328 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



stars, and thus setting ever further 

 toward the northwest point of the hori- 

 zon and at a later hour each evening", 

 but both its eastward motion among 

 the stars and its northward motion over 

 the sphere will continue for but a few 

 days after the first of the present 

 month. It will thus be seen to set in 

 the northwest nearly three hours after 

 sunset on April i, but this interval will 

 diminish with great rapidity, until on 

 April 24 it will pass to the east of the 

 sun and become a morning star. No 

 observer who possesses a small tele- 

 scope should fail to examine this beau- 

 tiful object during these few remaining 



extreme south before the daylight ap- 

 proached. This is the planet Jupiter, 

 which now rises about 2 A. M., but 

 which lies so very far below the equator 

 of the sky that it will not enter our 

 evening heavens for many months. 

 Throughout the year this planet will be 

 passing over' the very southernmost 

 part of the path which it follows in the 

 course of its 12-year journey around 

 the sky, and therefore it will at no time 

 rise far above the southern horizon. 



Jupiter is now of almost exactly the 

 same brightness as the brilliant Dog 

 Star Sirius. About two hours after it 

 has risen the far fainter but still con- 

 spicuous Mars will be seen emerging- 



Figure 2. Regions of the earth within which the partial eclipse of April 6 may be seen. 



weeks in which it is leaving the evening 

 sky. Its very rapidly narrowing cres- 

 cent and its increase in size as it draws 

 near to our earth furnish a most inter- 

 esting object for observation. Venus 

 will remain in the morning sky 

 throughout the remainder of the pres- 

 ent year. 



Saturn still shines in the west, nearly 

 midway between the Hyades and the 

 Pleiades, and may be well observed, 

 especially during the first part of the 

 month. It also will soon be lost to 

 view in the sun's rays, although it will 

 not finally enter the morning sky until 

 the morning of May 29. 



The reader may have noticed a very 

 bright star shining out in the south- 

 eastern heavens for a few hours before 

 sunrise, and which advanced but a 

 short distance across the heavens in the 



from the ground in the southeast. The 

 former planet rises nearly two hours 

 earlier at the close of the month than 

 at the beginning, but the latter is run- 

 ning so very rapidly eastward that dur- 

 ing this time it crosses almost the en- 

 tire constellation of Capricornus and 

 enters Pisces, so that its time of rising 

 changes but very little. 



Mercury is farthest west of the sun 

 on April 24 and may then be detected 

 rising almost exactly at the east point 

 of the horizon a little more than one 

 hour before the sun. At this time it 

 shines as brightly as a first magnitude 

 star. 



THE PARTIAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. 



On April 6 at a little after noon 



(Eastern time), the moon will pass 



between the earth and the sun, covering 



almost half of the sun's disc, but un- 



