ASPECT OF THE HEAVENS. 131 



The Moon will be in conjunction with Met'ciiry on April 20 

 at ^h. morn., on May 20 at i/i. morn., and on June 15 at 6//. aft. ; 

 with Venus on April 20 at noon, on May 20 at 8//. aft, and on 

 June 20 at 4//. morn. ; with Mars on April 9 at 2/2. aft, on May 6 

 at 8/^. aft., and on June 2 at 4/^. aft.; with Jupiter on April 13 

 at \h. aft., on May 10 at \\h. aft., and on June 7 at dh. morn. ; 

 with Saturn on x\pril i at noon, on April 28 at 7/^. aft, on May 26 

 at ^h. morn., and on June 22 at 3/?. aft. 



Mercury will be in superior conjunction with the sun on 

 April 9 at 8//. morn., and after that will recede eastward from the 

 sun until May 6, when it attains its greatest elongation 21 degrees 

 eastward, and may be seen near the horizon, north of west, as a 

 small but brilliant evening star ; it then begins to approach the 

 sun, in the part of its orbit nearest the earth, and reaches inferior 

 conjunction on May 30 at 4/^. morn., when it passes nearly 

 between us and the sun, and recedes westward until June 24 at 

 ^h. morn., at which time the angular distance will be 22 degrees 

 westward, but its declination being lower than that of the sun, it 

 will hardly be visible as a morning star to the naked eye. Mercury 

 and Venus will be in conjunction on April 26 at 5/^. morn, at a 

 distance of 2 degrees, and again on May 10 at 7//. morn, at 

 nearly the same distance ; a conjunction of Mercury with Neptune 

 takes place on June 10 at 2 in the afternoon. 



Venus begins to be visible toward the end of April as the 

 evening star ; but being in the remoter part of its orbit it will not 

 be so bright as on other occasions. Seen with a telescope it is 

 gibbous. It will be in conjunction with Neptune on the 5th at 

 9 in the morning. 



Mars will be in opposition to the sun on the 27th at 7 in the 

 evening. It crosses the meridian on the night before precisely at 

 mean midnight, at the low altitude of 15 degrees. On the after- 

 noon of the 23rd it will be in conjunction with Antares — the bright 

 reddish star in Scorpio. The planet will be about 3 degrees north 

 of the star. The conjunction of two objects, to the naked eye so 

 similar in appearance, in the telescope so different, is rather 

 striking. 



Jupiter^ though rather low in the south, is conspicuous as the 

 morning star. It is now in Capricorn. The apparent motion 



