Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-06-07
THE JUNE SKIES.
Phases OF the Moon-The Planets And
the Consultations

| ON the 18th of the past month on the
occasion of the great solar eclipse, the
moon was new. About seven days after
mat d0tc-that is, on the 9TH of Junc--it
VIII be in its first quarter. ON the Y h
run, on the 18th in its last quarter and
on the 10Th new again. The period from
ON" phase of the moon to the same phase
again is called a lunation or lunar month,
ana its length is a little more than pol
days, Says the Baltimore Sun. This
synodic revolution must not be confuund-
ed with the period of the moons rcvolu-
ton about the earth, which is a little loss
than 21ia days and is called it's sideral
revolution.
The sun, which on the list of the month
was bat III degrees distant from its
northern limit. will reach the latter on
the 2lst at 1879 p. m, the day at that time,
for the latitude Of Baltimore. having its
maHim1m length, viz, II hours IG min
utcs. Near the solstices the suns motion
In declination is exceedingly slow.
amounting during the entire course Il
June to but ! degree 50 minutes
The planet Mercury during the month
of June will be in Taurus at first and
later on in Gemini Almost Immediately
after sunset and long before the highest
OF the fixed stars appear in the heavens
the planet Venus emits her light with "A
brilliancy that attracts the attention Of
even those who, as a rule, are not inter
tSted in the celestial panorama. At tie
beginning of the month Venus is nearly
81 degrees distant from the sun and eX-
hihit her maximum brightness She will
linger throughout the whole month in he
constellation Gcmini While Venus shines
as the most conspicuous object in. thc
western sky the planet Jupiter vies with
her in splendor in the eastern, these two
objects impartinG to the evening skies Il
particularly striking appearance. enhanc-
ed by JupiterS dwelling at present in one
OF the hnest summer constc.lations--
ScOrplo. Jupiter will be on the meridian
between 10 and II O'Clock and shine near
ly the whole night while Venus Will set
AT the time of the formers elimination.
Mars is d morning star rising between }
and o'clock. 1t Will be in the constela-
ton Aries throughout the month. Since
Satlr rises a few minutes after O'Clock
III the evening, it will be seen as soon as
the evening is sufficiently advanced to al
low the first magnitude stars to appear.
saturn is sim in SGgittarius at not Il
great distance from his brother planet
Jupiter. On the 23d it will be in upposi-
ton with the sun and he visible all night.
The presence of these three great plane $
during the evening hours lends to the
celestial vault a peculiarly attractive APP
p+dranCe.
ON the 18th of the month partial
eclipse of the moon will occur, visible in
this latitude but as only a very small por-
earh's shadow, the eclipse will last but
a few minutes and he too insignificant to
engage attention. At about 8 O'Clock in
the June evenings we see above in the
magnificent star ArCturus, after Sirius,
the most brilliant star in our latitude. 1t
Is the principal star in the constellation
Bootcs or the HuntSman, the name Are
turus itself meaning the bear driver In
a southeasterly direction from Arctulus
are seen four Stars--Beta. Gamma. Delta
and Epsilor-that form Il somewhat Irreg-
ular cross. while, with Xeta and Eta Arc
turus forms an obtuse triangle. with the
latter al the VerteX of the obtuse angle
ArCturus is a star W hich for its hrlliau,e
might be taken for a planet We're it not
Tor the fact that il is without the zodid al
belt. within which all planets move With
reference to Arcturus, Simon NeWoomt
says: AS far as We know the two swift
est moving stars are FIRST, ArCturus, and
second one known ia astronomy as ~.
GrOOmhridgc, the latter SO called because
it was first observed by the astronomer
Groomhiidge and is numbered 1880 in his
Cata. ocuc of stars.
East of Bootes we see the beautiful lit
tie constellation Corona BoreaHs, or the
Northern Crown, the principal and most
striking contiguration of an almost rer-
feet somi-Circle of stars. The brightest
of these is Alpha, or Gemma, or Alph1CCa
OF the second magnitude. East of the
crown Is inc me constellation ferCuHN
Northwest of Scorpio, between II and Viz
go. two rather bright stars, Alpha and
Beta. constitute the principal members OF
the Zodiacal constellation Libra, or Tic
Balance. 1t Is, ON the whole, an lnoon-
sLicuous constellation, and only of i'm
portancc as one Of the II considerations OF
the zodiac. Due south of Libra is the
constellation Lupus, or the Wolf OF
which however, Only part can he seer
at any advantage in our latitude. The
beautiful constellation Scorpio is al-
preaching the meridian Cphiuctus Is
high up in the cast and Cysnus and
Aquila are Just rising.