The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-01-02
STARS In WESTERN HEAVENS.

January nights are cold for outdoor pleas
ures, but the stars shine with unusal bril-
! liancy through the crisp air, and many are
tempted to watch and study them when the
skies are clear.
Hardly any one misses a sight of Venus
hanging in Respondent glory low in the
western heavens, Immediately after sun
down At the same moment the grandest
constellation OF the armament, Orion, with
his two great stars Of the first magnitude,
with red Mars and Aldebaran, are rising in
the eastern skies.
With Venus, Mercury will shine in the
sunset skies about January6 as an evening
star. He will have reached his greatest
elongation east ON that date, but his close
proximity to the sun hides all his rosy
charms. His visit to sunset skies is short,
however, as on the ED he is in inferior
conjunction with the sun.
Jupiter still IL orning star, but at
midnight is already high Above the east
ern horizon, easily distinguished by his
golden light, not sparkling as a star.
Steadily working his way westward every
night, atout February %, he will become
an evening star, and then vie with Venus
in reigning at the close OF day Saturn
and Uranus are also sons of the morning.
In astrological lore each year was sup
posed to have been dominated by one of
the visible planets. In accordance with
this idea, Mars is termed the governing
planet of 1897 What this means to super
stitious or credulous minds can only be
imagined Whether it forctells contin-
uat.on OF bloody strife and cruel warfare
in our little sister island throughout the
year, or whether all Europe's warlike
preparations shall be realized by one great
international strife, or whether even this
long peace blessed land shall view the
glare of the enemy's torch or hear the
tread OF the invaders horses, and see
a glittering array Of martial forces, is
only the fruit of a vain Imagination to
associate evil with ruddy star, and
foolish clineing to cid and long forsaken
and forgotten astrological lore.
In Orion the belt, the Fish mouth neb-
ula, Rigel and Betelguese are conspicuous
figures immediately below Orion, in d
line with the belt, shines Sirius, the bright
est star visible in the heavens here. Al
most in the zenith is Taurus. Mars is now
in this constellation and forms a triangle
with the Pleiades and Aldcbaran.
Next in the zodiacal constellation are
Gemini, the Twins, with Castor and PollUx
as the prominent stars, and Cancer, the
Crab, in which, on very clear nights, the
Beehive, n cluster Of dim stars, Is visible.
Leo rises somewhat later, and with him
Jupiter. CAMS Minor, with Procyon, and
Auriga, with Capella, complete the con-
stellations now visible containing first mag
nitude stars, for Vega and Altare have dis
appeared.
The Cross is slowly sinking from view,
and Pegasus is folio wing next in order.
Perseus is Immediately overhead, and con-
tains, besides the beautiful conglomeratiOn
of faint stars and nebulae, the remarkable
variable Algol Cassiopeia is just be-
meath him.
1t was In this constellation that the
peculiar variable star was noticed which
flared up in 1853 and shown for a short
time with a greater brightness than any
first magnitude star, and then began TO
vanish, finally faded from view, and has
never been seen again. tits supposed to be
a variable of very long period, and by
many is called the ''Star of Bethlehem"
which shone so remar kably at the Saviour's
BIRTH
The moon in her monthly visit will be
new on January 8, and full on the Sth.