Evening journal., 1897-12-01


OF TIME-EARTH NEAREST THE
SUN ON JANUARY /.
During the month Of December the
moon will pass through her phases as
follows: Full on the Sth, last quarter
on the 10th, new on the 23d and first
quarter on the 30th. At 5.26 a. m. on
the Sth she will be farthest from and
1910 p. m. on the 22d nearest the earth.
The sun will be on the 1st of the
month q degrees. 54 minutes south of
the equator and will reach its south
ernmost limit on the 2lst. 1t will then
slowly move northward again, travers-
ing during the remainder of the month
the small arc Of little more than 2S
minutes During the month the sun
will be first in Scorpio and then in
Sagittarius. The sun plays an ALI
important part i'm the measurement of
time, and for this reason, as in other
respects, astronomy confers in this re-
spect a great benefit upon mankind.
Clocks were not used before the eighth
or ninth century OF the Christian era,
while watches are Of q comparatively
recent origin. Before these useful in
ventions sun dials were resorted to.
Were the motion Of the sun uniform,
these sun-dials, accurately construct
ed. would do very well for measuring
time. but the sun moves in an elon-
gated curve, the eclipse. the plane Of
which is inclined to the equator at an
angle of % degrees q minutes. The
earth is not always at the same dis
tance from the sun. On the lst OF
January it is nearest to Il, or, to use a
Tool
while on the 1st OF July It is farthest
away, or in aphelion. In the former po-
sition the apparent motion of the sun
is most rapid, i'm the latter slowest.
The reader will readily understand
that the real sun in its variable mo-
tion presents an obstacle TO It's being
used as a time measurer. For this
reason a so-called mean sun has been
chosen. whose imaginary motion Is
uniform. Since the real sun performs
q complete circuit--that Us. an arc OF
800 degrees in 800 days hours As min
utes 46 seconds, the daily motion OF
the mean sun Is 50 minutes and 8 sec
Onds AS a matter OF course, the near
sun will sometimes be ahead of. some
times lag behind the real sun, and OF
four distinct dates of the year coincide
with it. viz, April IS. June IA, Septem
Der and December "a. On these date
good sun-dial will indicate correc
time On all other days a certail
quantity. varying. however, in value
must either be added to or subtractel
from the sun-dial time IN order to oh
tain the correct mean time. This var
liable quantity Is called the equation
of time and is of the highest import
ance. IL is given in the nautical alma
macs for every day Of the year.
The planet Mercury stays during tn
whole month within the boundary lin
OF Sagittarius. Venus will be in Scor
pio during the greater portion OF tn
month, but pass into Sagittarius Ia
ward the end. On the 1st of the mont
she will rise about $50 a. m. and tC
ward the end an hour later. Mars
also in Sagittarius, and will rise nearl
Z o'clock in the morning, so that bot
Venus and Mars will hardly be visib
during the December nights Jupite
being in Virgo, will become visib
soon after midnight and present for
few hours before the dawn OF day
fine object in the sky Saturn is sti
lingering in Scorpio, and will not ril
before o'clock in the morning. s
that this planet, like Venus and Mar
will not adorn the nocturnal skie
Uranus and Neptune have not essei
TALLY changed their positions since Il
past month
During the month of December Il
consultations Aries. Cetus and Pc
seus will come to the meridian AriC
or the Ram, is the first cOnstellatiI
Of the zodiac Due east of the squa
Of Pegasus, at a distance lit
40 "a. Of haf
the observer will notice three sta
forming a small triangular with
very obtuse angle. the characterist
star-group of Aries. The most mort
ern of these three stars is the brigl
est, and is called Alpha Arietis,
Hamal. The star at the obtuse ana
is Beta, or Sheratan, and the thi
Gamma, or Merarthim, a fine doul
star. The star Alpha may also
found by the fact of its forming a lar
isosceles triangle with Alpha and b,
of the constellation Andromeda, Alp
Arietis being as distant from Beta A
drOmedae as the latter from Alpha A
drOmedae.
Two thousand years ago the const
latiOn Aries cOincided with the Fl
sign of the ecliptic but i'm consequeI
of the procession of the eQuinOXes
consultations Of the zodiac have shi
ed westward and the constellati
Aries is now in the sign Taurus a
Taurus in the sign Gemini. South
Aries lies the extensive cOnstellat
Cetus, or the Whale, occupying 4 spi
of 80 degrees in length and 20 degr
i'm breadth. The head OF the mons
is marked by a pentagon of five sta
the two southernmost of which
Alpha, or Mankar, between the secC
and third magnitude and Gamma
tween the third and fourth magnitu
The brightest star in the constellat