Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-12-06
THE SKIES IN DECEMBER.

The phasrB OF the moon in tine ooursB
5of the month of December will he az
'Rfollows Full on the 9Th /; last quarter
Ecn tho 13th; new on the 21st, and hrst
ahuarter on the 2Sth. she will twice be
IL ID perigee, viz: on the Sd and 30th,
X Ind in apogee on the 10Th. ....
n On the first OF the month tho sun
will he 81 degrees, Az minutes. and ~
NBeconds and on the last % degrees. =
minutes and 9 seconds south OF the
Eeouator. The great luminary rehohes
}the southern limit. the Ttopio OF zap.
II icorn, exactly at | hour AZ minutes Of
p The 22d day CT the month, NJ when
hxact moment the astronomical season
pi winter begins. Fiom the above date
n may be seen how slowly the sun
&moves in declination during the month
Mof December.
N The planet Mercury will at first be
lin Libra but during the 4 eater portion
n of the IN, nth in Scorplo. Venus Wiil
Nsuccessiyely pass through the eonstei-
X Nations Virgo, Libra aud SEQ pho. since
x m the beginning Of the month she rises
" 4 few minutes past a. m. and toward
HE end few minutes before D, and
Z. he sun rises late in the morn ing, this
beautiful planet may be seen for con-
biderable length of time in the early
5tho,irs of the morning. Her greatest
heliocentric latitude north will take
place on the 4Ih, the heliocentric place
OF planet being the place as seen from
n the sun. Ths planet Mars, no longer
a acting as morning star, will rise near
y. 40 o'clock in the evening, and begin to
net as evening star. 1t is in the
4 Reconsideration Leo, near tho brightest
K star In that constellation. Regulns
Il; 5d ars, being the ieddesr object in the
liza 4 oal Tba
VA reat planet Jupiter is still in Seorpio.
and AZ he sets about 4 O'Clock 10 the
N safternoon it cannot be seen. Saturn is
1%still lingering in Sagittarius, and In
1.-THE earlier portion of the month we
AS3may yet catch glimpse Of him very
11|close to the western horizon. On the
29th of the mouth this planet will be
In conjunction with the sun and conse-
|# auently invisible. Uranus is III Scorpio
~ and Neptune in Taurus, hut, though
this constellation is high uE in the
n heavens, we cannot see it with the
naked eye on account Of its enormous
distance from us. 1t appears in the
N telescope as a email star between the
eighth and ninth magnitude, absolutely
@ invisible to the unaided eye, though
easily seen with a good opera glass.
The render armed with small telescope
senting q round disc, which fixed
star never does, even whom WE'VE d
through the most powerful telescope.
he disc Of Neptune Is OF gieentsh
tinge 1t is an interesting question
how the other planets, viewed from the
remotesG of oil the members of the
solar system, look. The sun itself
would look very much like large
electric aIc-lamp at distance of a
few feet. This remark Is imuortant,
M as it removes erroneous statements not
infIequently met with, viz, that lat
M Neptune the sun would be only first
vi magnitude STAR 1t would really give
about $4,000, COO times the light of such
star, Viewed from Neptune, Mer.
curry, Venus, the earth and Mars woul6
be horelessiy invisible. unless with
powerful telescopes and by CAREFUL,
screening off the sunlight. Jupiter, Al
no greater elongation from the sur
than 10 degrees, would probably hi
easily seen somewhat an we see Mer
curry. Saturn and Uranus would b
Conspicuous, though the latter is tn,
only planet of the whole system tina
can be better seen from Neptune thai
it can be from the earth.
This being the last month Of tn
nireteenth century it cannot, we pre-
sume, be considered out Of place Il
throw retrospective glance at tn
achievements OF the great science O
astronomy during the century. Th
E&thoughtful student of history who sec
Min her annals more than mere dry fact
Snnd dates, but. the profound philosoph
tthat pervades it, knows that each cen
lMAtury had it's peculiar and salient fea
n lures that distinguish it from Others
The nineteenth century is pre-eminentl
that of great scientific discoveries nm
mechanical improvements and il
INVENTIONS, and astronomy has unqueI
&:tonably played very prominent pal
jim this respect. 1t has made all til
'maryelous discoveries in physics an
chemistry Of the century tributary
Itself, aud by their aid attained to
heght OF development which astrOnt
mers of former ages, profound observes
land thinkers though they were, new
dreamed Of. The telescopes have
Recourse of the century reached degr,
of perfection which is truly wnndeIfl
Hand which would have elirItsd II
wonder and admiration of the create
observers OF the past centuries. Phi
typography, which was utterly unknou
I'm the last century, has enabled o.
servers of the starry heavens to NAL
discoveries which even tho most perfe
telescopes have failed to bring fort
Astrophy sics, which treats Of the phys
cal characteristics of the heaven
bodies their brightness and speotr
scopic peculiarities, is branch of Il
general science of astronomy whic
both in name and in essence. was u
known in former ages. Vt was n
before the year 1890 that the spectr
scope appeared in the field as a N,
land powerful instrument of astronon
Zeal research, at once resolving ma
problems as to the nature and consJit
Ition of the heavenly bodies viii
5beiore had not seemed to he open
DEMONSTRATION. BY means of this VIC
ederful instrument we know now t
physical constitution of the remot
orbs that are visible through the to
.scope. What these two powerful agei
-speetrosr and rhotogfaphy-b be
fof comparatively recent origin. may
lhring forth in the coming century
EdiffloIlt to conceive. Stellar pa, allax
the determination of which has batf
the attempts of former centuries, beca
possibility and an accomplished Fl
by means Of the improved instrume
Of this century, The first who deser
the credit Of having actually dot
mined the parallax of a star with 81
III certainty az to place the result beyc
question was the famous German
tronomer, Bessel, who fourishe1 in
first half Of the nineteenth centu
Since that time other astronomers