Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-07-10
THE JULY SKIES
The Passage OF the Moon and the
Planets

&C. II. Currier in the Boston Transcript
One of the most interesting of astro-
nomical spectacles Is furnished by the
close approach Of the moon to one or
the brighter planets. The moon travels
steadily eastward among the stars in
path which makes an angle of about
five degrees with the ecliptic, the path
in which the center of the sun appears
to move. The planets are moving in
paths which make angles with the eclip-
tic, varying from degrees 46 minutes in
the case Of Neptune to seven degrees in
the case Of Mercury. While the appar-
ent motion of a planet as seen from the
earth is generally eastward. occasionally
the planets appear to retrograde or move
westward. This is due to the fact that
the eastward motion of the observer on
the earth Is more rapid than the east
ward motion of the planet, causing the
planet to appear to move westward.
Since the moon completes one circuit
of its orbit with reference to the stars
in a sidereal month of 1872 days. it pass
es each of the planets as least once
each calendar month. and in a calendar
year passes some Of them more than
IL times. Thus in the year 1919 the moon
times. Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune 10
times and Mars and Uranus IA times.
Since. as has already been pointed out.
the planes Of the orbits are not the same,
1t is not often that the moon approaches
within less than a degree of a planet,
although such close approaches and even
OCCUPATIONS sometimes occur. In 1919, for
example, the closest approaches are as
fp11nvQ. tn MarCilry min
utes on April l. to Venus / degree &c min
utes on April 2. to Mars degrees / min.
ute on May 20. to Jupiter . degrees q
minutes on February H. to Saturn de-.
grees % minutes on February IA. to IRA.
nus degrees 1 minute on February .
to Neptune degrees 20 minutes on Feb.
ruary IL
During the present month the moon
will pass the planets in the following
order: Venus and Saturn on the LIST
Uranus on the 18th. Mars on the 18th
Jupiter on the 26th, Neptune on the 9th
Mercury on the 2Sth, Saturn on the 29tl
and Venus on the 30th. None of these
will be visible here. coming as they dc
either during the daylight hours or with
the moon below our horizon.
The sun, having reached it's position
farthest ->Gorth on June 22d, Is moving
slowly southwark again. On the Sd a.
500 a. m. the earth will be in aphelion
farthest away from the sun.
! The moon will be in first quarter or
! the 4th at 1111 D. M, full on the 18Th
at 2:02 a. M. in last quarter on the 2Otf
at 1903 a. m, and new on the 9th a
, 1:21 a. m. 1t will run low on the 10ti
! and high on the 2rd, crossing the equa
tor on the 3rd, 18th and 3Oth. 1t will b.
in apogee on the 7th and in perigee OF
the 23rd.
| Mercury will reach greatest eastern
elongation on the 18th and hence will b,
visible for a few days about that dat,
low In the west after sunset. It will b,
found south of the sunset point and will
be little brighter than Affair.
| Venus will be in greatest eastern elonga
ton on the 5th. after which it will begir
to approach the sun again. This plane
sets on the LIST at 1886 p. m. Although
1t will not reach maximum brilliancy un
til August I, it is now very brilliant II
the western sky in the early evening
Through the telescope the crescent shap
is becoming more pronounced less thar
30 per cent. of the surface beeing illumi
mated at the end of the month.
Mars is now in the morning sky. risin,
at Alb a. m. on the LIST or $40 a. m. oil
the 31st
Jupiter is too low in the west at sun
set to be well seen, setting at 9:19 p. m. OF
the lst less than an hour after the sun
On the 20th Jupiter will be in conjunction
with the sun. after which 1t will becom
a morning star. By the end of the montl
1t will rise at 4:56 a. m.
Saturn like Venus. Is in the western
sky setting at 100 p. m. on the LIST an
at 9:07 p m on the 31st.
Uranus is in Aquarius and hence visibl
after midnight Its position on the LIST i
right ascension % hours 10 minutes, de
clination III degrees AZ minutes.
Neptune is in Cancer and hence low Il
the west at sunset. Its position on TIL
1st is right ascension hours AZ minutes
declination Is, degrees 10 minutes.
The brightest stars visible at 10 p m
on the LIST are, in order of brightness, Ca
pella in the northwest. Arcturus nearl
overhead, Vega just east of the zenith
Regulus setting in the west. Spica law Il
the southwest, Antares almost due south
Affair in just south of east and Deneb Il