Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-12-06
December Skies.

Venus, the most Drllllant oI the
planets. gladdens the twilight sky as
the December afternoon fades into
evening. Nothing more beautiful could
we'll be desired than her clear signal
light against the gold and white of a
dying winters day. When the glow in
the west seems yet too strong for any
other heavenly body. unless it be the
crescent moon then the glory of Venus
appears at her best. Not even the
times when farthest from the sun she
shines with amazing effulgence. is the
planet more attractive than when, as
now. returning from long absence in
the morning skies. her steady torch
reappears in the southwest.
Particularly welcome is her return to
those who have watched her progress
in other years from the time she first
became visible after sunset until she
outshone all other stars and planets
| making the unwary believe she was
great artificial light sent to the upper
regions of the earth's atmosphere
| by some great electrical genius-and
| then. rapidly diminishing, hurried back
| toward the sun and was lost in his
| rays. to emerge in the east just before
| the dawn.
| When one has followed Venus
| through one or more cycles of changes.
the first glimpse of her as evening
| planet is an occasion of deep interest.
| For several weeks now the planet has
| been easily located low down in the
southwest directly after sunset. and n,
one can mistake or miss her. Each
evening she is brighter than "a hours
previous. and each evening she tarries
n little longer after the sun has gone
| down. On the evenings of the third
and fourth of the month the planet
will be near the young moon. to the
| east of Luna on the first named date,
and to the west on the following night.
That more shy but very attractive
comrade of Venus, Mercury. is a
morning planet this month. and may
| possibly be glimpsed by the sharp
sighted early riser on Christmas or the
Immediately preceding mornings. He
must he looked for before the light gets
very strong in the east, and a trifle to
| the north of the sunrise point. OF
course it is incomparably more difficult
to see Mercury than Venus. but it is
by no means impossible. and the sight
| is an Interesting one. Once found
| Mercury stands out so plainly as to
make the observer wonder at the
trouble he may have had in locating
the planet at first.
From Mercury to Neptune is a long
journey as terrestrial distances go, but
| merely a step according to celestial
| standards. Neptune is in opposition
this month. and. although too faint TO
be seen by the unaided eye. is inter-
esting on this account. If any dis
coveries are made about this remote
member of the solar system. it will be
when he is in opposition. and with the
great telescopes now available it seems
that some addition to our knowledge in
this direction should soon be made.
In some respects Neptune is an in
| tensely interesting planet Prof.
! Young of Princeton, says that Uranus
is the only planet that can be better
seen from Neptune than it can from
| the earth. To dwellers on Neptune
Saturn would be fairly conspicuous,
and Jupiter would be seen about as
easily as we see Mercury. but the
| others, Mars. the Earth. Venus and
Mercury. would be completely invisible
| except in the most powerful of tele-
scopes. The sun itself would look like
large arc light at a distance of a few
feet. Neptune's one known satellite is
| about equal to star of the fourteenth
| magnitude and requires the largest of
| object glasses to make it visible.
Prof. f. f. Barnard of the Yerke.
observatory. has determined the rota-
ton period of the fifth satellite Of
Jupiter. first discovered by himself in
1892. when he was at the Lick observa-
tory. His observations of Jupiter with
the big 40-inch glass at Williams Bay
go to show that this satellite revolves
around its primary in II hours 81 min
utes and 22.647 seconds, which is not in
error more than O.O1 seconds. 1t is
easier to be precise about the period Of
satellite than the coming of me-
| teOric shower.