Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-12-05

the solemn ceremony of baptism received
southeast. It's brightness is about that of
Saturn or the star Capela, which are
difficult to see near the horizon even on
dark night when twilight does not inter-
fere.
The panel Uranus Is In the southwest In
the early evening setting on the 1st at
p. m. and on the 3lst at 6;l5 p. m. 1t is
in the constellation Capricornus, and on
the 18th about . degrees north of the
planet Venus
Neptune in the opposite part of the sky.
rises on the LIST at 100 p. nj, and on the
3lst at $50 p. m. 1t Is In the constella-
! ton Gemini. near the boundary of
Cancer, in the prolongaton Of the line
| from Castor to Polux. Its position on
the LIST is right ascention hours, 50 min
| utes, declination north 20 degrees 30 MIN
utes.
The moon begins the month at last quar-
ter and is at last quarter again on the
Goth when new on the Sth 1t is very low
in the south, degrees farther south Of
| the celestial equator than the sun. A.
| full moon on the o3rd it Is high in the
north rising in the northeast and moving
across the sky Mt night in a path five
degrees farther north than the sun at
| tains In midsummer. The sky will be
| brightly illuminated in the holiday season
| after the 10th, when the moon is at first
! quarter.
The star groups which adorn the east
ern heavens in December evenings COM
| prise the most brilliant groups in the
| whole sky. The zodiacal belt is repre-
scented by Aries, Taurus, Gemini Aries
has three stars forming an elongated
triangle, we'll seen, but not brilliant.
! Taurus contains the clustered Pleiadcs.
| the V-shaped Hyades with the red star
| Aldeharan and several other bright stars.
Gemin offers Castor and Pollux and
others less conspicuous. The bright star
much higher in the sky, north Of Taurus,
| Is Capella, which with the bright stars
near it fill the area assigned to .Auriga.
South of Taurus is the commanding
group in which the early star gazers drew
the figure Of the mighty hunter Orion.
The red star Betelgeuse in the shoulder
and the white star Rigel in the knee are
on either side Of the three stars in line
which form the Belt, and the three closer
together south Of the Belt forming the
Sword, In which is the most wonderful OF
| all the Nebuae revealed by the telescope.
! Later in the evening rise the two groups
known CAMS Minor and CAMS Major
the former having one very brilliant star
Procyon, the latter the brightest in the
whole sky Sirius, with others of lesser
prominence. The groups In the south
and west, while inferior in brilliancy. Of
fer many picturesque figures, as the
Square of Pegasus. the diamond-shaped
| Dephinus. the Northern Cross OF Cygnus,
the line of stars in Andromeda leading to
the Sword Of Perseus. the large quad
rilateral Of Cetus, the straight line of
three stars in Aquia. Individual stars of
unusual brightness are Vega in the north
west Altar farther south, Foma hault
low in the south The Great Dipper,
which has been low I'm the north under
the pole star, now is seen to be farther
east a. the evenings follow each other.
Two very important events in the
earths astronomical history mark the
close of each calendar year; the arrival Of
| the sun at the winter solstice. which this
year comes a few minutes before mid
night on the 2lst, and the passing of the
| earth through its nearest point to the sun.
which comes four hours before the New
Year begins The latter event. depending
upon the fact that the earth's orbit Is not
a circle but an eclipse, awaited modern
studies before well understood The ef-
| feet OF our being nearer the sun in winter
than in summer is to mitigate slightly the
| intensity OF the cold. but Is more marked
| in shortening the season. as the earth
moves faster in Its orbit The number of
days when the sun appears to he south OF
the equator Is seven less than the num-
Der when it Is north Of the equator.
The arrival of the sun at its greatest
distance south OF the equator, on the
21st, brings the shortest interval between
| sunrise and sunset of the year. This mid
| winter day Is reached almost before the
sluggish weather conditions of winter
have fairly set in. Tho turning Of the
sun northward points to the sure coming
of another period of increasing warmth
and summer gladness. II is not surpris-
ing that primitive peoples made the even,
a time of universal rejoicing, and that
Christian people celebrate the same period
| of joy, adding to ancient forms of merri-
ment the more solemn but more jubilant
Thanksgiving for the birth of the worlds
| Redcemer. The calendar year closes with
the presence of Venus. the brightest plan
| ct, in the evening. the rising % the win
! ter star-groups as the planet sets. but
| with the sky unillumlned by the moon
Soon after the midnight has passed and
| another year begins, the moon appears
to herald the new year; and the sum- now
well on its northward Journey. opens the
day once more as II has for countless
years. -Winslow Upton In the Boston
| Transcript