The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-12-20
-Dietz on Science
PLANET VENUS
TO BE VISIBLE
DURING DAYTIME
Display on Dec. 20 Will
Herald Conjunction
Saturn.
-Dietz on Science
BY DAVID DIETZ
Scripps- Howard Science Editor

The heavens will celebrate the ap-
proach of the Christmas holiday
season with a series of celestial dem.
onstrations on Dec. 10, 20 and 81.
On the night of Dec, 10, triple
conjunction of Venus. Saturn anC
the moon will take place. If tn,
sky is clear, the sight should bt
one Of rare beauty.
On Dec. 20. it should be possible
to see the planet Venus in broad
daylight. On the night of Dec. q
there will be a conjunction of Venus
and Saturn.
Look in the western sky for the
triple conjunction on Dec. 10, fairly
low in the sky and a little south OF
west, at about 6 p. m.
Venus and Saturn will be only
three-quarters of a degree apart
according to the calculations of DR.
J. j. Nassau, director of the Warner
g. Swasey Observatory of Case
School of Applied Science. (The
diameter of the full moon is about
half degree)
Saturn will be on the left and
Venus on the right. The moon,
which will then be thin crescent
only three days old, will be three de-
grees to the right of Venus.
Stars to Be Seen
Two beautiful first magnitude
stars, Affair and Vega, also will be
visible in the western sky at the
same time. Affair, almost due west,
will be to the right of the moon and
higher in the sky. Vega will be still
further TO the right and a little
higher.
Venus, growing brighter in the
heavens each night, is now ninety
times as bright as Saturn and one
hundred times as bright as a first
magnitude star, such as Affair,
Professor Nassau says.
Few sights are more beautiful
than when a crescent moon and
Venus are close together in the
sky" he adds. The fact that Venus
is unusually bright this month
should heighten the effect of the
spectacle. And the fact that Saturn,
whose solemn yellow color contrasts
with the brilliant white of Venus,
also will be in the picture, will make
it an event worthy of every ones
attention
It is because Venus is so bright
this month that it should be posi-
BILE to see it during the daytime on
Dec. 20 if the day is clear.
1t will be easy to find Venus on
Dec. TO-" Dr. Nassau says, because
it will be only degrees from the
moon by that time. It is easy, as
every one knows, to see the moon
when it is above the horizon in the
daytime. Look near the moon for
Venus"
Nearest on Dec. FL
BY the night of Dec. 20 the moon
will have moved to the left of Venus
and will be 10 degrees from it.
Venus and Saturn, however, will APP
pear even closer together than on
the previous night.
The two planets, however, will
make their closest approach on the
night of Dec. 81. At that time they
will be only twenty minutes-a third
of a degree-apart. They should be
particularly beautiful at that time,
appearing like some piece of celestial
jewelry of contrasting stones.
If you follow these celestial con-
flgurations, you will become aware
of the motions of the heavenly
bodies. The moon. you will notice,
moves more rapidly than the
planets, for the moon is revolving
around the earth.
The moon goes around the earth
once in twenty-eight days, and for
that reason shifts its position each
night with respect to the back
ground of stars, eastward by Is de-
grees. For the same reason, it rises
and sets approximately fifty-one
minutes later each day than on the
preceding day.
The motions Of the planets
against the background of stars is a
more complicated one due to the
combination of the motions of the
planets themselves and the motion
of the earth. In general, however,
it is an eastward motion.