Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-04-09
THE APRIL SKIES.
The Planets and CONSULTATIONS
Phases of the Moon.

brilliantly. as they lncluue %
brightest stars in the whole flrliiilIi'eii'' :
with many others Of somewhat iiilei ~
light-ppwcr. This month, too lhe p.i"
et jupiter adds appreciably TO the siois
or tLcce consultations. and Venus tiie
most brilliant Of all the planets Is ap-
preaching from the nearby t"hiS"'
arch.
The seven leading planets of our SOAR
system are peculiarly grouped thi7
month. All of them are III the nan 81
the zodiac. extending from oaSittarluS
+, Gemini. and five of them are III
ao,,arins Pisces. Aries and Taurus, not
rar from the sun, which is crossing Pts
ces as ,he month begins. Saturn is in
Anuarius. moving toward Pisces. Hr
car, b4 seen by morning observers only,
az; he rises on the first at 4.2I a. NJ.
about one hour before the sun. At the
close Of the month he is farther from
the morning twilight. as h rises ut 2.41
A. A.. two hours before the sun.
Mercury is in the next star group.
Pisces, whose stars are wholly invisible
on account of the presence of tie sun.
The planet begins the month on the
east of the sun, setting on the first at
G45 p NJ. half an hour after sunset.
1t is too late to catch a glimpse of him
in the evening. but Il chance to see him
in the morning before sunrise is offer
ed the last of the month. On the
fourth the planet passes by the sun. 60
ing far north of him, and will be at its
greatest distance west of the sun on the
second Of May. On the last morning
of The month it rises at 3.54 A. NJ, 80
minutes before sunrise. and may be
seen shining in the twilight at about
AS. It will be one-half as bright as
as in the middle of March, when it was
SO easily seen in the west after sun
set.
Venus crosses the group Aries this
month and Will b. Increasingly conspic-
uOUs -: the month advances. Many will
notice the brilliant star shining bright
ly H. II" evening twilight half mn hour
after sunset and will ask for its name
The evening SKY always seems more at
tractive Wh'n Venus aGurns it. ANA we
shall lave this brilliant gem in View
until November. increasing in bright
ness as the seasons follow each other
This month ~" must notice how rapidly
Venus seems 70 approach .iIuitei. gain
ing about one degree. each day. The
two planets are bnlh moving toward
the east, but Venus Viii ovr.takc ana
pass trnitc" in May. on IA" LIST Venus
sets at 706 T. NJ. ana on tha 30th at
SIS +. NJ
Mars IS also in Aries AMI crosses the
boundary into Taurus in the middle of
the month. While mconspcuous it
may hc seen each "vrnirg drawing
nearer To Jupiter and at the same time
: setting earlier, rs it is being gradually
ovdrt7kon by the sun. 1t sets on the
lst at sag +. NJ, ana on the 30th at
$50 +. NJ. The former time is two
hours and a half after sunset and the
latter less than two hours
Jupiter is in Taurus between the
Pleiades ard the Hyadca Its motion
among the stars is slow, but evident.
if we compare its position with regard
to these groups from week to week.
The sun as well as Venus is moving
| toward it, so that it sets earlier each
evening than the evening preceding
and will soon cease to be lord of the
| evening SKY resigning its scepter to
the more brilliant Venus. On the 1st
1t sets al 1887 Z. NJ, on the Goth at
| 9.12 =. n.
The Telescope Neptune is in Gemini
and may be found by pointing the
| telescope at right ascension Oh. 3Sm.,
| declinatiOn y. 220 49,
| In the opposite part Of the sky is
| Uranus. 1t rises on the 1st at liz A.
| NJ. just as Neptune sets. The tele-
| scope will reveal it. if directed to right
ascension 1Sh. 36m., declnation s
| % 2S'.
| The moon is at first quarter on the
2d and full on the 9Th. 1t is the
| Paschal moon, the regulator of the re-
| 1gious festivals. Nisan Il. the be
| ginning of the Jewish Passover. comes
| on the 10th. and the Easter festival in
| both the Eastern and Western church.
es on the following Sunday. The moon
- at last quarter on that day. 1t
| passes ;he brighter Planets as follows:
| 18th. Saturn: 21st. Mercury; 9th.
! Venus; 25th. Mars: 26th. Jupiter. On
| the three evenings last named it will
complete the picturesque grouping Of
stars and planets in the Western sky
| The consultations visible in the even
| ing include the zodiacal groups Taurus.
| Genial. Cancer. Leo and Virgo. all but
| Cancer, marked by conspicuous stars.
| In the southwest are Orion, LepuS
| CAMS Minor. CAMS Major and Hydra;
| Ill the Northwest Perseus and Auriga
In the Southeast is Corvus; in the East
| and Northeast Coma Berenices Bootcs
and Corona BOrealis. The Polar con-
stellations Cassiopeia Ccpheus Draco.
| Crsa Minor and Ursa Major are seen
| through the whole year. In April
the Dippcr is high in the sky ana east
| of north.
| The marked difference between the
| same season Of different years is an
| endless topic Of conversation. 1t IS 4
great puzzle scientifically for the
| astronomical relations which are at the
| basis of the seasonal conditions are
| nearly the same year after year Since
meteoroloeists are as yet unable To ex-
plain the difference. on. account of the
| ComnleXity of the subject. they cannot
fortell what the characteristics of any
season will be. The past winter has
been in strong contrast with the two
preceding. but it has not been without
precedent. Less than twenty wears
ago there were several winters which
werC unusually mild and one Of then,