Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-09-06
THE SKIES IN SEPTEMBER.

during the month OF September the
moon will present the following phases:
Full CD the 9th, last. quarter Oh the
18th, and new on the 23d. She WILDE
In perigee on the 9th and in apogee on
the 23d. While on the ist of the month
the sun was still over s degrees dis
tant from the equator, lit will reach it
at 7.20 a. In. of the 23d. The almanacs
generally express this by saying that at
thnt time the sun enters Libra, by
which the "sign" OF Libra is meant.
stellation" of Virgo. During the
OF liz degrees, being on the last Of the
equator. The Planet Mercury will PASS
through the three considerations Cam
Ger, Leo and Virgo during the month.
Venus will at frat be ia Gemini and
at the termination of the month be-
tween Cancer and Leo. She rises a
little before o'clock in the morning
and will present beautiful object
within the time Of her rising and the
SUMS. An early riser, looking at Venus
as she shines with luster that is
peculiarly her own, will not likely take
her for any other planet or star. In
fact, the only celestial object that may
be said to vie with Venus In brillianoe
is Jupiter, and even this magnificent
planet must yield the palm Of beauty
to her sister plaret when she is at her
maximum brightness. The pinot Mars
is In Gemini, rising about an hour be-
fore Venus and acting, like her, as a
morning star. Jupiter is still lingering
in Scorpio, enhancing by his royal pres
ence the intrinsic beauty Of that con-
stellation. She will set between 8 and
10 o'clock in the evening. Saturn,
acting at present also as an evening
star, is in Sagittarius, almost on tho
boundary line that separates this con-
stellation from Ophiuchus. 1t sets
about an hour later than Jupiter. The
two planets Jupiter ard Saturn, as
evening stars, and Venus and Mars, as
morning stars. lend to the nocturnal
September skies particularly fine ap-
pearance.
Given in mere numbers no one, in
oluding even those who are familiar
with large numbers and their true
meaning, has an adequate conception
OF the vastness of our solar system, and
still less so of the ,vastness Of the
sidereal heaven, and 10 order to convey
more distinct ideR of these 1t be-
comes Indispensable to resort to suit
able comparisons. As to the size of
our solar system the famous Hersehel
has given us very interesting illus.
On it place a globe two feet in
diameter. This will represent the sun !;
Mercury will be represented by grain
of mustard seed on the circumference
of CIRCLE 1874 feet in diameter for It's
| orbit: Venus. a pea on q circle 284 feet
| In diameter the earth, also pea on u
circle of 430 feet; Mars, a rather large
pinhead on circle of $40 feet; tho
asteroids, grains Of sand in orbits of
1000 to 1000 feet; Jupiter. moderate.
sized orange in a circle nearly half a
| mile across; Saturn, n small orange on
circle Of four hfihs of mile; Uranus,
a fulI-sized cherry or small plum upon
| tho circumference of a oircls more than
mile and half, and finally Neptune,
| o good sized plum on circle about
two miles and half in diameter. y
| Passing now from our system to the
| sidereal heaven, the nearest star would
on this scale be on the opposite side Of
| the globe; this Is. 5000 miles away.
For sidereal distance. therefore, the So
called astronomical ,snpit, the distance
OF the sun from the earth, becomes
wholly inadequate and unsuitable as a
unit, though it amounts to the re-
spectacle quantity Of over 90, 900, 600
| miles, and astronomers have chosen
the so-called light-year as unit,
which is the distance which that swift
traveller light would traverse in one
year. From the fact that we are able
| to see bodies at such almost incon.
ceipable distance at all it is easy to
conclude that these bodies must them
selves be of stupendous size In fact,
in many cases where an approximate
calculation Is possible and has been
effected, the results show that our sun,
with which We always connect the idea
of immense vastness, dwindles almost
into insignifcanoe when compared with
these orbs, a thought not altogether
devoid of humiliation. From the
eternal motion of the planets, the
| rapid motion in sEnce of the sun itself,
and the observed motion Of many stars
it follows by an analogy which is
| simply irresistible that, Without an ex-
oeptiou, all celestial bodies are and
cannot he otherwise than in motion,
| and still for thousands of years the
shape of the consultations has not
undergone material change. From
ancient records we can infer that the
Great and Lesser Bears and other
familiar star CONGREGATIONS are the
same now as they were thousands Of
years ago, almost impressing US with
i their immutahility. We must not for.
get, however, that in astronomy, 1900
or 1000 years, to which the most
| ancient records date back, are vanish
ing quantity and that, consequently,
Il after lapse of many thousands of
years the consultations cannot but
assume shape more or less different
from their present ones. When, how
i ever, this comes to pass it Ia very
questionable whether the earth will
any longer be All inhabitable body, for
it seems that each planetary body, not
tc speak of the sun itself, has Its
allotted time for conditions that tender
organic life on them possible.
| A very recent discovery was that OF q
comet on the morning Of the sd Of July
4 by DR.. X. Brooke, director OF the Smith
| Observatory, Geneva, N. Y. The comet
is not visible to the naked eye, but a
beautiful object in the telescope. This
| is the 22d comet discovered by that in-
dsfatigable observer. Another recent
| discovery was that of new variable
star. It was discovered in the con-
stellation Cassiopeia by the wife of
Prof. W.. Cereski of Moscow, by means
of plates. 1t ranges from the eighth
aud ninth to the 18th magnitude. At
the beginning of May it was at its
minimum magnitude. f,S
BY means Of photography new star
has been discovered in the constellation
| Aquila. According to Prof. Wendell 1t
is between the l1th and 18th magni-