THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
13 
Astronomy for Amateurs. 
BY BEKIilN H. WKIGHT. 
(All calculations are for the Latitude of New 
York City.) 
THE PLANETS TOK FEBEUAEY, 1882. 
MEBCUKY. 
This planet arrives at eastern elongation on 
the 6tli, and will be brightest from the 3d to 
6th, being 18° 13' from the sun. As he is east of 
the sun, he is, of course, an evening star and 
must be looked for after sunset and in the west. 
Being north of the sun, his altitude at sunset or 
at close of evening twilight will be such as to 
render him an easy object to pick up. On the 
1st he sets at- 6h, 39m. eve., 5° north of the sun- 
set point ; 5th, 6h. 52m. eve. , and 7° north, and on 
the 10th at Gh. 55m. eve., and 8° north of the sun- 
set point. The A which marks the northern 
limit of the constellation Aquarius, and through 
the centre of which the equator of the heavens 
passes, may be seen about 8° north of Mercury 
on the 5th. Venus is between Mercury and the 
sun, but so close to the latter that it is doubtful 
whether she can be seen at all, and there 
will be no body in the vicinity of Mercurj^ for 
which he could be mistaken. The eye is at once 
attracted by the fiery red planet, so strikingly 
different from any other heavenly body. 
VENUS. 
Venus becomes an evening star cn the 20th, 
when she is at superior conjunction. Some lit- 
tle time before that date she may be seen in the 
east Just before sunrise, and afterwards in the 
west, after sunset. This sudden disappearance 
of Venus from the horizon and almost immedi- 
ate reappearance on the opposite side of the 
earth, apparently 180° from where seen a few 
days since, was a great puzzle to the ancient 
astronomers. 
MAES. 
At 9 o'clock in the evening of the 1st, Mars 
passes the meridian, being situated in the Milky 
Way, and in the most interesting portion of the 
heavens. Betelguese is 20° south of him, and 
the 2d mag. star Beta Aurigae (7° E. of Cap- 
ella) the same distance north ; the Twins, with 
Castor and Pollux, upon the left ; Procyon, Sir- 
ius. The " Kings " or " Stars of Orion's Belt," 
and Rigel, below or south of him ; and Taurus, 
the PMades and Hyades, and Beta Tauri upon 
the right. He will be 5° north of the Moon on 
the 20th. 
JUPITEK. 
Jupiter still remains the most attractive ob- 
ject in the evening sky. Though he and Saturn 
have the same apparent motion at present, it 
may be seen that the distance between them is 
gradually decreasing, owing to the greater mo- 
tion in right Ascension of Jupiter. He sets as 
follows: 5th, Oh. 58m. morn.; 15th, Oh. 24:m. 
morn. ; 28th, llh. 38m. eve., arrives at eastern 
quadrature (90° E. of Sun) on the 6th, and the 
Moon passes 2° south of him on the 23d. 
FAVOBABIiE TIMES FOR OBSERVING THE PHE- 
NOMENA OF JUPITER'S SATELLITES. 
(For an inverting telescope at 9h. 12m. eve., 
New York City Time.) 
On the 9th all will be upon tlie east side of the 
planet, and very close together. This occurs 
again on the 16th, when they will be very mucli 
closer. On the 6th all that are visible will be 
upon the west side, but widely separated, 11. 
being in transit, emerging one hour later ; this 
occurs again on the 22d, except that I. and HI. 
are close to each other, and the planet and II. 
are invisible, being in an eclipse. 
The following are the visible eclipses which 
occur at seasonable hours : 
D. H. M. 
111. — 1 8 25 even. Disappearance. 
III.— 1 10 3 " Eeappearance. 
I.— 7 6 19 " 
11.— 8 7 10 " 
I.— 14 8 15 " 
II.-15 9 46 " 
L— 21 10 11 " 
SATURN. 
The conspicuous reddish planet about 11" 
west of Jupiter is Saturn. His rings are in fair 
position to be seen, and the elevation of the 
earth above their plane will continue to in- 
crease until the latter part of August. The two- 
largest of Saturn's satellites. Titan and Japetus, 
are easily seen with a telescope of 2-inch aper- 
ture, and these with the three next most con- 
spicuous, Rhea, Dione, and Tethys, we have re- 
peatedly seen with an instrument of 3-inch 
aperture. The following data will enable one 
to know where to look for these and to identify 
each, an inverting telescope being supposed to 
be used : Titan will be at western elongation on 
the 7th and 23d, and at eastern elongation on 
the 15th. Rhea, the next in order, is at eastern, 
elongation on the 2d, 6th, 11th, 15th, 20th, and 
24th. On the 15th this satellite will be in a line 
with Titan, and the planet. Dione is at E. elong. 
as follows : Feb. 1, 4, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 20, and 23. 
Tethys' eastern elongations are as follows: 
Feb. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, and 
26. Japetus will be at western elongation on 
the 20th. From the above data we find'that on 
the 20th, for instance, Japetus will be far to the 
west of Saturn; Titan will be five days from 
E. elong., and hence about half way to its W. 
elong. and just north of the planet ; Rhea will 
be at E. elong., and hence upon the opposite 
side from Japetus ; Dione will be on same side 
