Evening journal., 1900-03-01

place in the year 244b b. C., was adopt
Ell bv the Chinese emperor. Chuen Hi0. |
as new epoch for the chronology OIL
his empire. though there Is some doubt
whether the conjunction was really OBJ
served. or was calculated from the sup
posed law Of motion OF the planets. I'll
is certain that on the 11th Of November.
1924. the planets Venus, Jupiter and
Saturn were seen very close together,
while Mercury was only 10 degrees
distant.
A SPLENDID GROUP.
In our article on the December skies
, we inadvertently omitted to call the
readers attention to the remarkable
fact that all the larger planets, with
the exception OF Neptune, were gath
cred together In one constellation-that
OF Sagittarius-that is, within a space
OF about 30 degrees. There have been
closer proximities Of some Of them,
| like those just mentioned, but still the
assemblage of nearly all the great plan
cts within comparatively so small a
space as q constellation is a very rare
II and very remarkable event. and one
that will not easily be forgotten. The
astronomer is able TO compute such oc-
currences in the past as well as in the
future. and Il has been calculated that
this gathering Of so many planets in
so contracted a place as a constella-
tion has not happened for 5000 years.
A writer on this subject says. I'm the
lore of Oriental symbolism II por-
tends the beginning OF a world-reform-
ling epoch. The records OF the nine
lteenth century contain a greater list Of
wonderful achievements than all the
preceding ones OF which we have any
authentic account, but the new cycle
promises to surpass all previous ages
of the world"
The enlightenment of modern times
and the attendant consciousness that
everything in nature and every phe-
lnomenon. no matter how rare Il be, can
lbe scientifically explained as something
THAT must occur in the course Of nature
without infringing upon the laws OF
mature, precludes all superstitious feel
lings in the cultivated mind, but there
lis no reason why such uncommon oc-
lcurrences should not engender the sem
sation of wonder and awe in the most
thonghtful mind and produce a deeper
Impression than the ordinary AFFAIRS OF
life are liable to do.
THE CONSULTATIONS.
1 South OF CAMS Minor and east OF
/. CAMS Major is situated the large CON
stellation Argo Navis, or the ship
Argo, the principal portion Of which,
! however, lies in the southern hemis-
I, phere and cannot be seen This con-
= stellation is remarkable for containing
D the brightest star after Sirius. This is
; Alpha Argus, or Canopus. In places
3 whose latiture is 81 degrees % min
5 utes, as, for instance, Roanoke and
Al Lynchburg, in the State Of Virginia, II
[ just rises up to the horizon, while in
E places south OF them it rises above the
E horizon. Nearly degrees farther south
! OF Canopus is another most remarkable
, star in. the same constellation, which
E is not visible from any part of the
! United States except the middle and
5 southern portions OF Florida. This is
4 Eta Argus, which in the year S43 shone
= with luster inferior only to Sirius, and
e in 1866 was still shining with the
e brightness OF a first magnitude star
Since that It suddenly diminished il
brightness down to the seventh mag
nitude. which Is its present brightness
s The star Zeta Argus. or Naos, wai
D mentioned in our last article as tn,
extremity OF a line drawn from Betel
G gueze to Sirius and produced by iti
2 own length and forming a part Of thu
Egyptian Cross. The gap between Gem
2 ini and CAMS Minor on the north anC
g Argo Nayis and CAMS Major on thu
I South is filed up by the constellation
e MonocerOs, or the Unicorn, one Of thi
n modern consultations made up by Hell
E vetius in the seventeenth century
I r.F ha gfa tn 81 no ffe
d large constellation Is above the fourtl
= magnitude, rendering it rather incon
y spicuous. East of CAMS Minor lies tn
4 zodiacal constellation OF Cancer, o
= the Crab. which does not contain
y single prominent star, but is easil
y recognizable from its position, and II
y a clear and moonless night by a nebu
D. lcus cloud called Praesepe. or the Man
4, ger, with the two stars Gamma an
n Delta near it, which bear the singula
= name Of Aselli, or the Donkeys. PraC
=, sepe is also called occasionally bee
~ hive" Auriga with Capella in tn
=, north is half way between the merid
ian, mad the western horizon. and tn
beautiful constellation Orion is rapid
: approaching the horizon. Gemini an
CAMS Minor are still high up in IN
NuNNuNt AAAOnttM DNnAAAh IhIW AAA ~
~ west In the southwest Canis Majo
- with brilliant Sirius. may still
a seen, while in the east the constelli
20 tion Leo is climbing up and rapidly al
- preaching the meridian. Northeast
=. magnificent star is rising which
- once will be recognized as Arcturu
a the brightest fixed star north Of q
: equator.
mr. PERIODS OF VISIBILITY.
he In conclusion the reader will allo
,st us TO remind him that the period
Di- visibility OF a constellation or 50
ok depends solely upon the latitude OF u
= place Of observation, for which reass
some consultations may be seen for
greater period OF the year than Other
n All the stars describe a circle whil
v. cuts the plane Of the horizon und
: the same angle. equal In magnitude
l the difference OF 90 degrees and Z
y latitude, and from this follows tn
r stars with greater declination, tn
d is, with a greater distance from I
z equator will describe a larger a
: above the horizon and remain yisil
for a longer DorfOd Stars WhOge dec