Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-09-09

ton OF the moon for any given time in
the future The labor involved would,
however. be considerable, about 900 hours
calculation being required to determine
the position for a given time. AS pub
lications like the American Ephemeris
give the position Of the moon for every
hour in the year this would mean a mil
lion hours work. To abbrevlate the work
the tables Of the moon have been prepar-
ed BY using these tables a single SOM
puter can calculate hourly positions for
a given wear in from six to nine months
work The preparation Of the tables how
ever involved extensive computations.
the number of figures written in the
course Of the work being nearly five mil
lions.
The question naturally arises whether
f, the theoretical position of the moon as
calculated from these tables will agree
with it's observed place. Professor
Brown frankly admits that very small
and unexplained discrepancies still exist.
| Apparently certain influences not yet un.
derstood are at work Attempts have
been made to explain these minute dis
/ crepancies by means Of the relatively the
orv Of Einstein hut SO far without sue
cess
Two astronomical events Of consider
a BILE popular interest mark the month NJ
September each year, the harvest moon
and the arrival Of the sun AT the autumn
nal enunox. The year the full moon OF
the 9th is the so-called harvest moon,
being the full moon nearest to the autumn
/ nal equinox At this time moonrise ac-
ours at nearly the same time for several
successjye evenings instead Of about 70
minutes later from nieht TO night as Is
usually the case Thus, beginning with
I.l.- va, 49, veil
night until October 6. This gives An I'M
usual mum Der Of moonilt evenings.
The sun reaches the autumnal equinox
| on the E3d at 4G A. NJ. at which time
IT crosses the equator going south and
autumn begins. according to tho almanac
By the end Of the month the sun will have
reached a point nearly degrees south
Of the equator in the constellation Virgo.
As a result Of this southwark motion the
days decrease rapidly In length in north
ern ATTITUDES the total decreases for the
month in our latitude being 80 minutes.
The moon will he in last quarter on the
5th at 30S 2. NJ. new on the 18th at $50
A. NJ. in first quarter on the 10Th al IL 81
A NJ. and full on the q at a57 ?. NJ. 1t
will be in apogee on the 2oth and perigee
on the sth It will run high the 6th
and low on the 10th, crossing the equator
on the 18th and 26th. In its journey around
the zodiac II will pass the planets in the
following order: Neptune on the 9th, Jupi-
ter on the 11th. Saturn and Mercury on
the l2th, Venus on the l4th. Mars. on the
18th. and Uranus on the 25th.
Mercury will be in supe rior conjunction
with the sun on the sth. changing from
the morning to the evening sky u will.
however he too near the sun for visibility
this month.
Venus may he seen low in the west
after sunset setting n minutes after the
sun on the LIST. The planet will move
during the month eastward and south
ward In Virgo. passing about degrees
north Of Spica, the brightest star in Nir-
go. on the end,
Mars may also be seen in the west after
sunset but is much farther south well
as farther east. Mars will set about 1870
p. NJ. on the LIST or $40 on the 3oth II
will move during the month eastward and
southwark from Libra through Scorpio
passing about 3 degrees north of Antares,
the brightest red star in Scorpo, on the
It'll.
Jupiter is in the constella ton Leo r
the morning sky but too near the sun &c
he we'll seen this month.
Saturn will be in conjunction with the
sun on the 7th. after which date it will
n
ever It will be lost in the suns rays this
, month.
Uranus is in Aauarius. rising about sun
set and hence we'll placed for observa
ton 1t may be seen on the LIST through
telescope directed toward right ascen
sion % hours 8 minutes and declinatior
10 degrees IS minutes.
/, Neptune Ia not far from the hehiv'
cluster and Cancer and hence rises short
" before sunrise II is. therefore, no
we'll placed for observation.
: At 10 p. NJ. on the LIST or ? T. M or
the 18th the northern cross Of Cygnu!
may he found nearly overhead. Just ives
I, Of it Is Lyra with the brilliant star vega
Low in the northwest is Rootes with the
bright star Arcturus. lust south Of
Bootes lies Corona Borealis, while be
tween Corona and Lyra may be foun'
Hercules with it's famous cluster
. The Milky Way stretches across th'
sky from southwest to northeast In th'
2 east may be seen the great square o
Pegasus Low in the southwest Is tn
4 bright star Fomalhaut. a part of the con
stellation Pisces Austrais The zodiaca
groups visible are. from west TO east
Libra. Scorpion Sagittarius. Capricornus
Aouarius. Pisces and Aries.