TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 



147 



entering our evening heavens the won- 

 derful constellation Taurus, with its 

 striking star figures of the Hyades and 

 Pleiades, and this is but the leader of 



the brilliant winter train of stars- 

 ***** 



The Planets in October. 



Mercury attains its greatest distance 

 west of the sun on October 4; at thb 

 time it rises almost at the east point of 

 the horizon about one and one-half 

 hours before sunrise, ft is onh- on the 

 mornings for a few days preceding and 

 following this date that the planet can 

 be seen with the naked eye, though the 

 possessor of a small telescope which is 

 provided with setting circles can ob- 

 serve it during the daytime, especially 

 if precautions are taken to screen the 

 object gla^s from direct sunlight. 



All of the planets revolve about the 

 sun in paths which are not exact cir- 

 cles so that at some times they are 

 nearer the sun than at others, but the 

 difference with Mercury is far greater 

 than with any of the other worlds. 

 When this little planet is nearest the 

 sun it is but twenty-eight millions of 

 miles distant from that source of in- 

 tense heat, but when it is at the most 

 remote part of its orbit it is no less than 

 forty-four millions of miles away. The 

 former position is called Perihelion, and 

 when it is at this point Mercury re- 

 ceives two and one-third times as much 

 light and heat as when it is most dis- 

 tant- When it is considered that the 

 planet receives on the average seven 

 times as much light and heat as our 

 earth, it is evident that its fluctuations 

 of temperature must be most remark- 

 able. Doubtless this alone would make 

 it quite impossible for living beings 

 such as are found on our earth to exist 

 there, and this unfavorable condition 

 must continue for many long ages until 

 our sun has become cooler. Mercurv 

 passes Perihelion on the third of this 

 month at t A. M. 



Venus is seen shining far in the 

 southwest for two hours after sunset 

 on October 1 ,and this time is increa-ed 

 to 2 hrs. 30 min. by the end of the 

 month. The planet has long since pass- 

 ed the point of its great orbit which is 

 far beyond the sun, and it would 

 emerge from the sun's rays far more 

 rapidly did not its motion also carrv 

 it rapidly southward amon°- the stars 



By October 31 it will be no less than 

 twenty-six degrees south of the equator 

 of the sky, a point far more southerly 

 than is ever reached by our sun. Con- 

 sequently it will be found far south of 

 the west point of the horizon. On Oc- 

 tober 1 Venus shines with sixtv-three 

 times the brightness of a first magni- 

 tude star, while by October 31, on ac- 

 count of its decreasing distance from 

 u c , it will have become no less than 

 ninetv-three times as bright. It will be 

 found a beautiful object in the tele- 

 scope, looking as the moon when two 

 or three days past the first quarter. 



On the evening of October 18 the 

 narrow crescent of the new moon will 

 be seen a little to the right of Venus : 

 both on this and the following evening 

 the two objects will form a beautiful 

 figure in the southwestern sky. It will 

 be noticed that the moon is steadilv 

 drawing nearer the planet, but unfortu- 

 nately the two bodies will not be near 

 est together until 2 hrs. 57 min- P. M 

 (Eastern Standard Time), when they 

 cannot be seen (except in the telescope) 

 on account of daylight. The present 

 approach will be a very clo^e one and 

 many observers south of twenty-six de- 

 grees north latitude on the earth will 

 see the planet hidden by the moon. On 

 this same evening the reddish Antares 

 is seen two degrees south of the silvery 

 Venus ; the contrast both in color and 

 brightness will be very striking-. 



Mars will move from Cancer into 

 T eo dunng October: its rising precedes 

 'ne rising of the sun by about four 

 hours on October 1st and by about five 

 hours on October 31st; consequently it 

 1 " high in the eastern heavens during 

 the hours of the early morning. 

 Though not yet in the most favorable 

 position for observation, the planet is 

 rapidly approaching the earth, and its 

 increase in brightness during the month 

 will be very noticeable. On the morn- 

 ing of October 29 Mars will be found 

 one degree north of the beautiful doub'e 

 star, Regulus, and the two objects may 

 then be seen together in the field of a 

 small telescope- 



The most striking object now in our 

 evening heavens and the most satisfac- 

 tory one for observation is undoubted- 

 ly the planet Jupiter. This rises at 8 

 hrs. 40 min. P. M. on October 1, and so 

 early as 6 hrs. 40 min. by October 31. 



