Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-01-18
PLANETARY BEAUTY.
Baltimore American

Baltimore American
The planetary splendors Of the first /
month of the now year viii not be espe- /
chilly brilliant. hut 30 The interested stu. !
dent of the celestial spectacle mo- month !
Is over dull The steady procession of The
eternal consultations, which have not app
procably changed their relation toward
each other or toward our little universe
In millions of years, would De Of itself an
endless study, Go sny nothing of the COM
ing and going OF our inferior and su-
perior planets that Is, those planets
nearer and farther away from the sun
than IS the earth.
Mercury, the little planet nearest the
sun. whose diameter Is about one.third
that of the earth, Is now morning star,
'und may De seen Immediately before
broad daylight-a silver point little
above the horizon. AS it makes IFS cir
cult round the sun In ss days, 1t will be
evening star and at iis greatest bril-
liancy a little after the midle of March.
Beholders of this planet which is only
little more than one-third of the distance
from the sun oi that which separates as
from the great center of our universe,
should always remember the interesting
fact that, ns IFS orhital revolution is 81
dnvs and its axial revolution the same
period. only one side of the planet is ever
bathed with thc light of the sun. The
other side. 10 follows, is always in dark
ness.
Venus IS morning star, but. being In
superior conjunction. is not that glorious
object 20 the Wow that she will be when,
ms evening STAR she begins to climb the
western heavens late in February, grow
inc brighter and brighter until she be-
comes the most brilliant of an planetary
spoctacles, even casting a shadow in very
clear. moouless nights.
Mars. which a few months ago burned
a brilliant red IN the zenith mt the noon
of night. Is now far TO the southwest, in
the constellation Aquarius, quenching his
warlike arlor in the douch of the Water
man. Saturn is in the same field, and
these two planets, the one most interest
inc because of an heavenly bodies IL ap-
proaches ncnrcst o. the earth, with the
I exception of one of the planetoils; and
the other because off lbs supcmhundance
of rims and moons. are now but sorry
sight IN thoir gradual disappearance, only
to give visual pleasure when they appear
as morning stars. Saturn sscNeml rings,
the most extraordinary phenomenon Of
our planetary system, are now seen dim
I ly as one, but, of course, only with a
good telescope.
Jupiter. g6d of gods Of the ancients, Of
| q great people and q great age, now rules
without opposition the evening heavens
I and is enthronod the liyelong night, re-
| firing only d short time before the com.
/ ing of that mightier orb, the sun. This
/ hurest by far of AN the planets, having a
diameter lO times thlt of the earth and
one.tpnth that of fhr sun itself, reaches
the meridian about % o'clock on the first
of january. and viii in appearance re-
main almost stationary for many nights
although really fastening down the west
ern skies tO round the sun and vary his
reinm bv PLAYING the role of morning star
/ so one cam mistake Jupiter for any other
star for De blazes with almost dazzling
hrillinncv near and at the meridian from
{ s o'clock until near midnight, and almost
in the zenith when It, is on the meridian
Close 90 ID and higher are the Pleiades
and close lower Is the head of Taurus. A
little toward the horizon is the grandest
constellation of the Northern Hemis-
phero. Orion. which Is even more striking
] I'm brilluncy and composition than the
Southern Cross, which is the glory of the
heavens of the Southern Hemisphere
I Nellor to thc horizon and little 20 the
cast Is CAMS Major. including in IFS ar.
mnecmeui tho brightest of our liked
sfaIs." Sirius. whose influence is sup
roscd to bo so baleiul In autumn when 10
travels in companionshcip with the sun
Jupiter is now most iavombly situated
for observation and viii remain thus un-
IN the moon. about TO appear a crescent
I'm the plor ing. mounts toward the zen
ith and so bright as to dim Che
luster of 81 iunet But Jupiter VIII yel
remain ei spectacle after the moon
once moro r.iirss, and his mysterious
/ belts. changeiul and glowing with strange
colors. may Dee seen with small tele
scope. or even field glass. as also may
tbc four brilliant satellites, their occuita
tions and tansits and the transit OF theil
shadows making fine spectacle
saturn. next farther of the superio
planets, has been mentioned and Uranus