GLORY OF THE STARS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19808, 1 December 1927, Page 8

GLORY OF THE STARS.

BY CBTFX AUSIXBALXS.

THE HEAVENS IN DECEMBER ECLIPSE OF THE MOON. | ______ PLANETS AND CONSTELLATIONS;

The Sun is in the constellation Scorpio at the beginning of the month, passing into Ophiuchus on the 4th, and Sagit- ; . tarius on the 21st. Its noonday altitude at Auckland reaches a maximum of 76£ deg. on December 23, when the solstice is reached and the longest day occurs. A partial eclipse will occur on December 24, but this will be visible onily in Antarctic regions Sunspofc activity has been very marked recently, nd fewer than five splendid groups having been visible during November, three of these groups being of sufficient size to be visible to the naked eye. * The Moon will be in conjunction with Jupiter on the afternoon of the 3rd, Venus on the afternoon of the 20th, Mara on the evening of the 22nd, Saturn on the morning of the 23rd, Mercury cn the evening of the 23rd, and Jupiter on the night of the 30th. A total eclipse of the Moon will occur on the morning of December 9. The Moon being at its northernmost at the time, it does not rise far above the horizon on that night, and sots before the middle of the eclipse occurs. The phases of the eclipse which wili be visible at Auckland, corrected for yammer time, are':—Moon enters pennmbra, 3.23 a.m.; Moon enters umbra, 4.23 a.m.; total eclipse 'begins, 5.24 a.m. j Moon sets at Auckland, 5.39 a.m. Mercury ih a morning star this month, its path lying through Libra, Scorpio, Ophiuchua and Sagittarius. On December 10 Mereary will be in conjunction with Mars, and on the 17th with Saturn. Neither conjunction will be visible, as both occur in daylight. Venus is now a brilliant object in the morning sky, rising 2£ hours before the Sun at the middle of the month. It will be in Virgo until the i3th, wher. it passes into Libra. Mars is a morning star in December, rising an hour before the Sue on the 15th, and lying in the constellation Libra until the Bth, when it passes into Scorpio. leaving Scorpio and entering Ophiuchus on the 24th. Jupiter—The Giant Plan«\ Jupiter is now a splendid obj nfc in. our evening skies. Lying in the cc istell&tion Pisces, very near the. meridian when twilight ends, it sets a,bout 2 a.m. at the beginning of the month, and he )re midnight by the end of the month. Transits, eclipses and occultations of J upi'.er s four principal moons will be visible on the following nights ■. 3-8, 10, 12,14-16, 19, <ul-2-3, 28-31. ' ' The mass of Jupiter is greater than that of all the other planets and satellites of the sola„' system together. Its diameter at the equator is almost 89,000 miles, and its volume is 1300 .times that of the Earth. This giant hi rotating with terrific speed, a complete rotation being accomplished in less than hours. This fast rotation causes the dense clouds which cover the' surface of this planet te be drawn out into' long belts running parallel to the equator, and these can be viewed with quite a small telescope. There are no permanent features ou the surface of this planet. Front year to year the position and breadth of the belts change, the tints of the surface vary and the shape and character of the spots on the belts charge. Thess -frequent changes in the cloud covering of Jupiter have led some to think that i?,he planet is in a much earlier stage of evolution than the Earth, and that it must still possess a large amount of its original heat. Jupiter possesses a retinue of nine satellites, four of which are visible in the Br.iallest of telescopes, and were, in fact, discovered by Galileo when he pointna' the first crude telescope toward the planet. These four moons travel in orbits very nearly in the plane of the planet's equator, so that they may bei observed in the course of their revolution passing across the face of the planet, being hidden behind its disc, or passing into its shadow ana suffering eclipse. This system of satellites provides a source of never-fail-ing interest to the possessor of a small telescope. Saturn will be in conjunction with the Sun on the 3rd, and will be invisible for some time. On the 26th it. will be in conjunction with Mars in the morning sky, when it may be possible to observe the two planets less than 2deg, apart in the morning twilight, On the morning of December 115 Venus will approach very close to a faint star, B.D.—lldeg. 3736. In the East Indies, Japan and China 41 le planet will actually occult the star, bul to New Zealand observers a close approach is all that can be expected, the actual conjunction occurring here after sunrise. Places of the Constellations. The constellations may be seen in the positions given bolow; at 11 p.m. of the Ist, 10 p.m. of the 15th and 9 p.m. of the 31st of the month. Looking due north we see Perseus near the horizon, with the smaller' groups of Triangulum and Aries above. Andromeda is setting in the northwest, with Pegasus, containing the Great Square, lying above it. Pisces, containing the brilliant Jupiter, is high in the north-west, with the large group of Cetus above and reaching to the meridian. In the north-east Auriga with the bright Capalla is coming into view, with Taurus now prominent and well above the horizon. In the eastern portion of Taurus lies a group of stars, the Pleiades, which is widely known as "the seven sisters." Six stars are visible to most people; some have seen fourteen. In the telescope hundreds more become visible, and photography has Mvealed that the brighter stars of the cluster are surrounded and involved in a faint nebulosity. The whole cluster is embedded in a gaseous envelope which spreads far out into space. The stars of this cluster are not the chance grouping of a number of stars in the line of sight, but Eire one distinct system, in which each individual star is moving at the same speed and in the same direction as stsi fellows. This interesting group has excited attention from the earliest times. Homer mentious it in the "Odyssey," and the Bible contains several references to the woven stars. Babylonian records also reveal an acquaintance with this group. As the ancient records all speak of seven stars, it has been assumed that in comparatively recent times one member of this gmnp has waned in brilliancy, leaving the six stars we are familiar with at the present time. In the east Oricn is now. a brilliant jewel. Below it Gemini is rising into prominence and in the south-east Canis Major is distinguished by Sirius, the brightest of the fixed stars. Below Canis Major is Canis Minor with the bright Procyo'a, Eridanus runs in an irregular line of faint stars from Rigei, the higheststar of Orion, to the zenith, where Achernar is prominent. In the soiith-east Canopus, the most brilliant member of Argo, is shining just above the galactic clouds. The Cross and Centaurus ara below the pole. In the south-west Aquarius and Oapricornus with the last of Sagittarius are setting, with the small groups of Pavo, Indus. Gtus arid Hydrus above. Pisces Australis, with the bright Fomalhaut, is now high above the eastern horizon. The Galaxy runs just above the horizon from north to east, then rising slightly higher in ohe south-east, and terminating below this pole.