The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-06-09
THE SKIES IN LINE.


 blessings that are to come than the blessings which are with us is illustra- ted by the recognition which we give, respectively, to the occasion of the win ter and of the summer solstice. In De cember, when the sun is at the lowest, and we are suffering from the lack of his rays, we give ourselves to wild re- joicings because the summer is coming again. In June, when the elimination of the suns northward progress is reached. casual mention is all the re- cognition we have for blessings achieved. Certain festivities on St. John the Baptist's eve, which are still carried on in the remoter parts of some European countries, are survivals of ancient rites in honor of the beginning of summer, but otherwise the day pass es unnoticed.
 This year on June 21, at 3:S5 p. m., the earth will enter the Sign of Cancer, and the summer season will begin. On this longest day of the year the sun will rise at 4:29 a. m. and set at 7:34 p. ln., giving over fifteen hours of actual sunshine. There will, in addition. be more than two hours of twilight in the morning and like amount in the even- ing. Further north the hours of dark ness will be even shorter, and further still the twilight of evening will merge into the twilight of morning, while within the arctic circle the sun will not pass below the horizon.
 xror, r,aoxy ba al f,ic f0 coo fho .ci1r at midnight, and that you look due north for the sgiht, is to most people a particularly bewildering fact. so ac- customed are we to look southward to the sun. The explanation is entirely simple. The sun at midnight is hidden from us by the bulk of the earth. If we are far enough to the north we can look directly over the pole at the sun shining on the opposite side of the earth.
 As the sun sets late and twilight lin- gers long, it is not possible to see the stars at their best until well upon ten o'clock. When we look at the skies at that hour we see what appears to be a white cloud faintly illuminated from some mysterious source. A closer look shows several bright stars shining from it's depths, and we realize that it is the splendidly rich portion of the Milky Way which is comprised in the con- stellation Cygnus. For few months we have seen but little of the Milky Way, for the reason that the broad pathway of light which encircles the entire Armament has been during the evening hours in such position as to fairly coincide with the horizon. For long time 1t will be in position for ob- servation, with its richest fieldsfn con- spicuous view.
 This particularly bright region is at the northern beginning of the rift in the Milky Way, which extends for distance along the sky. The bright star Deneb is directly at the edge of this rift, and is the head of the Northern Cross, a remarkable figure of six stars in the form of a Roman cross. An opera glass brings out countless thousands of stars.
 Near the Milky Way at this point and higher up in the sky we see the Tyre, a small but exceedingly beautiful constel-
 
 which is further marked by a small quadrilateral adjoining the bright star. A small star outside this quadrilateral forms a triangle with Vega and the nearest corner star. On the other side of the Milky Way, at about the same distance, we see the bright star Altair in the constellation Aquila. In the southeast we see the red, first-mag agnitude star Antares in the of the Scorpion.
 Over toward the horizon in the west we see the Heavenly Twins, Castor and Pollux. These are two bright stars of nearly equal magnitude about ten apart Their alignment is now almost parallel to the horizon. Castor is the more northerly of the pair.
 The Big Dipper Is now past the meri- dian, the bowl dipping toward the west and the handle pointing upward toward the bright star Arcturus, which is now in midheaven--a little higher than is the sun at noon. Near Arcturus is the beautiful semi-circle of the Northern Crown. Between this constellation and that of the Tyre lies the vast and shapeless constellation of Hercules.
 In the western sky is the constella- ton of the Lion, which may now be seen to particularly good advantage. It is large but perfectly distinct con- stellation, the western extremity being marked by the Sickle, with the first star Regulus in the end of the handle. At the eastern extremity Is the bright second magnitude star Denebola, which is associated with two stars in triangle. Arcturus, Denebola and Spica--the last in the of the Virgin-form vast 1uilateral triangle, with Spica at the southern angle. Saturn rises at mid night at the beginning of the month, but at it's close will rise at ten o'clock. He begins on June his annual retro grade motion, which will continue until ate in October Jupiter rises at a. m. at the beginning of the month, and an hour and half earlier toward it's end. Mars and Venus are both too clos to the sun to permit observation with put instrumental aid.
 On the morning of June 8, and one )r two mornings before and after, it will be possible, if the atmosphere is very clear, to see the planet Mercury. Look from an hour to an hour and a lalf before sunrise near the horizon, where the sun is soon to appear. If with naked eye or opera glass you are able to pick up a star, it is certain to