Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-06-03
THE JUNE SKIES.
Phases of the Moon-The Declination
of the Sun.

follows: Last quarter on the 9TH, new
on the 18th, first quarter on the 2oth
and full on the 27th. She will De In
apogee on the 5th and in perigee on the
18th.
The declination of the sun at noon OF
the first day of June be % 2 3 ana he
will enter the sign Of Cancer at T. NJ.
of the zIst. at which precise moment
the season Of summer begins, the sun
having reached his highest northern
position, viz, go 27, which is equal to
the so-called obliquity of the ecliptlc.
The obIiquity Of the ecliptic undergoes
a slight change. 1t is at present "a less
than it was 1000 years ago and is still
decreasing about one-half Of second a
year. 1t has been calculated that this
dfminution will continue for about a.
600 years, reducing the obliquity to
22h', when it will begin to increase.
The whole change, according to John
HerSchel, can never exceed about
i 20 on each side Of the mean. 1t IS
worthy of mention that the ancients
determined this maximum declination
of the sun by means of a gnomon, the
simplest instrument imaginable, as 1t
consists merely of a vertical shaft or
column of height erected on a perfectly
horizontal plane. The observation con-
sists in noting the length of the shadow
cast at noon at certain times of the
year. The length of the shadow at
noon on the days when the sun reaches
his maximum declination at the
solstices determines the zenith distance
of the sun. and the difference of the
zenith distances at the two solstices is
Il n
teresting fact that the Chinese made an
observation of this kind 4OCO years be-
fore the beginning of the Christian era
and the result given is very nearly
what It should have been at that time.
II is, therefore, by far the oldest of all
astronomical records. While In our
latitude the longest day-June Ais
about Is hours, it is "a hours 'on the
Arctic Circle, so that for the inhab-
itants of those regions the sun on that
day will just Craze the horizon, but
instead of setting below it rises up
again, thus presenting the interesting
phenomenon of the midnight sun.
From the Arctic Circle northward the
length of the longest day changes very
rapidly being one month at the latitude
of e. 2f. two months at So 52', three
months at !3' 40. four months at 7S' II d.
five months at 81 G. and six months at
the pole.
While Mercury will be in Taurus dur
ing the greater portion of June, enter
ing Gemini near its close, Venus will
successfully be in Aries, Taurus ana
Gemini. She will shine as a morning
star. rising n few minutes after four
O'Clock; but as ut the moment OF her
rising the morning twilight will have
begun to irradiate the skies, Venus Will
not present the brlliance she otherwise
would display. Mars will be near
Venus throughout the whole month and
b., in close conjunction with her in the
night from the 18th to the 18th, when
both planets will be within about one
half 4 degree from each other. Both
will rise almost simultaneously during
the month. Jupiter is in Pisces and.
rising between one and two O'Clock,
will act as u morning star. On June
this planet will be in perihelion.
Saturn is in Capricornus, and will rise
a little after ten O'Clock in the evening.
1t is the only one of the brighter
planets that will be visible before mid
night Uranus is in Sagittarius and
eliminates about midnight. The dis
tant planet Neptune Is in Gemini. On
the 10Th Neptune will be i'm conjunction
with Venus, Il phenomenon that can be
observed by those who enjoy the
advantage of good telescope.
Up to the middle of the eighteenth
century much had been done in the
development of the astronomical
science Copernicus had established
the true solar system, Kcp!er had given
it mathematical basis by his three
immortal laws. Sir Isaac Newton had
established the universal law of
s,ravitation but still all these brilliant
achievements were more or less con-
fined to the planetary system. and the
stars were regarded by practical as
tronomers mainly as number of con-
veniently fixed points by which the mo-
tiOns of the various members of the
solar system could he determined and
compared. Their recognized function,
in fact, was that of milestones on the
great celestial highway traversed by
the planets, as well as on the by-ways
of space occasionally pursued by
comets. Not that curiosity as to their
nature, and even conjecture as to their
origin. were at any period absent.
Both were from time to time powerfully
stimulated by the appearance OF
startling novelties in a region described
by philosophers as 'tincorruptible" or
exempt from change.
The general aspect of the skies was
recorded from age to age and with I'M
proved appliances the enumeration was
rendered more and more accurate and
complete: but the secrets of the stellar
sphere remained inviolate. In the real
sense Sir William Herschel must be
considered the founder of sidereal as
tronomy. The first great fact that the
world learned concerning fixed stars
was that they are suns. When as
tronomers gradually could form
tolarably true surmises as to the
stupendous distances of these bodies
the conclusion that they We're self
luminous bodies could no longer be
subject to- any doubt, for even the
duliest. mind cannot but see that
borrowed light could not possibly
penetrate such immense distances.
From the fact. however. that all these
orbs We see shining on the celestial
- = R.~I1