Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-08-03
TIE SKIES IN AUGUST.



phases: New on the 9th, first quarter
on the 14th, full on tho Goth and last
quarter on the 9th. She will be in
apogee on the 9th and in perigee on
tho 10Th. While the sun is little
over 10 degrees from the equator at the
beginning of the month, it will be but
little over 8 degrees from it at its
termination, traversing during the
month an arc of nearly Q degrees north
declination, the motion becoming ac-
tolerated as the sun approaches the
equator. On the LIST Of the month the
sun rose 231e degrees north of the true
east point on the horizon and set as
many degrees north of true west point,
while on the last it will rise and set
little over IL degrees north of these
points.
II is, we presume. In place here to
repeat q remark that we have had &C.
casiop to lnake before, since it Is very
important. The reader, even IL he be
not conversant with mathematics, will
readily understand that tho time of the
suns rising and setting depends upon
the declination Of the sun and the lati-
tude of the place. Taking, however,
these alone into account would not give
him the exect times as recorded for
every day of the year IN the almanacs,
notably The SUMS. 1t is necessary to
take the refraction into account, which
is especially great at the horizon, that
Is at the times of the suns rising and
setting. These three things enable
him to compute the apparent time Of
the rising and setting of the sun. To
find tho mean time it is necessary to
either add or subtract the so-called
equation of time, which the Nautical
Almanac furnishes for every day of the
year, with the informtion whether it is
to be added or subtracted, and as
The Sun Almanac bases its astronomi-
cal calculations upon the Eastern stand
ard time, 6 minutes 26 seconds are to
be added, because the longitude of
Baltimore is 5 hours G minutes %
seconds. The reader will find between
the columns in which the times of the
SUMS rising and setting are recorded
in The Sun Almanac column headed
by the word South.
This word, in the language of al
MANAGES, means the eliminating of the
sun or any planet or star, or, in other
words, their passing the meridian. On
the 1st of August, for example, the
equation of time is minutes 6 seconds
to be added. therefore the mean time
Of the suns southing that day is IL
hours 6 minutes seconds. Adding,
for the purpose of reducing this to
Eastern standard time, 6 minutes 26
seconds, we find the time of southing
to be II hours IL minutes 50 seconds,
as recorded in The Sun Almanac. Ii
the apparent motion of the sun were
uniform there would be no equation of
time, and the sun would, of course,
reach the meridian exactly at noon
every day. Knowing the equation Of
time, we can find the mean time with
any good sun dial.
The planet Mercury will be in the
constellation Leo during the whole ex-
tent of the month of August. Venus
is at first in Gemini. then will enter
Cancer, and toward the end of the
month will be in Leo, not far from
Mercury. She will be so near the sun
as to render it difficult to catch a
glimpse of her. Since the sypodical
period of Venus is about Is months, 1t
is evident that she must be for
months an evening star and for
months morning star, though her
close proximity to the sun will at times
make her difficult object of observa-
ton. While Mercury is at all times
near the great luminary, and conse-
quently never plain object for OBJ
servation with the unaided eye. Venus
is only so for short time. and, there
fore, most the time brilliant object
in the skies, either in the morning or
in the evening. Mars will be the
greater part of the month in Leo, but
later ON in Virgo. We may catch a
glimpse of this planet when it is close
to the western horizon about to disap-
pear beneath it. Jupiter is 10 Virgo,
which is rapidly approaching the hori-
zon. The kingly planet will be the
| first object, the moon excepted, to be
seen on the heavenly vault after the
setting of the sun, and will shine with
her usual luster. The only star-to
use this word in its broadcast sense
| with which Jupiter may be COMPOUNDED
is Venus and also Mars when the lat.
ter is in its most favorable position,
viz, at opposition when the latte,
comedies with the perihelion. This
occurs at intervals of about Is years,
and only in the latter part of August,
since at that date the sun passes the
line of apsides of Mars. The next time
when Mars will attain its maximum
brightness will be in the year 1907,
and it will then rival both Jupiter
and Venus in brilliancy. When Mars
has its minimum brightness it scarcely
exceeds that of the pole star. and will
then scarcely be distinguished from q
fixed star. Jupiter, however, car
never be confound with Venus wher
IT is overhead or nearly so, as the lat
ter planet is an inferior one that viii
never be farther away from the sur
than AZ degrees. Its greatest elonga
tion, whereas Jupiter as a superio,
planet may be seen at any part Of the
heavens within the belt of the zodiac
During the month of August the great
planet will set shortly after o'clock
Saturn is in Sagittarius, coming tc
the meridian about 8 o'clock in thu
evening, and, as it does not set before
nearly midnight, it may be seen dur
ing half the duration of the obscurity
of the night. Saturn shines with thu
brightness of frst-magnitude star
and, being near the brilliant constella
tion Scorpio, IL will considerably en-
nance the beauty of that portion of thu
sky.
Everybody must have observed IL
gazing at the stars a peculiar tremul
Gus motion OF them, which by a techni
cal term is called scintillatiop, an
effect which is simply due to The
difference of velocity of the variou.
colored rays traversing the unequall,
warm, unequally dense, unequalll
humid atmospheric strata. Travellers
who extend their travels to the tropica
regions and having been obseryant O
the phenomena of nature say that il
those regions there is an almost tota
absence of scintillation, a fact un
doubtedlY owing to the ntmnsnhari,