The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-05-02
BEAUTY OF THE SKIES
IN THE MONTH OF MAY


| the month of May viii be: New on the
It'll, first quarter on the 18th, full on the
! 22d, and last quarter on the 30th. She will
| be in peTigee on the Sth. and in aDocae
on the 23d. While on the Ist of the month
the sun is Il degrees 50 minutes IS sec
onds north of the equator. he in the
course Of the month rises about 7 de-
grees higher up. being at its termination
II degrees only from his northern limit.
| the sumTaer solstice. which he will reach
! on the ed of June. In this latitude he
viii rise and set on the first OF the month
19 degrees Il minutes north of the true
east and west points Of the horizon. and
on the last IS degrees ~ minutes. the
rising and setting points thus shifting
nearly 915 degrees northward along the
horizon. fact that can be noticed in the
changeable illumination produced by the
rising or setting sun on the walls or fur
niture Of rooms with windows that admit
the direct rays OF the morning and even
ing sun.
An interesting fact. and one that can
not but infUse an admiration for the
power of mathematical analysis into the
minds of the uninitiated, is that by
knowing the latitude Of place and the
deelination Of the sun We can accurately
measure the height Of a mountain by OBJ
serving how many minutes the sun shines
on the top CT the peak before it shines on
the plane Of the horizon
In similar manner measurements of
the heights of lunar mountains have been
made with almost the same PRECISION
with which the elevations of terrestrial
mountains are ascertained.
The planet Mercury is at first in Aries.
but during the greater portion of the
month vii be in Taurus. Venus, being at
first in AqUarius, VIII soon be in Pisces
Rising about O'Clock in the morning. she
sets IN the capacity of morning star,
heraldiEg in the king of the day She
forms most brilliant object in the morn
ing sky, and will shine with that Iustcr
which is peculiarly her own even for a
considerable time after the morning Gre
Puscule has begun to iTradiate TIE skies.
Mars Is in Aries and, rising 2bout ,
o'clock. viii also act as a morning star
Jupiter, being in CapricoTnus, viii at first
rise few minutes past I O'Clock in the
morning, but later on before midnight
When the first gIimmer Of the morning
planet is halfway up between the horizon
and the meridian, manifesting his royal
presence by that brilliance which IS sec
Ond only TO that Of Venus Saturn is yet
in SagittaTius. and s-nce he rises about
midnight. he will, like his brother planet,
be high up at the time of the first streaks
Of twilight To the early riser, there
fore, the morning skies viii present par
ticurlarly fine appearance, as they viii be
adorned By the four brightest members of
the planetary family
On the 7th Of May q partial eclipse of
the sun viii Occur. which. however. viii
te invisible IN this latitude.
At about . o'clock in the May evenings
the great clrcumpoIaT constellation Ursa
Major viii be on the meridian. This con-
stelIation is so familiar that it must ap-
pear unnecessary to subject Its we'll
known cOnfigUFatiOn to any description
While the two stars in the bowl OF the
Dipper point out the Polestar, being in