178 
FOREST AND STREAM 
The Heavens in August and September 
The Solar Eclipse—Another Comet Found—Morning, Evening and Midnight Skies 
T HE principal event of the present month, 
from an astronomical standpoint, will un¬ 
doubtedly be the total solar eclipse which 
occurs on the 21st. Few human eyes will see the 
eclipse from the first two thousand miles of its 
'track, which crosses the Arctic archipelago and 
the snowy wastes of northern Greenland. 
For observers in the United States, this eclipse 
will be a small, partial one on the northern limb 
of the Sun, occurring in the early morning. 
From points east of a line drawn from Roches¬ 
ter, N. Y., to Washington, the whole eclipse is 
visible shortly after sunrise at about 6 A. M. For 
points farther west, about as far as Chicago and 
Minneapolis, the Sun rises eclipsed. 
Another comet has been added to the list of 
the year's discoveries, found this time by the 
Russian Neujmin (who was 
the first to detect the remark¬ 
able faint comet of last year) 
on June 29th. The present 
comet is also faint, being visi¬ 
ble only in a large telescope. 
The elements of its orbit show 
that it is already far past peri¬ 
helion and has been receding 
from the Sun since March 4th. 
At that time it was a little over 
100 million miles from the Sun, 
but now it is about 200 million 
miles from him and nearly 100 
million from us, and is still re¬ 
ceding and steadily growing- 
fainter. It is not far from the 
star Ophiuchus, shown on this 
map. But the comet will be so 
faint by the time that this is 
published that it will be observ¬ 
able only with powerful instru¬ 
ments. 
Delavan’s comet is now in 
the morning sky, and is steadily 
growing brighter. 
All through the month it 
rises at midnight or earlier, 
and gets well clear of the 
horizon some time before 
dawn. The best time to ob¬ 
serve it will be about 3 A. M. 
Its predicted brightness, mak¬ 
ing no allowance for the in¬ 
crease of intrinsic luminosity 
which comets usually show 
near perihelion, is about equal to that of a star 
of the sixth magnitude. It should, therefore, be 
easily visible with a field-glass, and probably with 
the naked eye. The presence of moonlight will 
seriously interfere with seeing the comet from 
about the 3rd until the 20th, but it should be 
very easy to find before and after these dates. 
By Henry Norris Russell, Ph. D. 
[Courtesy Scientific American] 
THE HEAVENS. 
Right over head (and shown in the center of 
the map), are the splendid constallations Cygnus 
and Lyra. Just south of them are the small 
groups of Sagitta and Delphius, and then the 
larger one of Aquila. 
Below this, in the southwest, is a magnificent 
region of the Milky Way, extending down to the 
“Milk Dipper” of Sagittarius, and to Scorpio, 
which is now setting. To the left, almost due 
south, we see the twin stars of Capricornus, the 
upper one of which is a pretty double to the 
naked eye, and the lower one to a field-glass. 
Fomalhaut, the one bright star of the Southern 
Fish, has risen in the southeast, and a part of 
Cetus may be seen farther to the left. Above 
these is the very barren region of Aquarius, and 
the few but conspicuous stars of Pegasus. Andro¬ 
meda and Aries are north of east, and Perseus 
and Cassiopeia farther on, due northeast. Cepheus, 
Draco, and Ursa Minor occupy the upper north, 
above the Pole, and Ursa Major is well down 
in the northwest. Hercules, Corona, and Bootes 
are in the west, and the tangled forms of Ophi¬ 
uchus and Serpens fill the -southwestern sky. 
THE PLANETS. 
Mercury is a morning star almost throughout 
the month, but is only well visible, at its be¬ 
ginning. He rises about 3:40 A. M., and can 
easily be seen before dawn. 
Venus is evening star in Virgo, and remains 
visible until between 8 and 9 P. M. She is very 
brilliant, and far outshines anything else in the 
western sky. During the month she takes part in 
two interesting conjunctions. Thefirst is with Mars 
on the evening of the 5th, when the two planets 
are but 10 minutes apart—only one third of the 
Moon’s apparent diameter—and can hardly be 
separated by the unaided eye, The second close 
approach is to the bright star 
Spica, which will be within a 
degree of the planet on the 
evening of the 30th. Both con¬ 
junctions will be well worth 
looking at, particularly the 
first. 
Mars, as appears from what 
has just been said, is also an 
evening star. Except at the 
beginning of the month, he sets 
earlier than Venus, and is not 
conspicuous. 
Jupiter is in Capricornus. 
and comes to opposition on the 
10th. Though still 17 degrees 
south of the celestial equator, 
he is better placed for observa¬ 
tion than he has been for two 
or three years past, and is a 
beautiful telescopic object. 
Saturn is a morning star in 
Gemini, rising about 1 A. M. 
in the middle of the month. 
Uranus is in Capricornus, and 
comes into opposition on the 
2d. His position on the 1st is 
right ascension, 20 hours, 49 
minutes, 18 seconds; declina¬ 
tion—18 degrees 29 minutes; 
and, on the 29th, 20 hours, 44 
minutes, 58 seconds—18 de¬ 
grees 46 minutes. With the aid 
of a good star map he may be 
identified, appearing as a star 
of the sixth magnitude. 
Neptune is just past conjunc¬ 
tion with the Sun, and is practically invisible. 
The Moon is full on the 5th, at 8 P. M.; in 
her last quarter at the same hour on the 13th; 
new at 7 A. M. on the 21st, and in her first 
quarter at midnight on the 27th. She is in con¬ 
junction with Saturn on the 16th, and with Venus 
and Mars on the 24th. 
At 11 o’clock: Aug. 7. At 954 o’clock: August 29. At 9 o’clo-ck: Sept. 6. 
At io ]4 o’clock: Au.g. 14. At 8 J 4 o’clock: Sept. 14. 
At 10 o’clock: Aug. 22. At 8 o’clock: Sept. 21. 
Night Sky: August and September. 
