Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-04-09
THE APRIL SKIES.
All the Planets Visible D,-,pu a.
Month--Tbe PnscbnI Mo-,

ing event is the appearance of Mercury
This planet Is so near the sun that it il
seldom seen with the naked eye, but on
the 9TH II reaches its greatest western
elongation and may be seen for few
days shortly before sunrise little south
OF the sunrise point. Those who prefer -
make their observations during the even
ing hours must wait until about June 10.
On the 9Th Mercury is In aphelion-that
Is farthest from the sun. and as the sea.
sons on this planet are controlled by the
suns distance. it will be mid-winter on
Mercury Conditions must vary consider.
ably on different parts of this planet, as
the sun always shines on one side of IL
and never on the other, while there are
two Intervening zones on which it alter.
nately shines and does not shine. AS seer
through telescope, Mercury passes
through all the phases which we observe
in the case of the moon. On the 9Th on'y
IS per cent of the disc Will be illuminated.
but in spite Of this the planet appears az
bright as a first magnitude star.
Venus Is moving rapidly away from the
sun and will soon be seen shining I'm the
west after sunset, north of the sunset
point On the 1st the planet sets about
an hour after the sun, but on the Goth this
interval will have increased to nearly two
hours. At the end of the month Venus
will be in Taurus, south Of the Pleiades,
and viii be by far the most brilliant oh
ject in the evening sky. Like Mercury,
Venus passes through different phases.
hut Is at present nearly "fulP with over
| 90 per cent of it's disc illuminated
Mars will be visible throughout the
month, setting on the first about A. m
and on the Both about 12:45 a. m. On thc|
Bird at 1000 p. m. tho moon passes within q
degrees of Mars. On the 10th the planet
is IN quadrature. that is, 90 degrees from|
the sun, and on tho 9th in aphellon Mars|
is reCeding from the earth and hence del
creaslnc in brightness, so that at the endI
| Of the month it Is about as bright as|
I PolluX The planet passes this MONTH
| from the constellation Gemni into Cancer
About the 18th 1t will he south Of Pollux|
and near the star known as Kappa
Geminorum. On the 2lst it will be nearly
in line with Castor and Pollux.
| Jupiter is the most brilliant object ir
the morning sky, rising on the first
800 a m. and on the goth about 80
m. 1t is In the constellation Capricornus
! Saturn will he visible in the early even
| ing hours, but Will soon he too low in tn
west for good observation. on the frs
it sets about II 90 p. m. on the 3oth ahou
| $50. The moon passes near by at G.15 7
m on the 18th. Saturn is still in Taurus
but somewhat farther from Aldebara
| than last month.
! Uranus may be seen in the southeast
after midnight. If the telescope is pointe
at right ascension 2oh. Sim, and declna
tion-1S degrees minutes. This planet
still in Capri mornus and retrogradind
that is. moving slowly westward anon
the stars
Neptune, also telescope object, is
Geminl IN right ascension III 49m., an
declination 20 degrees 90 minutes. TT
planet is stationary on the 9Th and
quadrature on the 10th. 1t is near Mar
being only . degrees "a minutes farth,
south on the DIST.
The sun, now safely across the equato
! IS advancing rapidly northward, from
| position only degrees north of Il
equator at the beginning of the month
nearly 10 degrees north at the end. TIL
| IS shown IN several ways: In the increa
/ ing length of the days, in the increasi4
height of the suns daily path across t
| sky and in the northward advance of t
sunrise and sunset points. The day gal
during April one hour and II minutes. 81
ing us Il hours Of daylight at the close
the month.
The moon begins the month as a III
crescent, following new moon. It reach
first quarter on the Bird, last quarter
the 18th and is new on the 2Jth. The
moon on the 10th Is the Paschal MOD
that is. the full moon next following 4
time when the sun crosses the equator
the Vernal equinox. This moon regulat
the date of Easter in the Christian Gale
dar and that OF IS Nissan. the first day
Passover, in the Jewish calendar. 7
moon runs high in the sky on the 2nd a
Goth and low on the 18th.
Prof. W. II, Pickering, in charge of
Harvard astronomical station at Mani
Vile, Jamaica. reports a curious brig
ening of the interior of the lunar era
Elnmart. This is situated or the nor
west border of the plain known as NJ
Crisium, and can be found on any man
the moon in longitude 295 degrees and Il
tude - degrees north. As the crater +
miles in diameter II may be seen g
with a small telescope if observations
made Immediately following the
quarter. Changes of this sort can
studied only when one has a successio1
fine. clear nights, something that We
not often get in this latitude.
Anyone wishing TO study the conste
lions this month should first trace
zodlacal groups which stretch across
sky from southeast TO northwest. Throt
these groups tn" sun will appear to ira
during the coming month. Beginning
the western horizon the consultations
the zodiac are Taurus, Gemin Can
Leo and Virgo. In the western sky nd
of this belt are Auriga, Perseus and
sopeia. Also in the western sky,
south of the zodiac. are Orion, G.
Major and CAMS Minor.
| In the eastern sky Virgo contains
bright star Spica, which is one of the
stars forming quadrllateral of une
sides North of Virgo Is a faint Grou
stars indicating the position of Coma
renlces In the northeast Is the ed
shaped figure In Bootes. containing
brilliant Arcturus, which can alwavs
located by following the curve in
handle of the Great Dipper. Eas
Bootes is Corona Boreals with a $
circle of stars resembling a crown.
| South Of Virgo is a conspicuous qus
lateral formed by four stars in the
| stellatlon Corvus West of Corvus
north of the faint stars of Hydra
| smaller quadrilatcral In the constelI
Crater
No comets have been discovered
the year 1914 opened but the one KID
as 1918 Delavan). discovered by
van at La Plata, Argentina, on Dece
IT, 1918, is attracting a great deal
fan IN Ac