THE STARRY HEAVENS IN DECEMBER 



255 



positions of the inner seven, as seen 

 in an inverting" telescope, are shown 

 in Figure 4. The largest one, Tital, 

 is visible in a very small telescope; 

 Japetus, Rhea, and Tethys require a 

 somewhat larger glass, while the two 

 faintest ones recently discovered by 

 photography can only be seen in the 

 largest telescopes in existence. Dis- 

 tinct shadings can now be seen on the 

 planet, but these are continually chang- 

 ing their positions as this distant world 

 turns completely on its axis in the short 

 time of only nine hours and fifty-rive 

 minutes. 



The Planets in December. 



Mercury, on which unusual interest 

 has centered on account of its interest- 

 ing transit across the sun on the morn- 

 ing of November 7, will not be well 

 visible during the present month. It 

 reached its greatest distance west of 

 the sun on November 23, and could 

 then be easily seen low in the dawn, 

 but is again drawing near the sun and 

 will pass to the east of that body on 

 January 5. It will then have entered 

 the evening sky, but as it will not at- 

 tain its greatest distance from the sun 

 until February 6, it will remain also in 

 unfavorable position during the whole 

 of January. On February 21 it will 

 again enter the morning sky. 



Neither on January 5 nor on Febru- 

 ary 21, when Mercury passes the sun, 

 will we again see a transit of this 

 planet. Could we see the planet at the 

 instant of conjunction on January 5, we 

 would see it passing nearly two degrees 

 below the sun, which would then lie 

 between the earth and the planet. On 

 February 21 the planet passes between 

 the earth and the sun, but the inclina- 

 tion of its orbit is so great that it 

 would then be seen to pass nearly four 

 degrees above the sun. There will not 

 occur another transit of the planet un- 

 til May 7, 1924. 



Venus is now in the morning sky, 

 having passed to the west of the sun 

 on November 27. Toward the end of 

 the month it may be seen shining very 

 brightly in the morning sky for two 

 or three hours before sunrise and it is 

 then a beautiful and conspicuous ob- 

 ject. It reaches its greatest brilliance 

 on January 2. 



Mars is lost in the sun's rays 

 throughout the month ; it becomes a 

 morning star on December 24. 



Jupiter shines brightly in the south- 

 west, where it is moving slowly east- 

 ward through the constellation Aquar- 

 ius. By December 1, 191 5, it will have 

 reached the point J, Fig. 1, and after 

 this for several years it will mount 

 much higher in the sky than it has done 

 during the six years that have just 

 passed. 



Saturn is in the western borders of 

 Gemini, Uranus is a short distance 

 west of Jupiter in Aquarius, and the 

 very faint Neptune is now in the even- 

 ing sky between Gemini and Cancer. 



On December 1 the moon will pass 

 over the Pleiades, but as this interest- 

 ing phenomenon will occur at 3 P. M., 

 it will not be visible to us. On Decem- 

 ber 28 at 11 P. M. it will again pass 

 the Pleiades but as seen by us our 

 satellite will move a little to the north 

 of these stars and will so not hide 

 them from view. On December 20, 

 at 8 hours ^t, minutes P. M, the 

 crescent moon will be seen to pass very 

 close to the planet Jupiter, the upper 

 edge of the moon passing a short dis- 

 tance below the planet. Many observ- 

 ers south of the earth's equator will see 

 the planet hidden at this time. On De- 

 cember 5 at about 11:30 P. M. our 

 satellite will pass over the bright star 

 at H, Fig. 1, and hide this star from 

 view. 



The sun will reach its greatest dis- 

 tance below the celestial equator on 

 December 22 at 11 hours 23 minutes, 

 A. M. (Eastern Standard Time) ; this 

 will therefore be the shortest day of 

 the present year, and at this instant 

 winter will be°:in. 



All Are Ashamed of War! 



The civilized world has at least ar- 

 rived at that point of view concerning 

 war, that when it occurs no man and 

 no nation is proud to hail it as a crea- 

 tion of their own. All persistently deny 

 responsibility for its origin. This point 

 was well put in Mr. Bryan's Sunday 

 speech in New York. "The one encour- 

 aging thing," he said, "about the pres- 

 ent war. is that you can't find a man 

 willing to take the responsibility for it. 

 You can't find a nation willing to take 

 responsibility for it. They are all try- 

 ing to shift the responsibility. No 

 government will admit that it desired 

 war or caused war." — The Stamford 

 Advocate. 



