The evening times., 1899-02-28
POSITION OF THE
PLANETS In MARCH
The Suns Quick Approach to
the Equator.
Phases of the Moon During the
Coming Week.
The Proximity of Mars to Pollux.
a Some Facts of Great Im-
portance.

The moon will undergo the following
phases during the month of March: Last
quarter on the 4th, new on the llth. first
quarter on the 18th, full on the 9th. She
will be in perigee on the 9Th and apogee
on the 2lst.
The sun being on the 1st of Marsh still
little more than degrees 33 minutes
north of the equator will reach it almost
exactly at 3:45 O'Clock in the afternoon OF
the 20th at which precise moment the
season OF spring begins. We read in the
almanacs that at the beginning OF spring
the sun enters Aries; this is, however,
not the constellation of that name, but the
sign, for, in consequence OF the procession
of the equinoxes, the signs have backed
into the constellation west Of them, so
that at the beginning of the spring season
the sun really enters the constellation of
Pisces. When in this respect the first as
Economical records were made (more than
2,000 years ago) the signs and the constel-
! lations Of the same name agreed, the for
mer having received their appeliations
/ from the latter. and for some reason o.
other, and in spite of their present yarla-
tion, the distinction is maintained, though
some inconvenience is occasionsd by it,
and there is really no absolute necessity
/ for il. On the last of the month the sun
/ will be rather more than IL degrees
| north OF the equator, passing IN the course
of the month the large arc OF nearly J. de-
| grees in declination while parallel TO the
| equator, or, expressing IL technically, In
! right ascension, il will glide along an arc
of 2S degrees during the month. Wnen
the motion in declinatio1 is sw.ftest, as II
is at the equinoXes, that in right ascen-
| sion is slowest, and vice versa. This may
| appear strange 10 some, but nevertheless
| 1t is quite natural, for the whole thing de-
pends upon the angle the ec!iptic makes
with the respective parallel OF LATITUDE.
At the equator this angle is % degrees -
minutes. and is equal to what is called the
obliquity of the ecliptic, but in higher
| latitudes, either north or south, the angie
| the ecliptic makes with the respective
parallel of latitude decreases, fact or
great Importance and one that deserves
The readers earnest attention.
The planet Mercury, which at the begin
ming of the month is in Aquaris. will soon
enter Pisces and remain in that constella
| tion during the remainder of the mouth.
Venus is at first in Sagittarius and then in
! Capricornus. Rising little after 4
O'Clock in the morning, she will, as a
morning star, usher in the king of the
day Mars is still in Gemini and forms,
with the two fine stars, Castor and Pollux,
>ery pretty, almost isosceleS triangle,
the distance of Mars from PolluN being
about l-2 degrees, which is very nearly
the distance of the two fixed stars men
toned from each other. AS soon as the
evening twilight permits the stars of the
| first two magnitudes 10 be seen, the plan
ct with its two neighboring fixed stars,
/ Will be seen high up in the sky very near
the meridian. Jupiter is yet in Virgo, not
/ I bro
| The great planet rises not long after 3
1 O'Clock in the evening and will adorn The
heavens during the rest of the night Sat
| urn is in Sagittarius and rises between
y and l o'clock in the night, so that
persons who rise before the morning twi-
light absorbs the stellar and planetary
light in its superior refulgence, viii have
an opportunity Of seeing the three bright
planets-Eenus, Jupiter. and Saturn-emit
I their genial light from the celestial vault,
| Venus being far down in the east, Saturn
near the meridian and Jupiter halfway be-
tween the meridian and the western hori-
Zon.
While in ancient and medieval times
very little was known Of the physical
condition of our great luminary, the sun,
and. in fact, very little could be known
| since the physical sciences were confined
10 few base facts, chemistry especially
being utterly unknown. and there being
no instruments by means of which obser
yation could be made, modern researches
by the aid of the telescope and spectre
scope have brought forth astonishing re-
suits Taking into account that the sun
| is the true and original source OF all lIv-
ing organisms on earth. and that to the
sun every conceivable energy, no matter
whether it emanates from man, or beast
: or the ocean, or the air, or volcanoes, OF
the machine. must ultimately be traced
/ l1r oil " "
: sway extends through billions of miles, is
| we'll worthy of a description as to it
, ! physical condition. Whoever has had al
! opportunity TO observe a total solar
eclipse will recollect that during such ar
| eclipse bright, cloud-like circle of ligh
2 | surrounded the darkened sun, which Meth.
er the naked eye nor the telescope has eY.
er detected under any other circumstances
This is the outermost portion of the sun:
atmosphere and it extends several hundred
, thousand miles. 1t is called the corona
: and by means of the spectroscope the dis
covery has been made that this corona
I consists of hydrogen, the lightest ga.
known on earth. and some other gas still
lighter than hydrogen, which does not ex.
> list on earth and which has been called
: | coronium. Below the corona is another
portion of the suns atmosphere, called IL.
, chromosphere, which, like the former
cannot be seen with the naked eye no
r | WIN any telescope unless OF nlgner pow
er but which becomes plainly visible dur
ing total solar eclipse.
{ The chromosphere is made up of the
burning vapors of great many of tn,
metals of the earth and some that hav,
= never been discovered upon the earth
Enormous masses of these incandescen
vaporS are often thrown up, which at time!
{ attained TO the height of more than 300
600 miles, manifesting power of explosion
far exceeding anything that can occur her,
on earth and of which it is impossible Il
form an adequate conception. The SUM-
D visible surface is the photosphere, which i
now believed TO be a shell of clouds sur
rounding the unseen mass of the sun be
meath. Observed with instruments OF higl
= power the photosphere seems to be sprink
led over with grains, or, as Herschel caIler
them 'nodules,' sometimes drawn out il
long streaks, called by noted observe
willow leaves by another rice grains,
which probably are luminous clouds float
ing in a less luminous atmosphere I'm
derneath the photosphere is the body o
the sun itself, which, as many believe, il
j; an enormous ball of gas of density eX
|. ceeding that of water in consequence of tn
!. tremendous pressure eXerted.
!. Looking up at about 8 o'clock in tn
!. March evening, We see a very bright sta
!. .sncTF1TeNsA A. A disorders'