The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-11-14

burning coal causes a shortage in the
supply of coal. 1t may be well ques.
toned, therefore whether the me-
teors of the Leonid swarm; that is,
of the mass of them, due every thirty
three years, are not practically spent;
so that no further great showers need
be expected. OF course, struggling
remnants there may be, all about
the orbit, and some of these we may
meet any November. But eventually
the stream will be drained dry-and
it looks very dry just now.
Nevertheless, there is no harm in
looking to the eastward, after mid
night, IN the night of the 18th, 18th
and 14th of November, which means
on the following mornings, and. con
r%tinuing to look until daylight. For
it the shower come it will be the pity
of a lifetime to have missed it. The
misfortune of not seeing October's
total eclipse of the noon because
of the clouds is not to be compared
with that Of missing so rare and so
startling a spectacle as this. But,
striking as the exhibition would be,
there need be no thought of danger,
though by such things, as we'll as by
innocent eclipses of the sun and
moon, ignorant people have often been
alarmed to the point of terror. I'm
fortunately, OF the nights in question,
the moon is nearly full, which will
prevent the discovery of the fainter
meteors and diminish the brilliancy
of the entire performance.
There are other showers Of meteors
at other times in the year, named
from the consultations from which
they appear to radiate, and, like the
Leonids, following certain definite
paths about the heavens. Nov. 26
the Andromedes may be expected,
from the constellation Andromeda,
seen in the early evening, we'll over
head. December brings the Geminids,
January the Quadrantids, etc. But
the Leonids, of which we have just
spoken, are the famous meteors. Be-
sides those that run in swarms and
in distinct paths, many meteors flash
in our atmosphere, which seem indie
pendent of one another. During the
night of July $40, from the quiet
waters Of Little Lake Sunapee, New
Hampshire, the writer counted forty
six such, ONE of electric b~rilliancy.
Even if the meteors do not mate
~rialize, other things of iterest will,
during the month of November. Those
who never yet have identified the shy
planet Mercury, which, like the littlest
and youngest child that he is, clings
close to the radient vesture of his
parent, will, by careful watchfulness,
be able to distinguish him, not far
above the eastern horizon, just at
dawn. during the first ten days of the
month; for on the 4th Mercury is at
greatest western elongation. Jupiter
and Saturn are slowly moving off the
scene; for their bright orbs must
now be looked for in the southwest
ern heavens, Jupiter considerably to
the east, and Saturn less So, of the
point where we saw them get to-
gether a year ago., joined at that time
by magnificent Venus, and then by
the bejeweled crescent moon, a spec
tacle for which we will have to wait
now many years. Jupiter is at quad
nature On the first of the month nine
ty degrees east Of the son. BY the
middle of the month Saturn sets at
$3.50 and Jupiter at 10. A month later
and they will nearly have disappeared
from the evening sky.
But while they march off Venus
marches on. And we can afford to
exchange any other two planets for
Venus. On the farther side of her
orbit Venus has been steadily ap-
preaching the II in the morning
sky. On the 2Sth she will be in con-
junction with the sun, passing that
body a triie higher in the sky, where
If the sun could be darkened on this
side, we should see her wearing the
fac of a full moon. Only six days
later Venus is at her descending node,
that is, crosses the elliptic, or the
suns apparent path, in a downward
direction. Did she reach this node
at the time when she passes the sun
then she would be directly behind
that orb. And, if a total eclipse of
the sun should happen at the same
time, thus largely extinguishing his
light, still Venus would not be seen,
because hidden by both sun and moon.
1t is not impossible that this has some
time happened and will happen again.
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