i8 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



The Heavens in June. 



BY PROFESSOR ERIC DOOLlTTLE OF THE 

 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



The last few months have been note- 

 worthy ones because of the remarkably 

 large number of bright planets which 

 shone in the evening sky. Indeed, at one 

 time, every one of the five naked-eye 

 planets might have been seen in the early 

 evening, and doubtless there are many 

 readers of these monthly papers who de- 

 rived much pleasure from studying these 



but little effort this most brilliant silvery 

 world could be detected and examined in 

 the telescope. The spectacle presented 

 in the evening heavens at this time far 

 surpassed that of the morning sky, where 

 Jupiter reigned alone, pouring out its 

 steady, golden radiance until the coming 

 of the dawn. 



But these conditions will very quickly 

 be completely reversed. Already Mercury 

 is again lost in the sun's rays, and even 

 the very brilliant Venus will become 

 quite invisible to us during the present 



SOOXM 



Figure 1. The constellations at 9 P. M., June 1. (If facing south, hold the map 

 upright. If facing east, hold East below. If facing west, hold West below. If facing 

 north, hold the map inverted.) 



most interesting worlds in the telescope 

 and from watching their continual and 

 various motions among the winter con- 

 stellations. 



The first deserter from this company 

 of beautiful worlds was the planet Jupi- 

 ter, which withdrew from the evening 

 sky on April i ; but at this time Venus 

 was nightly becoming so very brilliant in 

 the west, where also Mars and Saturn 

 shone brightly, that the absence of the 

 Giant Planet was hardly noticed. On 

 May 12, also, Mercury ran so unusually 

 far upward in the evening sky that with 



month, though it will not enter the morn- 

 ing sky until July 3. Saturn will follow 

 on July 12, and from this date on, of all 

 the five brilliant worlds, the single planet 

 Mars will alone be left with us. This 

 little planet, however, runs so very rapidly 

 eastward that it will .ot be overtaken by 

 the sun and so become a morning star 

 until February 28, 191 7. 



The June Stars. 



It is in this, the first of our summer 

 months, that the fainter constellations are 

 seen for the first time in the year to pre- 



