278 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



these two points of the path assume 

 great importance. It cannot be doubted 

 that the extreme heat, and still more 

 the excessive variations in heat, would 

 render existence there quite impos- 

 sible, at least for such highly organized 

 beings as ourselves. 



The brilliant Venus is seen rising in 

 the southeast i hr. 20 min. before the 

 sun on February i, and this time di- 



from a transit of the planet's disc at 7 

 hrs. 53 min. P. M. Similar phenomena 

 occur on the evenings of February 3, 4, 

 7, 9, 13, 17, 19, 20, 23, 25, 27 and 28. 



Recent studies of the excessively 

 faint Ninth Moon of Jupiter have been 

 made to discover if possible the true 

 size of this minute body. It is found 

 that the diameter is between eleven and 

 seventeen miles, a striking contrast to 



Figure 3. The comparative sizes of the four bright moons of Jupiter, our own moon, and the planets. 

 Mercury and Mars. 



minishes to but forty minutes by Feb- 

 ruary 28. The planet is rapidly becom- 

 ing lost in the sun's rays, though it 

 will not enter the evening sky until 

 next April 26. 



Mars is also quite too near the sun 

 to be observed, setting but thirty-four 

 minutes after sunset on February i 

 and passing to the west of the sun and 

 so entering the morning sky at 5 P. M. 

 on February 28. 



Jupiter and Saturn remain, however, 

 as our briliant evening planets ; the for- 

 mer with its four bright moons and the 

 latter with its numerous fainter satel- 

 lites and its beautiful system of rings 

 furnish beautiful objects for examina- 

 tion and study with a small telescope. 



The third moon of Jupiter will be 

 seen to enter an eclipse on February 10 

 at 7 hrs. 45 min. P. M. (Eastern Stand- 

 ard Time), and to emerge from the 

 planet's shadow at 9 hrs. 26 min. P. M. 

 On February 11 the first moon will pass 

 behind the planet at 8 hrs. 33 min. P. M. 

 and on Feb. 12 this moon will emerge 



the brighter attendants, for the largest 

 of the four bright moons is no less than 

 3550 miles in diameter, considerably 

 larger than the planet Mercury and but 

 little smaller than the planet Mars. 



The most interesting great comet 

 which was discovered when almost as 

 far away from us as the planet Jupiter 

 is steadily aproaching the earth. Dur- 

 ing the present month its distance away 

 from us will diminish from 258 to 208 

 millions of miles, and it will nearly 

 double in brightness. It is now passing 

 through the summer constellation Ophi- 

 uchus, and is therefore in the morn- 

 ing sky. As yet it is only visible in the 

 largest telescopes. Whether it will be- 

 come a conspicuoUfS object when it 

 draws nearest to us, next summer, can- 

 not as yet be foretold. 



The variable star, Algol, in the con- 

 stellation Perseus at the point K, Fig- 

 ure I, will lose five-sixth of its light 

 on February 7 at 7 hrs. 40 min. P. M. 

 (Eastern Standard Time) ; on Feb. 10 

 at 10 hrs. 52 min P. M., on Feb. 25 at 



