Delaware gazette and state journal., 1897-07-01
THE SKIES in JULY.

Baltimore sun.
During the month OF July the moon will |
be III her first quarter on the 7tii, full on |
the 18th, IN her last quarter on the 2lst,n
on the 18th, ia perigoe ON tho llth a. noon
and in aposee on tile 23d at ~ Il. m. The sun |
will lie 70 degrees 5 minutes and 10 seconds |
north OF the equator at the beginning oil the
month, and pass during IL through M arc
OF degrees III minutes of declination, show.
ing an acceleration OF motion compared with
last month.
Ii the SUMS motion in declination is of
importance in regard to the seasons of the
year, the times aud the points OF the rising
and setting of the sun and the duration
OF daylight and darkness, its motion in
right ascension is OF importance as to its
changing position in the consultations.
While the fixed stars, whose proper motions
arc not percepuble oil account OF their
enormous distances from lis, do not senslbly
change their relative positions to each other,
the sun has very petceptible motion
among tho stars and performs during year
n full circuit within the belt of tine zodiac.
OF course this motion is but an apparent
one, as it is really the earth that moves in
the plane of the ecliptic. There is nothing
more interesting to us terrestrial inhabitants
in the whole range of the science Ot the
skies than this shifting Of our great lnni,
nary in consequence of the diurnal and
orbital motion OF the earth.
The rising and setting of the king of day
in clear weather is any where n nosl impres
sive aud majestic spectacle and presents IN
the different latitudes a varying picture. On
the north pole. which human perseverance,
| and intrepidity will in all probability yet
reach, the sun will rise at the beginning of
| spring, or rather, on account of relracllon.
1 about three DAYS before, and remain above
| the horizon for hall year, describing every
day circle around the heavens parallel 10
the horizon, which, ON the pole, comedies
,..tI I'm . Ixl..u te
overhead anu the directions of the compass
cease, there being really no north south.
| east or west points on the horizon. Between
4 the pole and the artic circle the sun will re-
| main for months above the horizon, the
/ diurnal circles not heng exactly parallel to
| the horizon, but very little inclined To II,
| while on the artic circle. or on account OF
| reiraction about half degree south of 1t,
| the sun will touch tho horizon ut the north
| point at the same time of summer solstice
but not sink beneath it, thus presenting
i the spectacle which sometimes and quite
| appropriately in called the midnight sun. II
cannot but produce wierd impression upon
persons accustomed to see the sun rise and
set every day to behold the fiery orb touch
| the horizon 10 reascend again the next
' minute.
On the Goth of the month one of those
phenomena will take place that from time
| lniluemorial have never failed to engage
kinda solar eclipse. Even those that are
quite familiar with tho causes that produce
IL, and may even be capable of understand
ing the intrinsic calculations necessary for
its prediction. cannot suppress a feeling OF
awe ON beholding this most interesting of
all the phenomena of nature. The eclipse
will be an annular one, visible on this
continent rs partial one In our latitude
II will begin ut hait-nast O'Clock in the
morning aud end II minutes past II o'clock.
The planet Mercury will be in Taurus at
the beginning of the month, in Gemini in
the middle and on the boundary line ol
Cancer and Leo at the end. Venus will be
in Taurus during the entire month and
shine as a morning star. 1t Will rise soon
after o'clock in the morning and be The
las nf the celestial objects whose light is
swallowed up by the superior refnlgenct
and the all-absorbing illumination OF the
king of day. Mars will be at the extreme
boundary line OF Leo, and not be visible
, either as morning or evening star. Jupiter
is still in Leo. though receding more and
,, more from the bright star Regulus, neal
which it has been lingering Tor scvera
months. IL will shine as an evening stal
until about $50 o'clock. As long as it i.
} above the horizon IL is certainly the mos
, | striking object in the evening skies
I and being near the western horizon il
, much resembles the planet Venus witt
which it may well be tonfounded by per.
! nDllS NnO Ibb hMdIt vi llt luNl Id
Venus is at present morning star and vii
. act in that capacity until the end of tho
I year. Saturn is in Scorpiu, and sufficient,
! | prominent to be recognized in its capacity
of planet anu n bright one, too though
, inferior to Jupiter. Alter the setting of th
=, latter Saturp will outshine all other object
in the heavens.
In the year l772 4 German by the name o
Q Bode established a certain series of numbers
= the law OF whose successive terms is yerl
! simple and easily remembered. Of thcs
4 | successive numbers he maintained that the
express in simple manner the relative dis
tanccs OF the planets from the sun. When
few years later Uranus was discovered ant
. its distance measured 1t was found that til
Z latter quite well agreed with Bodies law, q
it is called However, in this series there !
a a gap between the terms relating to the dis
4 tances of Mars and Jupiter. This gave ris
to a long entertained suspicion that ther
must be an undiscovered planet between th
last two planets mentioned This suspicion
served as an incentive to the discovery of
very small plant of January LIST, 1901, and i
I quick succession of similar small planetar
:, bodies. the first four of which are, in orde
" Of their discovery, called Ceres, Pallas Jun
ard Nesta.
Since that time great many more of thes
So called asteroids have been discovered, S
that at present their number amounts t
nearly 800. An American professor at Cir
| ION, N. J :, WHO lullt ItCtnlly ulclt uN
Q covered alone 52 OF them. All these asterod
a are exceedingly small, the largest and brigh
K est, Nestn, having diameter of only 81
II miles, while that OF the smallest so far d
n. covered is no more than 10 miles. Althoug
II we know but little Of their individui
II masses, it is certain that their aggregal
e mass, even those included that have not y,
j. been seen, cannot exceed the fourth part {
h the mass of our earth. 4 rifle ball fired o
/. un the surface of Nesta, the largest of theS
ii dimnutive planets would not return
whence it came and good baseball playt
- could throw his bail on the smaller on,
~ with sufficient force to ensure It's permanel
n separation from the body whence it WI
], thrown and thus convert II into body thi
9s on lis own account would circulate aroun
In the sun.
\. The principal consultations that in courl
4, of the month of July will be on and net
y, the meridian are Srorpio, Ophiuchus an
y Hurcules. Scorpio is one OF the zodiac
T. consultations and the most brilliant of a
IL of them Its cOnfiguration resemble
I'd much a boys kite with long tail. |
10 principal star is Alpha or Antares. a fir
r. magnitude star of iiery-red color, and
:. this respect resembling the planet Mars.
. fact, the word Antares means the rival
- Mars" Ares being the Greek name Fl
Mars. II is fine double star, with gree
companion, which, however, cannot
seen with small telescope. The secor
:, brightest star is on the top of the kite
- and rot far from it we see the planet Sattti
n whose proximity enhances the lntrins
lg beauty of the constellation. Somewh
nd northwest of ScorpiO we see two fair
sd bright stars constituting the principal mer
ld bers of the constellation Libra, aud mort
= west of Scorpio and Libra a-iong curve
stars convex toward the last-named CO
su stellation marks the extensive constellatic
W OF Serpens or the Serpent The head of Il