The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-04
SKY STUDIES FOR JULY.
The Positions efthe Various Plan
cts During the N0nth.
beautiful Consultations Promised
by the Accommodations Measure
mCnt~ of Terrestrial Areas Are Eff
Observation-Disclosures of Sc0rpiO.

In the course of the month of July the
moon viii present the following phases.
Full on the Ist and 3Ist. last quarter on
the Sth. new on the 18th, and first guar
ter on the 22d. She viii he in peri-ce on
the llth and in apogee on the sd. While
the sun on the LIST of the month Is p de
grees minutes north of the equator. it
viii b on the last IS degrees 9 minutes
above il. thus travelling in course Of the
month over an arc of > degrees north
decimal ton.
The planet Mercury is in Gemiui It
viii be stationary on the 2}d and then
begin to retrograde. Venus viii successive
" be in Gemini, Cancer. and Leo She
viii become visible soon after the setting
of the sun and not set before 9:15 o'clock.
Although this planet is not at present at
her greatest briIIiancy she will be when
the evening twilight begins to deepen. a
very conspicuous object on the western
sky Mars is in Leo and Will be visible
during the first portion Of the month
nearly till midnight, but toward the end
only a little after 10 O'Clock. The planet
Jupiter is in Sagittarfus and will be visi-
bic nearly throughout the night In the
first portion Of the month it viii come
TO the meridian soon after Il o'clock. but
later on about 10 o'clock Saturn IS also
the sun on the 9Th of the month. and con-
sequently shine all night. 1t viii come
10 the meridian twenty minutes later than
Jupiter These two planets will consti-
tute the two most beautiful objects in the
skies during the July nights
To those Who are ignorant of the meth
DDS employed in measurements on the
earths surface on j large scale like ex-
tended geodetis and Photographic sur
Teys, It must appear strange that in such
terrestrial measurements the stars are re
sorted to as an Indispensable means of Sc
curing accuracy 1t IS plain enough 10
anybody that in surveys the direction Of
the north and south line must be fixed
with the utmost accuracy. and therefore
| the position of the true north pole be de
termined by means of the Pole star or
other of the circumpolar stars. The meas
urement of a degree Of the circumference
Of the earth and therefore that Of the
circumference itself certainly is for us
terrestrial inhabitants problem Of vital
Importance. and distinctly an astronomi-
! cal one. When in the years 1Te+65 Mason
and Dixon who had come over from Eng
/ land to mark the boundary between Penn
Syivania and Maryland tsince known as
( the Mason and Dixon Line carefully OBJ
served the elevation Of q certain star
J
ured a straight line directly south until
the star at the same time Of day was one
degree nearer the horizon than when they
started. they knew that they had meas
| ursd just one degree of the earth's cir
| cumference. This interesting fact rests
upon principle which deserves the read
| eT'S most earnest attention. namely. that
| the latitude Of any place is exactly equal
to the elevation Of the pole either north
| or south. as the case may be- above the
/ horizon Of the place.
In order to measure meridianaI arcs If
| Is first necessary to find with the great
/ est possible accuracy the difference Of
/ latitude between the terminal stations Of
/ the meridianal arc. This is the astro-
nomical part of the work The geodetic
/ work consists in measuring their dis
/ lance in miles, OF feet etc. which also
requires the greatest care and precaution
! At the present time many arcs Of nGrdi-
! ans have been thus measured more than
/ thirty in different parts Of the earth In
! measuring such arcs il was found that in
/ higher ATTITUDES the arcs are longer. prov
/ ing the hattening Of the earths surface
/ near the poles. It is necessary to travel
/ 1900 feet farther in Sweden than in In
/ dia TO increase the latitude l degree. as
/ measured by the elevation Of the celes-
/ tiai pole From such measurement the
/ exact form Of the earth may be deduced
/ but for reasons into which We need not
| enter here it is rather an abstruse prob
| lem, though an interesting one
| At about 9 o'clock in the July evenings
! the three conspicuous consultations
! Scorpio. Hercules, and Ophiuchus will
| come to the meridian OF all the twelve
! consultations constituting the zodiac 70
Scorpio must be conceded the palm OF
| beauty Its peculiar and most striking
! conliguration is that OF a ,,oy-s kite with
/ a long tail TO it In the heart of the
/ Scorpion is situated the principal star OF
/ the constellation Alpha Scorpii (the gent
! tive not being formed from Scorpio, but
/ from Scorpius}- 1t is of the first mag
! Eitude and also bears the name Antares.
/ a word signifying the rival Of Ares
! on account Of its red color, and IN this
respect resembling the planet Mars. the
| Greek name Of the god Of war being
! Ares.
Antares is n double star. but it requires
! a toIerabIy large telescope to discern its
/ companion. Beta SCOTpH. OF the second
/ magnitude. is in the arch Of the bow Of
the kite toward the constellation Libra
( Due south of Beta and near it is Delta
Scorpii. also Of the second magnitude
With a small telescope a fine cluster may
be easily seen half way between Alpha
and Beta Scorpii To the west Of Scor-
Pic lies the constellation Libra. and to
| the east, though constellation Sagittarius
distinguished at present by harboring the
two kingly planets Jupiter and Saturn
| Between Scorpio and Sagittarius in Il
I noTthcrIy direction. is situated the large
constellation Ophiuchus. meaning the
/ ''serpcut-bearer-" The hero is represent
! ed as standing with his feet on Scorpio
| and grasping the serpent" Inasmuch as
| the two consultations are closely con
| uected they are best treated together
| While the head Of Ophiuchus Is close to
! the head Of Hercules the mead Of the ser
! pent is near the crown and marked 10y "a
small triangle. Alpha Ophiuchi. Of the
second magnitude, also called Ras Ala
ghue. IS easily recognized by its being
only degrees from Alpha Hercules, both
stars occupying rather isolated position
| Alpha Ophiuchi is the eastern and bright
| IT Of the two. and forms, with the two
! first-nag nitude stars Vega and Affair. an
| almost equiiateraI triangle.
/ The stars Of the serpent spread out east
/ and west Of Uphiuchus in a large circular
arc The head Of the serpent is marked
| by a small triangle of stars. of which
| Beta is one of the brightest in the con
steIlatiOn. About 10 degrees south OF
/ Beta is Alpha or Unuk, of the second
| magnitude. There is a group of star
! partly in Ophiuchus and partly in the ser
! pent that bears 4 singular resemblance
1 To a hanging lamp" name that de