THE STARRY HEAVENS FOR JUNE 



25 



THE BEGIXXIXG OF SUMMER. 



On June 22, at seven hours, twenty- 

 seven minutes, sixteen seconds, A. ^l., 

 (Eastern Standard Time) the sun will 

 attain its greatest distance above the celes- 

 tial equator, and this will consequently be 



states and forty-two minutes less in the 

 Gulf States. On the equator the days 

 and nights are of exactly equal lengths, 

 while in southern latitudes, June 22 will, 

 of course, be the shortest day and mark 

 for them the beginning of winter. 



The new comet is to attain its greatest 



WE.ST 



Hercuhy 



JUNE. I. 



Saturn 



uw^a f. 

 riERCURr 



yJw^e. 30. 



Figure 3. The western heavens at 7 P. M., June 1, showing the position of the planet Mercury. 



the longest day of the year. In the lati- 

 tudes of the Aliddle States, sunrise will 

 occur at 4:30 A. AL and sunset at 7:30 

 P. ^L, the day thus being six hours longer 

 than the night. This difference is six- 

 teen minutes greater in Xew England 



brightness during the present month and 

 will doubtless be a very conspicuous ob- 

 ject in the southern skies. Unfortunately, 

 however, it is too far below the celestial 

 equator to be ^Jisible to observers in 

 northern latitudes on the earth. 



Give Dr. Bigelow His Telescope. 



[An Editorial in "The Greenwich Press," 

 May 5, 1915.] 



From the reading" of the war in Europe 

 whose horrors harrow the feelings of 

 most Americans, and whose nearness to 

 us seems to grow daily, from the struggle 

 against unemployment and poverty at 

 home, and from the local political 

 wranglings following the attempt to 

 break up machine government, the aver- 

 age Greenwichite will be glad to turn his 

 mind to Arcadia. 



Arcadia, the little tract of land where- 

 on is situated the home of the Agassiz 

 Association. There one may find an- 

 other viewpoint, and there one, with the 

 friendly aid of Dr. E. F. Bigelow, its 

 founder, may delve into the wonders of 

 nature and enjoy her many beauties. 

 And in this sanctum of nature one may 

 forget for the nonce that wars rage, that 

 classes struggle and that human govern- 

 ment still far misses perfection. One 

 may see nature and g-limpse in the study 

 of the tiniest flower or animal, processes 

 whose greatness makes all human strife 

 seem small and puny and futile. 



By continuous labor and devotion to 

 an ideal. Dr. Bigelow has built up this 

 little refuge. He has added department 



after department in the hope of opening 

 the vistas of nature to both young and 

 old. in the hope of making' them see, 

 know and enjoy the world they live in. 



And now he seeks to open another de- 

 partment — that of astronomy — the most 

 wonderful, the grandest, the most stu- 

 pendous of all sciences. He is himself 

 an expert astronomer, and one who loves 

 the science, loves it enough so that he 

 can enjoy communicating his knowledge 

 to others. And this he is willing to do 

 if enough money can be raised to provide 

 Arcadia with the proper instruments. 



Certainly it would be a boon to give 

 our children the privilege of wandering" 

 in the starry fields with such a guide. 

 And there is something more than a 

 mere knowledge of facts to be gained by 

 such wandering. There is the op- 

 portunity to see our own world, 

 our own struggles, our own troubles 

 in perspective. As we sit, in the 

 body, and gaze off into the millions of 

 miles of ether, we can also sit, mentally, 

 away oft' there in space and gaze back on 

 this little troublesome, fretful world of 

 ours and inspect it. \\q can see it and 

 all our doings in com]^arison of the awe- 

 some order of the universe, its sulilime 

 calm and regularitv. 



