ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR DECEMBER.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12364, 1 December 1905, Page 6

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR DECEMBER.

i Mercury will bo an evening star till i the middle of tlie month. Mars Saturn and Jupiter are. also evening stars. They lie practically in a line. Mars still pursues tho flying earth so rapidly as to maintain a oonriderablo ■ elevation, though the stars of tlie ScorI pion, that wero his companions somo

——————• - !W T"? months ago, have already passed the sun. He is rapidly reducing interval between himself and Saturn. ia now, however, so much further vg*J*,tsi from tho earth than ho was six moaOw^'o§ ago, that ho appears only about fourth as bright as ho did then. planet is subject to greater changes inYC apparent size than any other, for at his furthest point he is nearly times as far off as at hU nearest. is different with Jupiter. At hj_r nearest ho is still about 400 millions of "*'" miles away, while at his furthest point he is within 600 millions of miles. »! " / variation of distance is only about ... r_ third of his maximum, whereas that of V{ Mais is five-sixths. - * Jupiter is shining with great spleu. * dour in Taurus, the Bull, between the I Hyadcs and tho Pleiades, both of whidi"' '*' are in tho. Bull. * ', Tho moon will again this month p^," over Aldcbaran, about three in the after, noon of tho 11th, and will be stifl ne „j >' J him when " tho evening shades prevail '* : -_ Tho 21st is tho longest day, and « .?l counted the beginning of summer, to' '"' some pooplo it may seem tliat Uio' "- longest day. is naturally midsunun w <■- and tho shortest day naturally taii 4 winter. But it is not tho length of thl ' day, but tho temperature, that deten. "'' mrm* tiho matter. Tho three month following tho longest day aro' n-. doubtcdly the hottest, and the thtwr months following tho shortest day _~__'"* tho coldest. * Wo , ; As the day lengthens, The cold As tho night lengthens Tho heat strengthens. This is because tho heat and the'-cola* accumulate when either gets the upper hand. All through spring the Slm fa battling with tho forces of winter that' have variously entrenched themselvt. " Ho dries and warms tho ground; ho' also warms nnd modifies tho currents of tho sea, and compels the winds to sup. port his authority. When tho longest day iirmvs he has just about got it _v his owm way, and the momentum carrier him on for three mouths, in spito of tie ' ■ declining hours of sunshino. The stars in tho western sky are aotvery conspicuous, but a few tray bs' ' pointed out. Turn to the ■ Magellaric clouds in tho constellation' of v ' Hydrus, mot far from the.South Poo. Thoy are known as Nubecula Major and Nubecula Minor. About 20 degrees above, north, of tho minor cloud v the - Ist magnitude star Aohernar. Army east of him is tho splendid Canopus.' ' Draw a lino through these two, away to tho north-west, and nt a distance of ~' 70 degrees it will roach FomalhautV - (Alplia Pisois Australis), -which' is a ' below the first magnitude. Continuing ".\ tho lino it will lead to Saturn., Take' , ■ the lino from Achernar to Fomalhaut \V and form on it an equilateral triangle, •"-'-'> with tlio apex southward. Tho apo'x', J ; will be the 2nd magnitude star A_p.i*' : - f Pavonis—the first in tho Peaoock. With-'',-.' in. this laVgo triahgle, and near titaZ, ' >„ western side of it, will be -seen a nw<s_/. 7 smaller right-angled triangle. , Thie&L'v'ifl are chief stars in Grus, the' « Saturn is in Capricornus,, a constellation-' ' without conspicuous stats. North-oestY' .;" of Fomalhaut, about 30 degrees .alo-grj a lino leading to Aldebaran, is, Bm _* j, Ceti, slightly below die 2iid mag_ifckl.,Y ; A line along the top "of Hyades," fwotY "] Aldebaran, will roach this star, pa-Bjag^^' > tinx>ugh Menkar, Alpha Ceti.' Ceti and Beta Ceti mark tho head y tlie tail of the Whale. The >fj them, at alwut a third of the d»taff»*..Yp from Alplia to Beta, passes through _x>Y }[ spot whera we may expect to setfMLiajf", «•*'• flame up in February next. - - Fomalhaut, and Beta Ceti moko a j isosceles triangle with Achernar aV tltiuV ' apex. .The distance froni to Beta Ceti'is 80 degrees."^FnAj&i* Aldebaran draw a line to. tho forty' degrees long, so that' it the base of. an isosceles "triangtefwijK *>.V, B?to Ceti at the apex,. Aldeb^W." be at one end of the base,'.i|jd;Algol/,:.| 'f the demon star, at the other.*"' "A imp'- 7.} from tho jnorth end' of tlirougjh Aldebaran will points to Tliis star is in Caput Medus*fr,tibe * of tho Gorgon carried by is perhapa the most iai tho heavens. For two days end S3 V*"I hours it shines rather lo«a.~. ttja-p_*, r *t.\ second magnitude star. Then it g _ clines during nearly four hours to lefe T \ than a fourth of its usual ;-j after which it revives, and tbe'cchpst—t; v >V-' it is an eclipse—is over in 7J hours.,/* '_'_ [Readcra caii add to the interest^{^A\'^"t notes, as they enter, upon^.tißr' t |: r^j second year, by submitting ,4'*!re£Y''' tions that may suibab y !|»o- -cS«il*^v-1.2. with under our heading.] " ~*f^<^