The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1914-02-05

Hayades. nearly in a line between Al
debaran and the star which marks the
tip of the northern horn of the Bull.
The Planet Saturn has no less than
10 satellites. The two largest of
these, named Titan and Iapetus, are
visible in a very small telescope, while
a glass of three or four inches aper-
ture will show three more The two
inermost moons are far fainter; the
first of these completes its revolution
about the planet In but 22h hours,
while the length of the month meas
ured by the second is about nine hours
more than don day. Seventh moon,
discovered in 1913, and the ninth and
tenth, which were recently discovered
by Photography. are, of course only
visible in the very largest telescopes.
OF all these moons, the great Titan
is by far the brightest and most inter
esting. This is a Yeritable world, lar
ger than Mercury and nearly as large
as Mars its distance from Saturn is
three times as great as the distance of
our own satellite from the earth and
it sweeps about its governing planet
in a little less than 10 days. An
nOuncement has just been made of the
interesting discovery that the bright
ness of Titan is variable, the period
of variation being the same as the time
required for one revolution about the
planet. From this it is concluded that
Titan keeps always the same face
turned toward the planet, SO that from
one-half of this moon Saturn and its
wonderful ring system are always WIS.,
ible in the heavens, neither rising nor
setting. while from the other half of
the satellite they are forever hid.
Mercury reaches its greatest dis
lance east from the sun on February
%, and for a few days before and af-
ter this date may be seen shining out
in the twilight glow, low in the west,
just after sunset. On February II
Venus passes to the east of the sun
and SO enters the evening sky blu.
throughout the month this planet will
remain too near the suns rays to be
seen. Toward the beginning of month
Jupiter is similarly lost in the suns
rays in the early morning sky, but by
the end of the month it will rise about
one hour before sunrise, and may then
be clearly seen, shining out low in the
southeast
/ The last comet of the year 1913 was
discovered on December IS. in the con-
stellation of the river. This is but
! faint and unimportant comet of only
about the eleventh magnitude, which
in the largest telescope appeared only
as a round, nebulous object without
any trace of a tail 1t will attain its
nearest approach to the sun on March
>, at which time its distance from this
body will be 101 millions of miles.
THE ZODIACAL LIGHT
1t is during the present month of
the year chat the observer should loon
for the faint glow in the west known
as the Zodiacal Light. 1t is not posi-
BILE to see this object satisfactorily
when the moon is in the heavens. or
when the observer is in the vicinity Of
any artificial lights but on the moon
less nights, such as We will have dur
ing the last two weeks of the month,
and from situations where there are
no lights toward the west. il may be
seen very distinctly. 1t must be looked
for as soon after sunset as the faintest
stars have appeared. 1t will then be
seen as a faint pyramid OF light whose
base rests upon the ground at the
point where the sun was seen TO dis
appear and whose apex may be nearly
as high as the zenith.
This faint illumination is believed
TO be caused by the reflection of sui
light from the particles of great lens
shaped cloud which envelopes the sun
and extends outward beyond the or
bit of the earth But there is much
about the nature Of this cloud which
is still unknown. 1t has many times
been seen to brighten and fade in
remarkable manner. its flashes OF
brightness sometimes lasting for only
few minutes. 1t is thought most
probable that these variations are the
result of electrical disturbances en-
anating from the sun, but this is by
no means certain. Indeed, about the
whole phenomenon little is known. and
it furnishes an excellent field for per
sstent and accurate observation
which might we'll be made by amateur
astronomers.
ERIC DOOLITTLE