Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-29
STARRY SKIES IN SEPTEMBER
BY PROF. SAMUEL G. BARTON

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OF the University of Pennsylvania.
Observers Of the sky will be at
tracted at once by the very brilliant
object In the southern sky. 1t is the
planet Jupiter The sun and moon
and the planet Venus alone ever ex-
coed Jupiter in brilliance. Venus may
be seen now just before sunrise.
Venus rises at SAP a m. September
and at 4:51 am. on September 30.
BY the end Of the month it will be
too close to the sun for satisfactory
observation. Jupiter is in good posi-
ton for early evening observation
On September | it rises before sunset
and does not set Until $3.50 am, and
SO Is visible the whole night. On
September 80 1t sets at 1:50 am. On
September l 1t is due south at 1919
pm. 1t is in, the contellatiOn Capri
c,,rnus, in the position marked on fig
ure i. on September l. Jupiter is
377 100000 miles away. 1t is 1900
times as large as the earth in volume
and is the largest of the planets. The
only other planet whose position can
be marked on figure is Uranus, and
that planet cannot be seen with the
naked eye. Saturn may be seen
earlier in the evening. II is II, the
constellation Libra. This will be the
last month in which it will be far
enough from the sun to be seen well.
1t may be seen in the southwest.
Mars rises at 1922 pm. September
and at 1889 pm. September go 1t
is in the constellation Pisces, part
of which Is seen near the eastern
horizon on figure !. Although not as
bright as Jupiter, Mars IS g. very bril-
DI~ {ro co i,,h YiOlof
ness during the month. because 1t is
coming nearer to us. On September
the distance of Mars from the earth
Is SO, 100000 miles. This is reduced
to 47.30O,0 miles by October l. 1t
is nearest at the end of October. This
planet will be discussed more fully
next month. Meanwhile 1t will be
we'll to watch the planet. 1t has a
distinctly red color. Mercury is too
close to the sun for observation the
whole month. 1t becomes an evening
star on September 19.
The sun on it's southwark journey
crosses the equator September % at
2:27 pm. Autumn begins at this time
Bright stars shown on figure ! are
Vega, at A: Arcturus. at B; Capella,
at G: Affair. at D; Antares, at f. and
Fomalhaut. at f.
Across figure | from northeast to
southeast is seen stream Of fine
dots intended to represent the Milky
Way. Some of the brighter parts are
now in good positions. particularly
the bright parts in Cygnus and in
Sagittarius. To the naked eye 1t looks
a thin. milkywhite cloud. That it is
not really a cloud is shown by the
fact that it never changes it's position
and that it is seen when there are no
h. i<l~ ~, Il A,1aC no
seen. Naturally. ancient peoples
sought to explain it's nature. and vari
Gus opinions were given. 1t was first
satisfactorily explained by Calico,
who asserted that sit is nothing else
but a mass Of innumerable stars
planted together in clusters. His
telescope showed him that this was
the case. Others had guessed that
this was the case before that time.
however.
The Eye Most Important
Astronomical instrument.
This leads us to discussion of the
simpler means which may be EN-
ployed in learning astronomical facts.
The most important astronomical in
strument is the eye. The eye is the
only sense organ affected by the
heavenly bodies. We cannot touch
smell, hear or taste them. All our
about them comes to us
through our eyes or those of others.
Even as a material mechanism the
eye is a marvellous instrument. Its
to the spiritual man is far
more wonderful. The eye alone
should be enough to confute any
atheist. My present purpose, how
ever, is not a discussion Of the eye
directly. but its application to astro-
nomical needs.
First of all, as We know. all eyes
are not equally good. Some persons
have keener eyesight than others and
hence can see more. Hence it Is pos
sible for keen-eyed persons to extend
our knowledge. For some kinds of
work keen eyesight is
very valuable. 1t is possible to in
crease the sensitivity Of the eye in
various ways. An eye tires. So after
looking intently for time we can.
not see as much as when we first
look. The remedy for this Is obvious
AS we we'll know. the eye cannot see
faint .things after it has been filled
with light, as the pupil of the eye Is
and does not admit suffi-
cient light. Astronomers engaged in
work where keenness Of sight is nee
essary are careful to have their
dark and to keep light
from their eyes except from the object
which they wish to see. In eXcep-
tional cases they may even put drops
of belladonna or other drug in their