The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-01-08
The Heavens in January, 1902.

Though the planets which illuml-
mated the autumn skies SO brightly are
now, all but Venus, lost to view, their
absence is fully made up by the ap-
pearance of the brilliant winter con-
stellations. At our accustomed hour
of 9 p. m., in the middle of this
month, Orion is almost due south,
about half way up to the zenith. He
may be instantly recognized by the
familiar "belt,'' with the bright stars
Betelgeuse above and Rigel below.
The line of the belt, extended up
ward to the right, points toward the
ruddy Aldebaran and the Pleiades.
Extended downward for about the
same distance it reaches Sirius, which
! is about four times as bright as any
other star in sight. An irregular
cross of stars below it, containing a
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 Castor
and Pollux, with the rest of Gemini.
Auriga, directly overhead, is marked
by Capella, next to Sirius the bright
est star visible. In the east the sickle
of Leo has just risen. Between 1T
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
inconspicuous Eridanus.
This classic river is represented by
a stream of faint stars, starting near
Rigel and running first westward, then
southeastward, and then toward the
southwest, till it sinks out of sight.
It ends in & star-Achernar-almost
as bright as Rigel, which is only visi-
BILE from points south of the latitude
of Savannah.
Cetus, which is almost equally ex-
tensive. occupies the southwest. Aries
is marked by little triangle of stars
west of the zenith. Perseus and Cas-
siopeia lie in the Milky Way northwest
of Auriga Cygnus, below them, has
partly set. Andromeda lies below
Perseus and to the left of Cassiopeia,
and Pegasus is still lower, its ''great
square, standing on one corner.
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 uncom-
Portable position.
THE PLANETS.
Mercury is very close to the sun at
the first of the year, passing behind
him on the night of the 1st, and be-
coming 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
ne approaches both the sun and the
earth, and by the last week of Janu-
ary he should be easily seen just after
dark, low in the southwest, as ne sets
about an hour and "a half later than
the sun. He is unusually bright, so
that the present opportunity for seeing
him is decidedly favorable. On the
evening of the 23d he is in coniunc-
ton 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 They are quite far apart,
but the opportunity to compare the ap-
pearance Of the two inermost planets
Of our system VIII be interesting.
Venus is also evening star in Aqua
rius, moving but slowly among the
stars, and being steadily overtaken
by the sun. On the 1st she remains
in sight for over three hours and a
half after sunset, but By the 3lst this
interval is reduced to little over two
hours. On the evening of the 9th
she attains her greatest brilliancy,
casting distant shadow, and being
easily visible in the daytime if one
knows exactly where to look for her.
Since both Venus and Mercury
reach a maximum Of briIliancy dur
ing the month, it seems an appro-
pirate time to discuss briefly the
causes of their change of brightness.
The brightness of given planet, as
seen from the earth, depends:
1st. On its distance from the sun.
For the nearer it is to the sun, the
more light it will receive, and so be
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