The Washington times., 1903-06-01

the eliminating glory of the seasonal
changes. This is the summer solstice,
when the sun stands above the Tropic of
Cancer and gives US the longest day
of the year. Fifteen hours of warm,
bright sunshine against nine hours OF
shadow-this is the way the day divides
itself during June, the month of sun
shine and flowers. Further north he
days are still longer, until we get TO
the Arctic circle. where the sun moves
westward until. at midnight, he reaches
a point due north of the observer. and
begins to ascend along the line of the
circle he described during the previous
twenty-four hours.
1t is very difficult for many people to
comprehend seeing the midnight sun, or
to reconcile the strangeness of seeing
the sun directly north. Everything Is
at once cleared up when we remember
that We are looking across the north
pole at the sun. which Is shining on
the opposite side OF the earth In our
lower latitude the round of the earth
between us and the the pole is too
great to permit this spectacle, and We
are thrown into shadow for a few hours.
In the Twilight.
Twilight. caused by a reflection of
dust particles in the upper atmosphere,
endures until the sun has passed
eighteen degrees below the horizon 1t
follows that the sun, passing below the
horizon in oblique fashion at this sea-
son, is long reaching the limit where
the afterglow is lost and absolute shad-
ow begins. In this latitude the twilight,
at the time of the solstice. lasts until
9:37 p. m. and the approach of dawn is
seen at 2:35 a. m. Further north both
the day and the twilight are longer until
about 80 degrees north has been
reached. when twilight lasts all night;
and at the arctic circle the sun does not
even pass below the horizon.
Venus stands high in the evening sky,
her great brilliance. which surpasses
everything except the sun and moon,
being quite sufficient Identification
Very near to Venus at the beginning of
the month is the remarkable pair of
bright stars. Castor and Pollux. They
are ten moon breadths apart, Pollux be-
ing the one nearest the planet. During
the month Venus will move rapidly east
ward among the stars, heading directly
toward Regulus, the bright star in the
handle OF the Sickle.
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Mars is In the constellation of the Viz
gin. and is past the meridian when the
sun has set. He is brighter than any of
the neighboring stars. and his conspicu-
Gus, rudy color furnishes a means of
Identification. Jupiter rises about ! a NJ
at the beginning of the month, Saturn at
II .. m. Both rise four minutes earlier
each evening during the month, rising
two hours earlier at its close than at its
beginning. Saturn is in Capricorn, Jupi-
ter in Aquarius. Neither of these con-
stellations has any particularly bright
stars, so the planets may be at once dis
t.nguished.
Uranus comes TO opposition on the
18th; that is, he is on the opposite side
of the sun from the earth, and is due
south at midnight. This is the most ia
vorable time of the year for seeing this
distant and strangely constituted planet.
There are people who can see Uranus
with the naked eye when conditions are
favorable, and they know Just where to
look While such persons are few. an
opera glass brings the planet within
easy vision of any seeker. 1t is in the
gap in the Milky Way. about as far
south as the great star Antares A group
of three faint stars lies very close to
the west Of the planet. and two other
small stars are just above the latter
Uranus IS remarkable in several re-
spects. one of which is the fact that its
daily revolutions is east to west, in
stead of west to east. as in the case of
the nearer planets.