Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-12-08
TIE HEAVENS IN DECEMBER
Position of the Sun, and the
Movements of the Planets.
A SOLAR AND A LUNAR ECLIPSE
Former VIII Not be Visible in
This Latitude.
Seven the Largest and Two the Smallest
Number OF Eoiip-ss Possible In Year
The CONSULTATIONS = some Remarkable
Variable stars TO be seen.

Variable Stars to be SEEM
Baltimore Sun. A
The moons phases during the month
of December will be as follows: Last
quarter on the 9th, new on the 18th,
first quarter on the 10th and full on
the 9th. She will be in apogee on
the I'd and in perigee on the 14th and
29th.
The sun, which on the first Of the
month is but IL degrees distant from
the extreme southern limit his dec
lination can attain, will reach the
winter soltioe on the 21st, and from
that slowly turn northward again. On
that day the sun will rise and set
nearly 81 degrees south of the true east
and west points of the horizon of Balti-
more, shining during nearly nine and
one-half hours. On the arctic circle
: the sun will touch the horizon on that
day, but not rise, while on the
antarctic circle he will not set, pre-
senting then the impressive spectacle
of the midnight sum- The regions
north Of the arctic circle will be wrapt
up in darkness and remain so until the
sun on his return trip reaches the
equator, while south of the antarctic
circle conditions will be reversed.
The planet Mercury will be in
Sagittarius most Of December, while
Venus will linger in the constellation
Scorpio during the month, and begin
to shine again as morning star,
though by no means being in favor
able position for observation. Mars is
In Cancer, shining as an evening star,
though; at present his brightness is
hardly greater than that of a second
magnitude star, being in this respect
outstriped by the numerous first
magnitude stars that now adorn the
evening skies. Jupiter is in Virgo,
acting, like Venus, as morning star.
The great planet rises between 2 and 3
O'Clock in the morning and may be
seen in the eastern skies, shining with
his inherent lustre until it has to yield
to the superior light Of the rising sun.
Saturn is still in Scorpio. and invisible
during the nocturnal hours.
In course Of December two eclipses
will take place, partial solar eclipse
on the 18th, not visible in our lati-
tude, and total lunar eclipse on the
9th, visible here. She will rise very
nearly D O'Clock p. M, eclipsed. the
eclipse lasting about an hour and a
half. This year has been much favored
~ cbllpoOos 90 ab tbo SIN
will have taken place in its course.
The least possible number of eclipses
during the period of one year is two,
and in this case they must both be
central eclipses of the sun, while the
largest number possible is seven, five
of these being solar and two lunar.
For reasons into which we cannot enter
here, as discussion of this subject
would require more space than is at
our disposal, two solar eclipses must
occur with absolute certainty within
one year, while a whole year may pass
without the occurrence of solitary
eclipse of the moon. Three lunar
eclipses in one year are of very rare
occurrence, and possible only under
particular circumstances and con-
ditions.
The first eclipse in this case must
happen near the first day of the year.
Ii. then, second eclipse occur on
June 25th. the third must take place
in the latter part of December. Since
the year 1857 such thing has not
occurred again. There prevails the
erroneous impression that total eclipses
OF the sun are of rare occurrence. In
average 10 will happen in IS years, but
they certainly are rare for any given
PidScy oiuCb tl6 lftCh Vi LtlB SflHuOW Is
less than 100 miles wide. At any given
place one total solar eclipse will occur
in average every 800 years. The next
total eclipse of the sun that will be
visible within the boundary lines of the
United States will take place on NAV
9th, 1900. 1t will be visible from
Louisiana to Virginia, and the totality
will last two minutes.
Another wrong idea seems to have
taken tenacious hold of the minds Of
many persons, viz, that the prone,
motion of the sun must affect the
relative position of sun and planets.
1t has been demonstrated conclusiyel,
that the sun moves through space In
the direction of the constellation Her.
cules. In former articles the reason.
have been mentioned why there i.
such motion in such q direction
though it is hardly yet possible tC
establish the rate of this motion with
the accuracy with which the motions
of the planets have been determined
We find occasionally the statement
that the sun moves at the rate of Il
miles per second, but such statement:
must be received with some caution
Be this, however, as it may, one thins
is certain, viz, that the sun moves
Z ehtOuSh oBoto db q kItdb Tdbt, outlying
all the planets, satellites and othel
cosmical bodies along with it. Thi
motion of our great luminary, o
course, affects the real motion Of tb,
planets in space, but does not in tn,
slightest degree affect the relatiy,
motion of sun and planets. 1t cause
no little perplexity to some that tn,
SUMS motion, which unquestionabl,
and undisputably is extremely quick
does not change the relative position
of the solar system to the fixed star
and the consultations more than /
actually does. There are even a few
that on this account are inclined Il
doubt the actual motion of the sun il
space. These forget, or rather do no
realize, that even under the suppositioI
of so great rate as Is miles in on
second the relative position of the SUI
to the fixed stars would be hardly per
4 ceptible in a century on account of tn
almost inconceivable distances of III
latter. 1t will take many hundreds
nay, many thousands of years befor
the suns proper motion in space vii
change the CONFORMATION of the sta
groups. From descriptions of man
consultations given by men who live
long before the beginning of tn
Christian era we can draw but the on
conclusion: That any changes in thess
CONGREGATIONS from that remote perio
to the present time must have been !
exceedingly slight as to escape de
lection.
If the planetary aspect of til