Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1897-03-11
SKIES DURING MARCH.
Irregular Motion of Sun In Right As
cension and Defamation.

Irregular Motion of Sun In Right As
cension and Defamation.
wonderful Beauty of Planetary Coniigura-
tion-ysnus at Her 6rentest BriiitaRcy--
distance of Mars From j upiter-obliquity
4 of Earth and Planets.
Baltimore Sun.
her first quarter, on tho 18th full, and
on the 18th in her last quarter. She
will be in apogee on the Sth and in
on the equator on the Goth. From the
Goth the lougth Of tho day will slowly
but constantly gain on that of the night,
and the sun. with ever increasing rate,
climb up On northern arc until 1t will
reach its maximum distance from the
equator, on the 2lst of june. The
irregular rate of the SUMS motion,
both along the equator, or to speak
technically, in right ascension, and
north and south, or in declinatiop, and
along any horizon is somewhat per-
picking to mind unfamiliar with
geometric reasoning, but after all not
difficult of apprehension. 1t must be
clear to any one that uniform motion
along straight line, for instance, can
not be so with reference to any point
lying outside of the line in which the
uniform motion takes place. For
example, person walking in straight
line at uniform rate will approach a
certain point in that line at that rate,
whereas he will approach point with
out that line at continuously varying
rate. Surprising the sun to move in
the ecliptic at constant rate-which
itdoeH not do on account of the ellipti-
cal shape OF the latter-it will with
draw from or approach the equator at a
constantly changing velocity, and this
is true also in regard to great circle
cutting the equator under right angle
and passing through the usual and
autumnal equinoses, the two points
at which the ecliptic intersects the
equator. This explains the changeahle
rate OF the sun in declinatiUn and right
ascension. This rate is greatest at and
near 1.-THE equinoses and least at and
near the solstitial points which are the
pofthernmost and southernmost limits
OF the SUMS motion in declination.
The nearer the sun comes to the
5olstices the more its path tends TO
paralelism, and, as natural conse-
| quence, the more slowly it recedes from
| the equator. III the SUMS motion in
declination were uniform, it would be
a very easy matter TO determine the
duration of the longest day in ATTITUDES
exceeding those of the arctic aud
antarctic circles. Within those limits
| the declination of the sun and the lati-
tude of the place suffice to make the
| calculation.
The planet Mercury will be in Capri
cornua during the earlier portion, in
| Aquarius during the middle, and in
| Pisces during the latter portion of tho
month. Venus, at first in Picses and
| then for the remainder of the month in
Aries, is higa up in the sky and GER
| tainly next to the noun, the most bril-
| liant object in the evening skies. She
shines with lustre which will attract
| the attention of the most indifferent
observer, though the ignorance of any
thing that concerns the starry worlds
on tho part of not few is 30 dense
that they admire this beautiful blanei
without knowing its name and charRc.
ter. She dues not set before quarter oil
10, and hence may be seen above the
horizon for a considerable length Of
time, especially as her brightness en-
abes her to BIO visible long before tht
twilight has passed and the total dark.
ness of night has wrapped the earth il
her sable mantle Venus will assume hol
greatest brillancy On the 2lst o
March. Tho planet Mars is still in
Taurus, but will have entered tn,
boundary lines OF Gemini by the end o
the month. II is still between Capell;
and Aldebaran, forming an obtuse tri
angle with these two fine stars. Jupi
ter is in Leo, and as it has risen at {
time when the brighter stars will flasl
forth on the evaning skies, 1t will b'
seen during the whole night. TIL
simultaneous presence of these thre,
magnificent planets lends feature Il
the aspect of the heavens which canuo
fail to engender profound impresso,
upon the gazer's mind. Drawing al
arc from Jupiter in the east to Venu
in the west. it will nearly pass through
Mars, which, about the 10th of th
month, will be a little over Il degree
distant from Venus and nearly 66 de
grees from Jupiter. All the planet
/ move in a narrow strip across tn
heavens, and this narrow strip has beef
called the zodiac. The crnstellatioa
within this belt are called zcdiacs
consultations and all the planets III US
! be sought in one or the other Of thes
, twelve consultations. The word zodia
comes from a Greek word which signi
fios animal. since all the planets within
the zodiac bear the names OF animals
with tbs sole exception of Libra or tn
, Balance. A short time before Venu
sinks beneath the western horizon th
fourth of that splendid array of planet
will ascend over the eastern horizo
. and add its lustre to the beauty of th
/ sky. This is the great ringed plane
i Saturn, which for some time has bee
. lingering and for some timo to com
will remain in the beautiful constella
q tion Scorpio. Uranus, alsu, is i
: Scorpio, while the remotest of th
: plunets-Neptune-is, like Mars, j
Q Taurus. The reader who enjoys th
. privilege OF possessing telescope ma
see Uranus at short distance Of 2 de
I grees and 30 minutes from Saturn an
q Neptune at a distance of degrees an
: 40 minutes from Mars. Uranus an
Neptune, the former of which is neayl
q two billions and the latter nearly thre
billion of miles from US, are far tc
remote to be seen with the naked cyl
but a sufficiently powerful telescoE
v will bring their ro und disks out of IL
Q depth of space, fact which has new
u been accomplished with the most bri
Q liant fixed stars. 1t is, we presume
u well known to the reader that the il
cination of the equator of the earth
ite orbit is an pbliuue angle, an in