328 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



ducing- comets' tails could be apparent 

 only and not real. 



The Planets. 



Mercury is at its greatest elonga- 

 tion west on the nineteenth of the 

 month, and is a morning star, but 

 its great southern declination of 19 

 will prevent it from being well seen. 



The evening star, Venus, which has 

 been such a magnificent object in the 

 southwest in the early evening has 



watching for a few nights only. This 

 motion is almost as rapid as the sun's 

 eastward motion among the stars and 

 as a consequence Mars and the sun ap- 

 parently approach each other in the sky 

 very, very slowly. In fact, Mars is 

 an evening star for months yet to come, 

 to September 22. How different is this 

 motion to that of Venus, an inferior 

 planet. 



Jupiter is becoming more and more 

 conspicuous and rising earlier and 



Feb. Moon Phases 

 LastQtr..Feb.2. 

 NewMoon.Feb.9 . 

 FIRST Q'TR, FEB .1 6. 



FULLMoon,Feb.2* 



Evening SkyMap for February 



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MAP 



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 HOLD THE MAP OVER 

 YOUR HEAD-THE TOP 

 NORTH. AND YOU WILl 

 THESTARSANDPLANETS 

 JUST /\S THEY APPEAR 

 IN THE HEAVENS 



SOUTH 



rapidly approached the sun and will 

 be at inferior conjunction on February 

 11. Thereafter it will appear as a 

 morning star quickly getting out from 

 the sun's rays and becoming as bril- 

 liant in the morning sky as it has been 

 during the past few months. 



At the beginning of the month Mars 

 is on the meridian at sunset and sets 

 shortly after ten o'clock. The motion 

 of the ruddy planet to the east among 

 the stars can be readily noted by ob- 

 serving the stars near the planet and 



earlier each night. At the first of the 

 month it rises at about ten o'clock, and 

 at the end of February comes up two 

 hours earlier. It will be a fine object 

 throughout the spring and summer. 



Saturn is not moving east nearly so 

 quickly as Mars, and the distance be- 

 tween them is rapidly increasing. Those 

 who watch the skies know well where 

 to find Mars and Saturn. Uranus is 

 too near the sun to be seen and Nep- 

 tune is on the meridian at 9:33 P. M. 

 on the fifteenth of the month. 



