Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-12-22
ASTRONOMICAL WINTER.
Commences on the 21st-Celestial
Phases of the Closing Month

Phases of the Closing Month
Astronomically speaking winter.
which as been here obviously enough
! for rigorous three weeks, commences
| Dec. 81 when the sun enters the sign
| Capricornus and begins his Journey
north, which requires three months TO
accomplish before he reaches the halt
way station on the Zine of march," Al
the time of touching the utmost limits
of southern declination the days are
of the minimum length and the shadow
of night no longer encWaches upon the
| light of day. The path Of the winter
sun hes low in the heavens, the shors
days hasten gloomily r. their close, the
sable pail of night falls darkly over
| the earth, and feeling OIL uesolation
minges with sorrow over the recedng
/ light. But it is only for little while
| that the sun seems to stand still in his
course. A change soon comes, min
ute is added to the shortest day. The
| first precious minute of sunlight is the
| harbinger of physical life, the sign in
the heavens that the laws that sway
! the universe will not fail, the
first trophy in the combat between
light and darkness.
| The change, invisible at first, is de-
! tected in a few days by a faint linger
ing in the glow Of twilight, and in a
few days more there is no longer
doubt-the sun has turned his smiling
face northward, the days have percep.
| IDLY heightened. When December
closes three minutes have been added
to the days length and when the last
afternoon OF the year passes, the earth
in perihelion, is 100000 miles nearer
the sun than in July, and the great
day star, in nearer vicinity, is mildly
tempering the winters cold for the in
habitants of the north temperate zone
! The star-lit December sky is superb,
for it Is graced by the most beautiful
stars and consultations that are ever
seen by mortal eyes, and when the
December full moon runs high, the
celestial picture is ennobling and up
| lifting. Every observer whose soul is
in harmony with the grand spectacle
spread out above will pay tribute TO
the ancient Hebrew prophet: Seek
Him that maketh the shadow OF death
into the morning and maketh the day
dark with night
1t Is at this season that We find
Sirius, the dog star, and Aldebaran
pointing to the reckless PleadeS. we'll
above them in the heavens. Beneath
them hangs Orion, which gorgeous
constellation never burns more wildly
than at present, as it swings itself
forth above the rim of the landscape.
The famous Twins castor and Pol
lux almost rest on the horizon, the
square of Pegasus is in the northwest,
while far away Vega sparkles like a
lamp suspended amid leafless trees and
| shows us the way to where the chair
of Cassiopeia stands daintily poised
The moon is gracious in the way she
treats us on the 9th. On that date
she is in total eclipse, and the phe-
nomenon will be generally visible
throughout North and South America,
Europe, Asia and Africa. The deep
shadow in which the moon will be en-
quilted on that date has diameter that
is more than a third larger than that
OF the moon itself. From the time the
moon enters the outer shadow until II
energies once more, clear and bright.
period of more than six hours will
have elapsed, while the total eclipse
will last fully an hour and half. we
now know enough of the movements
OF the heavenly bodies to be able to
place the date of the full moon for De-
eember, as there can only be an eclipse
OF the nature referred to when the
moon is at the full So here we have
the last full moon OF the year on the
27th, and most bright and glorious Il
should look when, after emerging from
the shadow, we see its face through the
crisp winter atmosphere. On the 18th
We have the first quartering of the De-
cember moon; while on the 18th We
had the last new moon OF the year
which makes the moon about eighteen
days old when the year closes and 50
4 gives us our exact number for 1899.