Arizona republican., 1900-08-08
STARLIGHT AND MOONLIGHT.
The Beauty of the Heavens Through
 the Clear August Nights.

Rich treasures from the August treas ure house are brought forth this, the last of the summer months, to make the moonlight and starlight nights sources of untiring enjoyment. The August stars are beautiful. The red star Antares shines in the southwest, while further to the westward is Spica, another gem.
 The brilliant Verga comcs to the me ridian in the early hours of the even ing, and not very far away shines the swan, with it's starry cross resting on the Milky Way AItair is to the north ward and westward. having the pretty diamond that marks the Dolphin for a near neighbOr.
 Tho August moon quarters on the 3rd, is in conjunction with Jupiter on the 5th. On the 10th it is full moon. and on the 17th last quartering.
 As we have already seen the sun is the splendid source of light, which it scatters all around. Some of that light falls on our earth to give it the glorics of the day; some of the sunbeams fall on the moon, and, though the moon it. self has no more light than the earth or stones, yet when exposed to a torrent of sunbeamS, she enjoys day as we do One side of her is brilliantly light ed. and this it is which renders our sat elite visible
 The whole of the sun is always bright while half of the moon is always in darkness. When the bright side of the moon is turned directly toward us, then We see a complete circle, and We say the moon is full. On olher occasions a portion only of the bright surface is turned toward us, and thus are pro- duced the beautiful crescents and S mi circles and other phases of the moon. | Arcturus. the red tinted and radiant | is the real gem of the northwest and s:rves as guide to the northern crown that. with it's semi-circle If stars, lies l above it. The star that late in the ev- ening comes up in the northeast is the l sparkling Capella.
 | There is a satisfaction.in learning the names of the stars and their positions that does not belong to the study of the | change. The planets are always on the move If the bright stars that adorn J the August sky become familiar. the same stars will be seen to return to the | same places on eV5ry August.
 When we look at the stars and con slider the tr mendous eXpanse of heav- en, the amount of waste space appears astounding, much as the Pacific ocean seems far too large for its archipela- goes. The boundless vault looks as though wasted in containing at such enormous intervals the tiny specks that are its worlds and suns.
 The fish which dimly perceives a star
 through the water composed of oXy- gen and hydrogen is not in a mucE worse position for reliable astronomical observations than man. The astrono-
 Iner and the house cat enjoy. of course, the sunshine equally, but the forms r understands, as the later does not, some
 at least of the wonders of that golden | warmth. However the spell of habit
 binds even these astute observers. For
 do they not use cOntentedly the phrases cOnsecrated by ancient ignorance, such
 as sunrise" and sunset spoken pop
 ularly of an orb which, as far as we are
 concerned, is a heavenly body which
 neither rises or sets? The sun gives US
 almost fourteen and a half hours of his
 precious light at he beginning of the
 month, but decreases this boon by
 about one hour and a quarter befor5
 the month is brought to a close.
 Venus reaches her period of greatest