Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-12-22
ASTRONOMICAL WINTER.
Commences on the 21st-Celestial
Phases of the Closing Month

Astronomically speaking winter,
which as been here obviously enough
for a rigorous three weeks, commences
Dec q, when the sun enters the sign
Capricornus and begins his Journey
north, which requires three months to
accomplish before he reaches the half
way station on the Zine of march" At
the time of touching the utmost limits
of southern declination the days are
Of the minimum length and the shadow
of night no longer encroaches upon the
light Of day. The path Of the winter
sun lies low in the heavens, the short
days hasten gloomily re their close, the
sable pail of night falls darkly over
the earth, and a feeling or uesolation
mingles with sorrow over the receding
light. But it is only for a 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 q
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
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 Pleiades, well
above them in the heavens. Beneath
them hangs Orion, which gorgeous
constellation never burns more wildly
IL
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
lamp suspended amid leafiess 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
VI LlC IlOOA 4LScll. lOIl LuS IILlC l1lC
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-
cember, 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
9th, and most bright and glorious ii
should look when, after emerging from
the shadow, we see its face through the
crisp winter atmosphere. On the 10Th
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 so
gives US our exact number for 1899.