Evening journal., 1897-08-04
THE AUGUST SKIES.
Mercury, Mars and Jupiter
Will Be in One Constellation.
A TRIANGLE OF BR1ILIAEoE

A TRIANGLE OF BRILLIAN0E
sATURN's RINGS MAY BE SEEN
THROUGH OPERA GLASSES -JU-
PITER'S GREAT BRIGHTNESS
WILL ATTRACT ATTENTION TOI
THAT PLANET.
The four phases of the moon during
the month OF August are as follows:
First quarter on the 5th, full on the
l2thj last quarter on the goth and new
on the 27th. She will be in perigee on
the fth at 1.54 y. m, and in apogee on
the goth at Alp a. m. The line which
connects these two important points in
the moons orbit Is called the line of
apsides, and Is not fixed Il makes a
complete circuit within the brief time Of
nine years. The position of the sun will
be II degrees, 54 minutes north OF the
equator on the first and degrees and
2S minutes on the last. shortening by
its southwark course the length of the
days.
Mercury will be in Leo during the
greater portion of the month. but pass
into Virgo toward the end. Venus will
be on the boundary line of Taurus and
Gemini at the beginning of the month,
but about the middle enter Cancer.
This planet, rising about 2 o'clock in
the morning, will shine as a morning
star. Mars will be in Leo, but toward
the end of the month reach the bound
airy line of that constellation and Virgo.
Jupiter is still in Leo, so that the three
planets Mercury, Mars and Jupiter
happen to be in one constellation DUR
ing Tho greater part Of August. On the
18th Of the month they will be closest
together, forming triangle whose sides
are Z degrees and % minutes, l degree
and % minutes, and 5 degrees and So
minutes, the distance between Mercury
and Jupiter being the shortest OF the
three.
The planets Saturn and Uranus are
both in the beautiful constellation Scor-
pio. and at the short distance OF ~ de-
grees from each other. A good opera
glass directed to Saturn would reveal
the fine picture OF Saturn gracefully
poised within it's rings and the planet
Uranus within the same field OF vision
Saturn Is at a small distance from the
star Gamma i'm Libra, which, with Al
pha and Bella, forms an almost right
triangle at Beta, the three brightest
stars in that constellation. The only
one, then, of the brighter planets that
will embellish the evening sky of Au-
gust is Saturn, as Jupiter sets too early
to be seen.
JUPITER'S BRIGHTNESS.
When an inferior planet like Venus
whose orbit is enveloped by that Of the
earth, is in inferior or superior con-
junction, even the dullest mind will
conceive that these positions will infiu-
ence the intensity OF its brightness in a
considerable degree, and the same re-
mark holds good in the case of the SUI
perior planets, Mars and Jupiter, whose
orbits lie outside OF that OF the earth.
The brightness of a planet as 1t ap-
pears to us depends both upon its dis
tance from us and its relative position
TO the sun and earth. The reader will
reeallect that the maximum brightness
of Venus takes place neither when IL Is
full that is in superior conjunction,
nor when il is nearer the EARTH but
when at a certain elongation from the
sun. The greatest brightness of Jupiter
occurs when il is at the nearest oppo-
sition; the next when il is
at its remotest opposition. and
least when it is at conjunction,
these three degrees of brightness being
in the ratio of q, is, 10. Although this
difference is not inconsiderable, it falls
far short of that in the case of Mercury.
Venus and Mars, as the reader will re-
member.
This great planet, with a mean dame
ter Of eleven times that of the earth,
and n bulk of 1900 times that of the
latter, and with an average distance of
nearly half a billion of miles from the
aI.g he, "a in, rlk
twelve years, while its synodic period
is only 500 days. Since its density is
rather less than. fourth the earths,
its mass is about SIG times that of the
earth so that a body weighing a hum
dred pounds on earth would weigh 263
pounds on the surface of Jupiter, and
consequently a Jovian has to make
nearly three times the exertion in NOV
ing his limbs that the terrestrial man
has to make here. If the size of an in
habitant of Jupiter, il such exists, is In
the same ratio to the diameter of the
planet on which he dwells as that of
man to the diameter of the earth, he
would have the formidable average size
of sixty feet, so that in the eyes of a
Jovian the tallest OF our men would ap-
pear as a very pigmy. In consequence
of Jupiter's orbit being so much larger
than that OF the earth the great planet
exhibits no sensible phases. and in this
respect greatly differs from Mercury
Venus and Mars, especially the two for
mer Contrary to what one might an
ticipate, the time of an asial rotation OF
this colossal body is only about ten
hours, and as the plane of its equator is
inclined but three degrees to that of its
orbit, there cannot be any such seasons
as We enjoy on oar earth
RED SPOT AND SATELLITES.
The disk Of Jupiter when viewed
with a telescope presents some peculiar
features in the shape of spots and
belts. Some of these spots are indeed
<eNanescent, but Others are not, or, al