Evening journal., 1900-03-01
FAIR VENUS
THE EVENING STAR
Position of the Planets and
Stars iu the Blustery
Month of March.
VARIOUS PHASES OF THE MOON

ASTRONOMICAL SPRING WILL BE-
GIN ON MARCH 20. AT S.SS,15 P.
M, AT THE MOMENT THE SUN
ENTERS ARIEs-CHANGE OF
THE NORTH STAR.
In the course of the month OF March
the moon will pass through her phases
as follows: First quarter on the Sth,
full on the 10th, last quarter on the
Gath, and new on the 30th. She will be
nearest the earth on the 1st and the
29th, and most remote on the 14th.
At the beginning Of the month the
sun will be yet 7 degrees 3S minutes S6
seconds distant from the equator, but
in its motion OF declination approach
1t at quick rate, reaching It on the
10th OF the month at S.3S.15 D. m, at
which precise moment the astronomi-
cal Spring begins. The almanacs gem
orally express this by the phrase that
the sun enters Aries, but 1t must be
kept In mind that at that moment the
sun enters the constellation Pisces
the sign Of Aries agreeing with the con-
stellatlon OF Pisces. This disagree
ment between the constellation and
signs OF the same name is due to the
procession Of the equinoxes, which is
a retrograde motion Of the points where
the equator intersects the ecliptic. In
consequence Of this westward motion
OF the equinoxes the sidereal and the
tropical years do not agree in length,
the former representing the true or
bital revolution Of the earth around
the sun, and consequently being in
dependent OF the position of the equi-
noxes, the latter being the period oc-
cupied by the sun in passing around
the heavens from one equinox to the
same equinox again. As the preces-
sion Of the equinoxes amounts to so
seconds a year, it follows that the
sidereal year is about 20 minutes 2S
seconds longer than the tropical. AS
the tropical year is the period within
which the seasons are completed, II
possesses far greater interest than the
sidereal year, though the latter is the
true period Of the earth's revolution
about the sun. The procession OF the
equinoxes also causes a change Of the
north star. Polaris has not always
been the north star. nor will it always
act as such. though many thousand
years will elapse before II must relin-
Quish its claim TO being of all the
stars the nearest to the true north pole
OF the heavens.
THE PLANETS.
Te planet Mercury will be in Pisces
and AQuarius Venus will first be IN
Pisces, but the greater part Of tn,
month in Aries. Even a considerable
time before the last glimmer Of twi.
light vanishes from the sky, this evel
beautiful planet can be seen high III
in the southwest, and it will adorn tn,
heavens until about $3.50 o'clock. Il
will act as an evening star until The
end Of June. The planet Mars is II
Aquarius, and in a very unfavorabl,
position for observation, as It canno
properly be said to act either as
morning or an evening star TIT
planets Jupiter and Saturn are in tn
constellation Sagittarius, the forme
rising about a quarter past midnight
the latter a little after 2 o'clock. thu
acting both as morning stars. Uranu
Is on the boundary line of Sagittariu
and Scorpio and Neptune in Taurus
CONJUNCTION OF PLANETS.
From this it may be seen that wit
the exception Of Neptune the planet
are not very far from one another
some even quite close. Eclipses an
remarkable conjunction OF the celestis
bodies may be regarded as the results {
ordinary laws. which nevertheless az
pear to break the regular course Of ne
ture. yet they never fail to excite SUI
prise Such events vary greatly In fr,
Quency. Some one OF the satellites
Jupiter Is eclipsed nearly every da,
but the simultaneous eclipse Of thrt
satellites can only take place, accorC
ing to calculation. after a lapse
more than a million years A close col
junction OF two planets always excite
admiration. and yet these conjunction
must occur at intervals in the ord
nary course OF their motions. We cal
not wonder that when three or fol
planets approach each other closely Il
event Is long remembered. A mo
remarkable conjunction OF Mars. JuI
ter Saturn and Mercury, which to,