The evening times., 1897-03-02
The Vernal Equinox Marks the
First Spring Month.
VENUS WILL BE BRILLIANT
On the Day the sun Nears the
Plane of the Equator She VIII
Appear Brightest-Eta's Rema rk-
able Character-Auriga and Ca
pella in the Heavens.

ern hemisphere, and spring begins on this
side.
The sun win be near the plane of the
equator from March 21 TO March %.
From that time the length of the day will
slowly but constantly gain on that of the
night, and the sun, with everincreasing
rate, climb up on a northern arc until
| il will reach its maximum distance fIom
the equator, on June 21. The irregular
rate OF the suns motion, both along the
equator, or to speak technically, in right
ascension, and orth and south, or i'll declina-
ton, and along any horizon is somewhat
perplexing to a mind unfamiliar with
| geometric reasoning, but after all not
| difficult OF apprehension. 1t must be clear
to anyone that a uniform motion along a
| straight line, for instance cannot be 80 with
reference TO any point lying outside OF the
line IN which the uniform motion takes
| place.
For example, a person walking in
| straight line at a uniformrate will approach
a certain point in that line at that rate,
whereas he viii approach a point without
that line at a continuously varying rate.
| Supposing the sun To move in the ecliptic
at constant rate which it does not do on
account OF the elhptical shape OF the lat
ter-it will withdraw from or approach the
equator at a constantly changing velocity,
/ and this is true also in regard to a great
circle cuttisIg the equator under a right
angle and passing through the usual and
autumnal equinoXes thetwO points at which
the ecliptic intersects the equator. This eX-
plains the changeable rate of the sun in
declination and right ascension.
1 Onthe Sd of March the moon will be new;
! on the tn in her first quarter, on the 18th
full and on the 25th in her last quarter.
She will be in apOgee on the Sth and in
perigee on the Goth
The planet Mercury VIII be in Capri
cOrnHs during the earlier portion, in Aqua
RUS during the middle, and in Pisces dur
ing the latter portion of the month.
Venus, at first in Piscus and then for
1 the remainder OF the month in Aries. is
! high up IN the sky and certainly, next to
the moon, the most brilliant object in the
| evening skies. She shines with a luSter
which viii attract the attention OF the
most Indifferent observer. She does not
set before 9:45, and hence may be soel
above the horizon for a considerable length
OF time, especially as her brightness makes
her visible long before the twilight has
passed and the total darkness of night
has wrapped the earth in her BILE mantle
Venus VIII assume her greatest brillancy
on the q st OF March.
The planet Mars : stillin Taurus. hut Will
have entered the boundary lines OF Gemini
blythe end Of the month. IL is still between
Capella and Aldebaran, forming an obtuse
triangle with these two fine stars. Jupiter
is in Leo. and as il has risen at a tine
when the brighter stars will flash forth on
the evening skies, it will he seen during the
whole night. The simultaneous presence
OF these three magnificent planets lends
a feature TO the aspect of the heavens which
cannot fail to make profound impression
upon the gaZer's mind. Drawing an
arc from Jupiter in the east to Venus in
the west, il will nearly pass through
Mars, which, about the 10th of the month
will be little over Al degrees distant
from Venus, and nearly Sc degrees from
Jupiter All the planets move in a narrow
strip across the heavens, and this mar
row strip has been called the zodiac. The
consultations within this belt are called
zodiacal consultations aud all the planets
must he sought in one or the ether OF
these twelve consultations. The word
zodiac cones from a Greek word which
signifies animal, since all the planets
within the zodiac bear the names OF ami
mails, with the sole exception of Libra OF
the Balance
A short time before Venus sinks beneath
the western horizon the fourth of that
splendid array Of planets Will ascend over
the eastern horizon and add its luster to
10 Hty of no St-r fp m
ringed planet Saturn, which for some time
has been lingering and for some time TO
come viii remain in the beautiful constella-
tion Scorpio.
Uranus also, is in Scorpio, while the re- |
hottest OF the planets-Neptune is. like |
Mars. in Taurus The reader who enjoys |
the privilege OF possessing telescope may |
see Uranus al short distance of degrees |
80 minutes from Saturn, and Neptune at a /
distance of degrees 40 minutes from |
Mars. Uranus and Neptune, the former OF |
which is nearly two billions and the latter
nearly three billions Of miles from US, are
far too remote to be seen with the naked /
eye, but sufficiently powerful telescope
will bring their round discs out of the depth /
of space, fact which has never been &C
complished with the most brilliant fixed
stars. 1t is, we presume, well known to
the reader that theinclination ofthe equator
of the earth TO its orbit is an oblique angle,
an important fact, because it is this very |
inclination which produces the different sea
SONS OF the year.
It has been ascertained that this obliuuity |
is constantly changing, not alone in the |
case of our earth, but of all the planets |
Within the last 1000 years the obliquity
OF the earth has diminished "a minutes and |
is decreasing every year by about half j
q second. This continual decrease will go |
on for $4,000 years, when it will begin 1
tC increase. The reader may well wonder
at the possibility OF making calculations OF
such extremely minute motions with any
degree of accuracy, but the magic al power
OF mathematical analysis renders things
possible that without it's application would |
altogether bafflehumaningenuity. In fact, 4
il required such geniuses as Laplace's, |
LagranZe's, HerSchel's and Leyerrier's to |
solve successfully such problems as all
the astronomers OF antiquity and the middle |
ages never dreamed of. The greatest in |
clination of the equator to the orbit we
find in the case OF Saturn. while in that |
Of Jupiter we have the smallest value.
As to Mercury, Venus, Uranus, Neptune |
md the asteroids, the determination OF the
is as yet an unsolved problem, and |
remains matter OF a more or less speculative /
character. The question will natural arise
n an inquiatiye mind whether the planets |
will exert mutual influence upon each |
Dther. They certainly attract each other, |
indin cOnsequenceof theirelliptical motions
around the sun suffer disturbance. Still,