234 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



THE MOTION OF THE PLANETS DURING 



i9 x 3- 



The reader cannot have failed to 

 notice how for the past many weeks 

 the most brilliant Venus has been rap- 

 idly climbing upward in the southwes- 

 tern part of the heavens. Throughout 

 the first months of the year it will 

 mount even higher and grow brighter 

 until it will become by far the most 

 ■conspicuous object in the sky. On 

 Februaiy 22 it will reach its greatest 

 distance east of the sun, when it will 



5ATURN 



VENUS 



Tigure 2. Present appearance of Saturn and Venus 

 in a very small telescope. The two planets now 

 appear almost exactly the same size. The con- 

 trast in tint between the ball and the 

 rings of Saturn is very striking. 



set four hours after sunset. It will not 

 attain its greatest brightness, however, 

 until March 24, at which time it will 

 set three hours after sunset. It will 

 then rapidly sink in the west, passing 

 the sun and entering the morning sky 

 on April 24. From this time until the 

 end of the year it will remain a morn- 

 ing star. 



The planet Saturn is so far distant 

 from the sun and moves so very slowly 

 among the stars that its motion pre- 

 sents a striking contrast to that of 

 Venus. We now see the outer world 

 just below the Pleiades ; in the course 

 of the year it will reach a point only 

 a little to the left and above the bright 

 star Aldebaran, in the group of the 

 Bull. Consequently, as this constella- 

 tion gradually withdraws from the 

 evening sky, Saturn will disappear also. 

 During April and May the planet will 

 "be to near the sun to be observed; it 

 will enter the morning sky on May 29. 

 "but toward the close of the year, when 

 the winter stars again become visible, 

 the planet will again be seen among 

 them, shining in the evening sky. 



Thus, for the first three months of 

 the year, both Venus and Saturn will 

 "be with us. Then for a period of about 

 two months we will see no bright 

 planets at all, until (on about June 



first J, Jupiter will enter the evening sky 

 in the east. This planet will remain 

 visible until December, when it will 

 have drawn too near the sun to be 

 observed. 



The motions of Mars throughout the 

 year will be of special interest. This 

 planet is now very near Jupiter in the 

 summer group of stars known as 

 Ophiuchus, or the Serpent Holder. 

 When, early in June, the slow trans- 

 formation of the heavens has brought 

 this group into our evening sky, 

 we will see the larger planet shining- 

 out with its steady, golden radiance, 

 but Mars will not then be visible. This 

 is because the Red Planet is itself mov- 

 ing very rapidly eastward over the 

 face of the heavens. Its eastward mo- 

 tion is so rapid that by March 6 it will 

 have moved entirely across the summer 

 groups of the Serpent Holder, the 

 Archer and the Water Bearer, and will 

 have passed the Vernal Equinox, at V, 

 Figure 1. By the end of the year it 

 will have moved well across the win- 

 ter sky, attaining a position a little to 

 the right of the bright star Pollux, at 

 B, Figure 1. When Mars has thus 

 reached the highest point of its path 

 it will be in remarkably favorable po- 

 sition for observation, for its place 

 will then be three degrees higher in the 

 sky than that attained by the sun in 

 midsummer, and on the early morning 

 of January 1. 1914. it will have drawn 

 to its least distance from the earth. 

 Doubtless this most interesting world 

 w r ill be attentively studied during the 

 last few months of the year. 



OTHER PHENOMENA OF THE NEW YEAR. 



The observer who is not possessed 

 of a telescope will find that the ever 

 changing position of the planets fur- 

 nishes one of the most interesting of 

 all the features of the heavens for his 

 study. Several times during the pres- 

 ent year two planets will be seen to 

 apparently approach very close to one 

 another, and our own moon in its rapid 

 journey around the sky will necessarily 

 be seen to pass each one of the planets 

 at least once during every month. On 

 some occasions the latter approaches 

 will be very close ones, but unfortun- 

 ately at no time will our satellite pass 

 directly in front of a planet and so hide 

 it from our view. Many brighter stars 

 will, however, be occulted, and during 

 every month of the year the moon will 



