The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-04
THE SKIES IN APRIL
WONDERS OF THE PERMANENT
 OF HEAVEN ENROLLED.
Positions of Planets-Weather Pre- dictions-The Novae-Constella- tions-Theories and Specu-
 lations of Scientific Men.

Baltimore Sun.
 In course of the month of April the
 moon will present the following phases:
 Last quarter on the 1st, new on the Sth,
 first quarter on the 18th and full on the
 3Oth. She will be in perigee on the 10th,
 and in apogee on the 18th. On the 1st of
 the month the sun will be 4 degrees IT
 minutes 15 seconds and on the last 14
 degrees 34 minutes north of the equator. thus passing through an arc of about
 10 degrees 30 minutes of north declination. Mercury will succs3sively pass through
 the consultations Aqnlri IS, Pisces anu
 Aries. while Venus will remain within the
 boundaries of Aqudrills throughout the
 month. She will rise between and 1
 clock in the morning and. from her
 first appearance on the horizon until ner
 fading away in the increasing morning
 twilight. form resplendant object in tn ,
 heavens which will emit it's light yet when
 the twilight is irradiating the skies. All
 though Jupiter is in Capricorn. it is near
 enough to Venus to cause these two
 splendid morning stars to impart to the
 eastern skies peculiarly attractive ap- pearance. Jupiter rises about three quar-
 ters of an hour before Venus. The planet
 Mars Is in Hsccs during tho greater DOT
 tion of the month but will enter Aries toward the termination. As it will culmi-
 nate about noon. it will be seen neither
 in the morning nor evening hours. Saturn is still in Sagittarius and about an hour ahead of Jupiter. An carly riser may see the three bright planets Jupiter. Venus ana saturn TOT a Ilttle while Snl1llnX Tn
 the morning skies. and he will notice with the advancing twilight at first the light of Saturn, then that of Jupiter. and at last of Venus to be absorbed In the su- pcrior refulgence of the king of day as he approaches closer and closer the eastern horizon. Uranus is also in Sagit-
 tsdus and rises about II o'clock in the
 evening. Neptune is in Taurus It is fact not destitute Of interest that about the
 9th of the month tho sun. moon and all
 the greater planets. with the exception or Neptune. are in consecutive consteilattons the sun and Mars in Pisces. the moon. Mercury and Venus in AQuarius. Jupiter In Capricornus and saturn and uranus in Sa agatt7 rus. We have noticed in the pa pcrs that a certain English astronomer bases upon this fact the prediction that on April half of the world will be food cd. He says that on that day the above mentioned celestial bodies will all be on one side of the world and subsequently a submergence of Western Europe. West crn Asia and the southeastern part of
 the United States will begin and will be
 compl, ted in thirteen days. when the
 moon will arrive again on the equator. Were it not for the fact that there are not few persons whose ignorance and credulitv put faith in predictions that are utterly devoid of a scientific basis and | certainly incompatible with the laws of l celestial mechanics, we would pass such
 q prediction as the above with silent con | tempt but as there prevails. oven in | this enlightened ago. a not inconsiderahle | amount of superstition it will not be con | sdered out of place to make q few brief remarks on the above prediction How | the fact of the sun and moon and some 1 of the planets being in relative posi- | ton as described above should produce | an inundation of d large portion or me
 earth's surface is more than wc are . sole l to fathom or. in fact anybody that l knows something of the possible eHec, 1 of distant planets upon the earth ana
 tho weather prevailing thereon. we haNc | had more than one occasion 10 mehtioh | in this paper that the atmospheric condi | tion of our earth is wholly independent or | the position of the plane.s and the moon. | Any weather prediction based upon the | phases of the moon or the relative post | tion of the planets must needs he con | sidered either as an evidence of gross ig-
 norance on the part Of the weather 1 prophet or q wilfu attempt to play upon
 the credulity of ignorant people ,,lns rhns | committing an act of imposition. That | such attempts. in spite of the teachings
 of true science. are still possible can he | accounted for only by supposing that su- l perstition is inherent in the human mind | and canot be altogether eradicated there | from.
 In our last article We had occasion to | speak of the variable stars, the variabil- | ity of whose brightness passes through
 a definite and mathematically determined | period of time. In this article we shall l offer a few remarks on another most in- | teresting class of stars, called temporary | stars to which in late years the apprO-
 priate name of Novae has been given. A
 distinguishing feature of star of this 1 class is that it blaZes up. so far as Is known, only once in the period of it's his
 tory. then gradually fades away to its | former magnitude, which 1t commonly re
 tains with, so far as is yet known. little
 no subsequent variation Since their frs l discovery they have caused the intenses
 interest. but great perplexity. and ever
 vet a perfectly satisfactory explanation
 has not been furnished, though there arc | several more or less spacious and ingen
 sudden appearance and disappearance.
 or the sixteen Novae so far ohserver the first was that of the year 1572 ofter
 called. after it's discoverer. Tycho's star first noticed on November :. l572. by Lin