Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-02-06
The FEBRUARY SKIES
Sunlight Not Necessarily Increased
Heat for Us-The Fixed Stars
Magnificent Consultations.

At the beginning of February the sun
stands at the same height and the days
length is the same as in the early por-
ton of November At the end of Feb
ruary the sun will stand about "A de-
grccs higher than at the end of Novem-
Der. Yet the mean temporal ure of No
vcmbcr in ordinary years, at New YORK
is 43 degrees, while February averages
IL degrees colder. This great difference
is in spite of the fact that February, in
its usual Is days, has about as many
hours Of sunlight as November in its
80 and the further fact that February as
a whole has a considerable advantage in
the suns declinaton. The reason is not
hard to find. In November the earth IS
like a warm brick, giving out the heat
it acquired during the months OF sum
mer. In February it is a chunk of ice
requiring to be thawcd out, This ~
course, applies only to the surface which
is affected by weather changes to only
an inconsderable depth.
All through the late summer and fail
and early winter the earth goes on losing
its store OF heat and when February has
been reached its supply for further radi-
alton has been reduced to the lowest
point reached during the year. But there
! is consolation in the fact that when the
lowest is reached it cannot so any lower.
and the increasing heat received upon
cur hemisphere during the daytime soon
reaches a degree which more than equals
the loss of radiation during the night.
Thus it happens that while during the
far!y days of February We usually have
our bittercst weather the middle Of the
month sees the backbone OF winter fairly
broken.
... LEAP YEAR.
This being leap year. February has of
course, % days. The reason that this
month has been chosen for the inter-
GALAXY day is that in the earliest calen-
dars the year began with March. and
not January. Thus February being tho
last month of the year seemed especially
fitted for whatever corrective treatment
was necessary to preserve the CORE
spondence of months and seasons. In
Caesars reform OF the calendar February
had % in ordinary and 10 in leap year.
January had 81 days as had March and
| 30 throughout the year. every odd month
being longer and the alternate months
with only 30 days. The unimaginable
Stiffness and serviity Of the Roman sem
ate in naming August after Augustus
| Caesar and then giving it 81 days-a 80
| day month being too short to name after
| so great man. compelled the rcadjust-
| mcnt of the length Of the remaining
months OF the year. Thus February per-
manently lost one day, which was given
to August, and the four last months OF
oil n
| to their present length
THE PLANETS
This will be an exceptionally favorable
month for the beginner to make the ac-
| quaintance of the planets. At the going
| down of the sun we see the evening star
shining long before any other of the
| celestial objects have emerged from the
| twilight obscurity. This is Venus. our
nearest and faircst sister world. So far
| does Venus outshine any OF the other
| planets or stars that there is no pos
| sibility Of n mistake in Identification,
| and although the planet reaches her
present position every 10 months, there
are never lacking persons who think that
| the brilliant object Is something unhcr-
| aided and new. Venus is about the same
size as the earth, and is wrapped in
clouds, which make all knowledge oil
surface details very difficult if not i'm
possible.
The planet Saturn is In the evening sky
near Venus. They will draw gradually
| nearer until on the evening OF the 10th
they will be less than three moon
| breadths apart From this time on
Saturn, setting earlier ana earlier each
i n 4.
the horizon, It is therefore desirable tc
make the acquaintance of the ringec
planet early in the month.
| Mars, the mysterious and fascinating
neighbor world, Is also in the western
sky, standing somewhat higher thar
| Venus or Saturn. The red color OF TINS
planet is very marked and serves as