Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-01-13
HEAVENS IN JANUARY:
POSITION OF PLANETS

Though the planets which illum-
mated the autumn skies so brightly
are now. all but VEINS. lost to- view
their absence is fully made up by
the appearance of the brilliant VIM
ter consultations. At our accus-
toned hour of p. m, in the middle
of this month. Orion is almost due
south, about half way up to the re
NTH. He may be instantly recognize
ed by the familiar belt" with the
bright stars Betelgeuse above. and
RigeI below. The line of the belt.
extended upward TO the right points
toward the rudy Aldebaran and the
Pleiades. Extended downward for
about the same distance il reaches
Sirius. which is about four times as
bright as any other star in sight.
An irregular cross of stars below it,
containing n couple of bright ones,
also belongs to the constellation of
CAMS Major.
Higher than Sirius. and some dis
tance to the left. is Procyon, and
still higher are the twin stars Cas-
tor and PolluX, with the rest of
Gemini. Auriga, directly overhead,
is marked by Capella, next to Sirius
the brightest star visible. In the
east the sickle of Leo has just risen.
Between it and Gemini is little
cloud of light-the famous cluster
Praesepe-which marks the position
of Cancer; and the head of Hydra is
rising farther south. Below Orion
lie the small consultations Lepus
and Columbia. and on the right is the
extensive but inconspicious Erida-
nus.
The little Bear hangs by his tail
from the pole-star, inclosed by the
coils of the Dragon. while the Great
Bear stands upright upon his tail
,(the dipper-handle) in an equally un-
comfortable position.
Mercury is very close to the sun
at the first of the year. passing be-
hind him on the night of the LIST, and
becoming an evening star. Though
he appears so near the sun, or
rather, though he would so appear,
if we could see him, he is actually
farther away behind him than usual.
After this he approaches both the
sun and the earth, and by the last
week of January he should be easily
seen just after dark, low in the
southwest. as he sets about an hour
and n half later than the sun. He is
unusually bright, so that the pres
ent opportunity for seeing him is dc
cidedly favorable. On the evening
of the 23d he is in conjunction with
Mars. Their distance is less than
the moons diameter, but one will
have to look sharp to see Mars at all
in the strong twilight. He will be
directly above the much brighter
Mercury On the 3lst MERCURY and
Venus come into conjunction. They
are quite far apart, but the oppor-
tunity to compare the appearances
of the two inner-most planets If our
system will be interesting.
Venus is also evening star in
Aquarius, moving but slowly among
the stars. and being steadily over
taken by the sun. On the LIST she
remains in sight for over three hours
and "A half after sunset, but by the
31st this interval is reduced to a lit
tie over two hours. On the evening
of the 9th she attains her greatest
brilliancy. casting distant shadow,
and being easily visible in the day
time if one knows exactly where TO
look for her.
Mars is an evening star, but is so
near the sun that he is hard To see.
though he may be picked M at his