The times., 1898-09-05
SEPTEMBER SKIES.
The Stellar Sights and Events of
the Mnufh

L
was the close relation of Venus and Ju-
piter. There Is nothing quite as spectacu- /
lar in the evening appearance of the |
| heavens this month. For the benefit of |
amateur star gazers the New York Times |
publishes this:
| The September sky will be alive with !
clustering consultations shining with re-
| newed luster in the crisp and pure Au-
| tumnal atmosphere. Among them may /
be noted the great square of Pegasus. /
rising in the east, and low down in the |
| northeast is the lovely cluster of the Plei- /
| AIDES. The three stars Arcturus. Vega, |
and Capeila, known as the northern brill |
! iants, are specially worthy of observa- |
| tion for they are all visible. and opinions
differ to which is the brightest of the |
| trio. At the close of the fifirst third of
the month Arcturus is the brilliant red
star near the northwest horizon; Vega
| the superb star high in the north not far
| west of the meridian. and Capella will be
found in the northeast. fairly outshining
| her rivals, according to the verdict of
her numerous admirers, but not better
| than a good second. according TO the
| champions of the other two.
but planets and stars alike will lose
| their luster when toward the close OF |
| the month the full face of the harvest |
moon shines in the eastern horizon just |
| about as sunsets glow is disappearing |
and rises slowly toward the zenith. quite |
| putting out the smaller stars, flooding |
| the sleeping earth with silvery light, |
casting weird shadows over the land !
] scape. and painting wherever her beams |
rest pictures OF ineffabie loveliness that |
4 n1 xaDfI
Zone of the most interesting features |
! of the month lies in the fact that the |
sun reaches the equator and starts off |
on his six months journey in the south |
| declination. This autumnal equinox, as
| it is called, gives us equal days and |
| nights the world over. 1t has been |
| found that there is slow retrograde |
motion OF the point of the suns cross |
! ing the equator. from east TO west. or |
| contrary 10 the order of zodical signs. as
| If the point advanced TO meet the sun
| on each annual return. To this phenom-
| enon has been given the name of the
| procession of the equinoxes." This mo-
| ton is at the approximate rate of de-
| gree in seventy-one and seven-tenths
years the equator moving on the ec!ip-
| tic while the ecIiptic retains it's position
nearly unchanged among the stars.
| This peculiarity is said 10 be caused
| by the combined action of sun and moon
| on the mass of matter accumulated about
| the earth's equator. In consequence of
| this motion the longitudeS of the heav-
| enly bodies are increasing, while, on
| comparing their ATTITUDES as found BY the
| ancient astronomers with those of today
| only little change indeed is found. The
! credit for this important discovery is
| due TO Hipparchus. whose researches
| were made more than a hundred years
| before the Christian era. One other effect
| of this procession is of interest TO us, and
| that is its bearings on the position of
| the signs of the zodiac whose limits do
! not now agree with the consultations
which bear the same names. For exam
| pie. the sign of Aries is now in the con-
1 stellation of Pisces, and so on. each
| sign having backed" so TO speak into
the constellation west OF IL.
| Mercury opens the monthly events by
| being IN inferior conjunction with the
sun on the 5th, after which 1t becomes a
| morning star and swings away 10 the
westward on its journey about the sun.
| Just before the old crescent fades from
| view it and the planet are in conjunc-
| ton, but both are too near the sun TO
| admit of our seeing them. On the 21st
the point of greatest western elongatiOn
| is reached and Mercury again turns to-
| ward the sun.
| "A few hours after Mercury arrives at
his furthest western point. fair Venus
| reaches her furthest easJen limit. which
| is almost three times as far from the
central point as Mercury gets. From this
on Venus Will be retracfng her steps until
early in December she will be in CON
junction with the SUM- and will for a time
| leave the evening sky. She will. how
| ever, be with US for number of weeks
yet. and her lustrous disk will be in
| creasing in size until. overcome by Old
Soils more powerful rays. she fades from
our view. Venus requires altogether
-.t,l
her changes. so that if you find her
bright s:ar tonight you may feel sure
that she was bright evening star a year
and seven months ago. and that after a
similar period. We shall once more have
her shining as queen of the evening
skies. After dark or an hour or two be-
fore sunrise one must never expect to see
| Venus right overhead. She is always
a. such times, when at all to be SEEN
either in the west or the east So that
unless the almanac says that Venus is
| an evening or morning star one need
not trouble 10 search for her.
Neptune ranks among the morning
stars. and is at present to be found in
the constellation of the Bull the bright
est star of which is Aldebaran This star
is at the eye of the Bull. and is found
by following Orion's Belt upward and TO
the right Aldebaran is of so ruddy
color that beginners are sometimes apt
TO confuse Ii with the planet Mars, to
which. under certain circumstances it
certainly bears a resemblance. Neptune
is working his way toward the position
of quadrature. where he will arrive on
the nth, which will mark the halfway
post between conjunction and opposition
After reaching opposition in the month of
December the planet will again be of the
evening group.
Mars also finds itself among the morn
| ing stars. and two days after last quar-
tering Luna occults the planet. Were it
at more favorable hour and were il
not that the moons face wiz be rather
brilliant at the time. it would be ex-
tremely interesting watching the two ap-
proach one another. then see the planet
apparently dodge in behind the disk of
the moon, to reappear after awhile on
the other edge. The scientists, with their
| powerful telescopes. at such times have
the layman at a great disadvantage.
Mars. as performer on the celestial
boards. really ought not to be ranked as
a star just at present. but when he really
| does come before US in that light he will
have all the world as Interested observ-
| ers."
Gen. Lee.
\ From Manchester Irninn