemplate, sat |
ernine, jovial, mercurial, disastrous and |
others. Still, though we may look down
upon astrology, as upon alchemy, with a |
contemptuous smile of pity, they both gave
an impulse to two powerful and useful |
sciences, astronomy and chemistry, with
out which mankind would be in a pitiable
state OF helplessness.
INTRA NERO URIAL PLANET.
Before we enter upon a description of the |
consultations visible during the month of |
december we wish to say few words In re-
gard to q subject which, when il was first |
brought up, attracted good deal of atteri-
ton. This subject refers to what is called |
an intra- ncrcurial planet, that is, one be-
tween Mercury and the sun. When, in the |
year 1853, the great French astronomer
Leverrier, whose name isindelibly connected |
with the history of the discovery of the
planet Neptune, detected a movement in the
perihelon of the orbit of the planet Mercury,
which could be accounted for only by sup
posing Il disturbing attraction on the part of |
planet whose orbit was within that of Mer-
curry, the actual existence OF such planet |
was regarded as an established fact, even by |
men who would not likely adopt new theo-
ries from mere hearsay.
This supposed new planet received the
name of Vulcan, which crept into number
of text books as one of a newly discovered