Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1897-11-04
Motion of the Sun in Declina-
ton and Ascension.
THE POSITION OF THE PLANETS
Leverrier's Great Discovery of
Neptune.
1t Illustrates the Magic Power of Mathe-
mathioal Analysts and tho Ingenuity Of
the Human Mind-The Principal Con
stelIations Visible This Month.
Baltimore Sun.

in apogee, and on the 2ith ut a. IN. in
perigee.
The SUMS declInation will be 21o Al
south on the last passing through an arc
of 70 81 during the month,
The points OF the rising and setting OF
Che sun on the horizon is perpetually
shifting southwark and will reach their
southernmosG limits December 2lst. In
the apparent annual motion of the sun
We must distinguish between his motion
In declinatlon, that is, north and south of
the equator, ON which the seasons depend,
his motion in right ascension, that is par
allel TO the equator, and the motion of hls
rising and setting points along the hori-
Eon, the exact position of which require
the declination of the sun and the latitude
Of the place.
On the equator, the horizon Of which
passes through the poles, the sun as well
as the stars describe arcs which are always
perpendicular to tho horizon, position
which is called the right sphere. On the
poles, whose horizon is the equator, the
sun and stars move parallel to the horl-
gon, u position which is called the parallel
sphere, while at all ATTITUDES between the
equator and the poles the circles of dur.
nal motion are ublique to the horizon, n
position called the obliaue sphere. The
TACT that the latitude of any place is equal
to the elevation of the nearest pole above
the horizon is a very important one and
should always be remembered. Travel
ing northward the polar star will get
higher and higher, and on the north pole
itself it would be directly overhead. On
the equator the pole star is continually on
the horizon or very close to it, since the
pole star is IT. distant from the true pole
Of the heavens.
The planet Mercury will be in Libra
during the earlier portion of the month,
but in Scorpio during tho remainder.
Venus will be first in Virgo, then in
Libra, and enter Scorpio at the ternina-
ton Of the month. She will rise between
and O'Clock in the morning, and may,
therefore. be seen by early risers. Mars,
being at first III Libra, will enter Scorpin
and remain there for the remainder OF the
month.
The motion among the zodiacal con-
stellations is considerably slower than
that of Venus, since its sideral period is u
little more than three times that of the
latter The great planet Jupiter is in
Virgo and shines like Venus as morning
star, rising, however, nearly ~ hours
earlier than the latter In consequence
Of the quick motion Of Venus the distance
between her and Jupiter, which last
month was very close, has increased and
keeps on increasing continually. Saturn
is still near the boundary line of Scorpio
and Libra, and cannot be seen during the
nocturnal hours. The planet Uranus is
in Scorpio, not very far from Saturn,
though only person gifted with keen
sense of vision can distinguish it without
the aid of u magnifying glass.
Neptune is in Taurus. The discovery
of this great planet, the third in the order
OF magnitude, must be considered the
greatest triumph of mathematics as APP
piled to astronomy. In our last article
we mentioned HerschePS discovery OF
Uranus, in 1881, whose enormous distance
from the sun led to and justified the belief
that with that planet the confines of the
solar system were reached. The path OF
the planet was computed and fixed by
the exact methods Of mathematical
astronomy. 70 the great astonishment of
astronomers it was found, in course oil
years, that the planet did not move pre-,
cisely in the computed path. The only
way in which this discrepancy could bC
accounted for was by surprising that some
other planet beyond the orbit of Uranus
drew the latter out Of its computed path
Small though the quantity was which
constituted the difference between tho
computed and the actual orbit, il wa!
sufficient for the great French astronomel
Leycrrier to calculate the size and position
of planet that could produce sucn u per
turbation. In the year 1876 LeVerriel
wrote from Paris to DR.. Gale in Berlin
who enjoyed the reputation OF very
accurate observer, to direct his telescope
to q certain portion in the sky where, ht
assured him, he would find new planet
Gale ut once set to work and 10! ther'
was the planet in the exact position which
Leverrier had assigned to it without him
self ever having seen It, II is but Just Il
say that simultaneously, but independ
emily, an English astronomer, Adams, o
Cambridge, had made the calculations
also by methods different from Leverrier's
but leading to the same results. fha
with 80 few and small data as was a
their disposal these Two men could com
pute the elements of an utterly unknown
planet must ever elicit the admiration D
even professional mathematician AM
astronomers. There never has been
more valid and convincing proof of III
magic power of mathematical analyst
and the ingenuity of the human mind o
applying it TO body, the remoteness o
which is positively dazzling.
The new planet was called Neptune
and its orbit probably forms the confine
of the SUMS domain, though, of course
there is u possibility of n traus. Neptuniai
nlanet. Its distance from the sun
nearly three billion miles. Neptune ap
pears as a star OF the ninth magnitude
and consequently cannot be seen with th
naked eye. He performs c!rcuitaroun
the sun in the long period OF l6i years, $
that its motion among the constellation
is extremely slow. His bulk is 35 time
that of the earth, but, on account Of hi
small density, his mass is only littl
more than II times that of the earth. A
far as known Neptune has only one safe
lite, though there is some probability thu
more will yet be discovered. This safe
lite behaves in the same manner as thos
of Uranus, viz: it moves backwards, this
is, from east to vast. If Neptune is il
habited by intelligent beings like oui
selves, their physical constitution must l
vastly different from ours. Taking int
consideration that both the heat and I'll
light which the Neptuuans receive fro
the sun is only the nino-huudredth part'
what We receive on our blessed cart
beings physically constituted like gu
selves could neither endure the intenl
cold that must prevail on the surface
that planet nor bear the eternal darkne
surrounding them.
The principal consultations that con
to the meridian about 8 o'clock durr
tho November evenings arc Andromed
Pisces, Cassiopeia and Cepheus. III
Great Square of Pegasus has two handle
TALL tl,, Ia tUll inrn IL n lNn