N. S. O. S. Holy Days. 6..Apr. 23..St. George. May 20..May 7.. Ascension. 9..St. Nicholas. May 27..May 14.. *Coronation of Emperor. Dec. Apostles. July 12..June 29.. Peter and Paul, Chief Dec. 25..Dec. 12.. Nativity (Christmas). The year 1909 corresponds, as above, nearly with 4606th year of the Chinese Era, which is the 46th year of the 76th cycle of 60 years since the era began, and contains 384 days, the second month being duplicated. The year 1327 is the seventh year of the 45th cycle of 30 years, and is a leap year of 355 days. Winter begins, Spring begins. THE SEASONS. CENTRAL STANDARD TIME. D. H. M. 1908......Dec. 22, 0 25 a. m. and lasts 1909.... .Mar. 21, 10 a. m. and lasts... Summer begins, 1909......June 21, 8 54 p. m. and lasts Autumn begins, 1909......Sept. 23, 11 37 a. m. and lasts Winter begins, 1909......Dec. 22, 6 12 a. m. D. H. M. 89 0 35 S. of Equator. ..92 19 54 N. of Equator. ...93 14 43 N. of Equator. ..89 18 35 S. of Equator. equator than south of it, due to the slower motion of the earth (sun's apparent motion) when the earth is farthest from the sun in the summer months. THE PLANETS. (See also the table of the rising, setting and meridian passage of the planets.) Mercury will be brightest: (1) As a morning star, west of the Sun, March 3-8 and October 25-31, rising about 1h. 15m. before the Sun, being farthest west of the Sun March 9 (27°) and October 28 (18°). (2) As an evening star, east of the Sun, April 27-May 3 and September 20-26, setting about 1h. 15m. after the Sun, being farthest east of the Sun May 20 (22°) and September 17 (27°). Look for a very red star within the above named intervals near the sunrise or sunset points at or near the time of beginning or end of twilight and a little up from the horizon. It is quite an event to observe this planet and be certain of it. VENUS, the "Love Star" or planet, will not attain her greatest degree of brilllancy possible this year, but she will be brightest of the year at its close. (See table of the Planets.) She will be a Morning Star until April 28 and an Evening Star after that date. Venus will be at superior conjunction with the Sun April 28, or on that date she will rise and set with the Sun, being on the farther side of the Sun from the Earth-or, in other words, the Sun will be between us and the planet. Before that date she will be visible west of the Sun, and afterward east of him. In the course of her orbit about the Sun she presents to us all the phases of the Moon as shown in the annexed figure. These phases may be observed very nicely by the aid of a small telescope or good field glass. Towards the Sun As seen in the Morn Phases of Venus M A.-Fifteen days before superior conjunction, or April 13, 1909. B.-At greatest elongation west April 23, 1910. C. When brightest as a morning star, March 18-19, 1910. D.-Just after inferior conjunction, or February 12, 1910. E.-Fifteen days after superior conjunction, May 13, 1909. F.-At greatest elongation east, December 2, 1909. G.-When brightest as an evening star, January 7, 1910. H.-Just before inferior conjunction, February 5, 1910. As seen in the Eve. The remarkable difference in the apparent size or diameter of Venus in A and E as compared with D and H is because of the vastly greater distance she is from us at her When seen as a crescent, as D or H, she will be nearer to us by nearly the diameter of the Earth's orbit than when appearing as A or E. When she appears like D or H she will be only about 25,000,000 miles from us, and when like A or E she will be 160,000,000 miles distant, or about six times as far. Her apparent diameter actually increases about sixfold under these changed conditions. At the beginning of the year Venus will be in the constellation Scorpio (m), a few degrees northeast of the bright red star Antares (see Chart of the Heavens). She is advancing or moving eastward past the stars, and on January 20 she will be close to and above the Milkmaid's Dipper in and on the 30th of January only 21' north of Uranus. On February 19 and again on April 19 she will be in conjunction with, being at the first 6 4° north of him in and 22' south on the last 6. In March she passes through and enters. During April she passes through and enters P, being just south of the bright stars in the head of Ram when last visible before her conjunction with the Sun on April 28. On April 9 she will be 1° north of h. On May 12 she will be about 5° below (S.) of the Pleiades or Seven Stars, and on May 22 she will be close to the Hyades and only 5° north of the brilliant Aldebaran, and will present a beautiful sight in the evening skies. On June 1 she will be about midway between Capella and the stars of Orion's Belt. She enters II June 10, and by the 25th will be flirting with Castor and Pollux, a few degrees below or south of them toward the brilliant Procyon. July 4 she enters and on the 10th is close to the cluster of dim stars called Præsepe. On July 26 she will be just below Regulus, in the Sickle in August 12, only 12' south of 4. September 10 she will be 20° north of Spica Virginius in m and on October 18 she completes her orbit and again keeps company with red Antares in m, being only 3° north of that star. By the middle of November she will again be close to and above the Milkmaid's Dipper in ♂. On and near November 24 a line from the Great Cross extended southward through Aquilla (Altair) will touch her nearly as far again south, passing through Uranus, 2° 33' of at the greatest angular distance east (47°) from the Sun. On December 10 she will be in about 35° south of Job's Coffin, and will end the year close to (10° S.) the A in . MARS, the ruddy planet, will be brightest September 18-25 as an evening star. He will be a morning star until May 13 and an evening star after that date. At this opposition in September Mars will be even nearer than in a generation. ORBIT MARS NEAREST THE EARTH. The planet Mars will attract the attention of the world this year more than in 1907 because of the fact that he will approach nearer to us than he was then or will be again in the following fifteen years. The reason for this will be understood by an inspection of the annexed figure. When the points C (Aphelion) in the Earth's orbit and A (Perihelion) in Mars' orbit, come in line with the Sun, then the Earth and Mars will be the nearest possible. A moderately close approach to these conditions occurs every fifteen and seventeen years. This year, on September 18-25, these planets will occupy the positions in their respective orbits E and F. On July 3 the Earth will be at C or farthest from the Sun, and on August 13 Mars will be at A or nearest to the Sun. It is apparent that there must be a point between A and C where these bodies are in line with the Sun and where they will be nearest, and, as has been said, this occurs at E and F on September 18-25, when they will be nearer by about 30,000,000 miles than when the conditions named are reversed. MARS ORBIT 3 RISING, MERIDIAN PASSAGE AND SETTING OF THE PRINCIPAL PLANETS. Mean time. See Table for converting into Standard time. Black-faced type indicates P. M. VENUS ?. MARS ♂. All others A. M. JUPITER 2. SATURN h. HMH MH M Rises HMH MH MH MH MH M -Sets Note.-The Moon will "run high" from "Lowest" to "Highest,' and "run low" from "Highest" to "Lowest." Gemini. Cancer. Leo. Explanations of Signs.- Aries. 8 Taurus. my Virgo. Libra. m Scorpio. Sagittarius. Capricornus. Aquarius. Pisces. The place indicated for the planets is for the first, second, third, fourth and fifth Sundays of each month, in the order of the planets. HALLEY'S COMET DUE IN 1909-'10. Halley's Comet, by some supposed to be the Star of Bethlehem, will again visit us this year. It will be visible to the naked eye in October about midway between the Pleiades and Hyades on the west and Castor and Pollux in Gemini on the east or about 7 degrees to the right, or west, of the bright star Alhena in Gemini. Its period is about seventy-five years and it has been observed at these intervals since the fifteenth century. Records show its probable return many centuries earlier. It last visited us in 1835, when its tail was about 20 degrees long and its nucleus like the red star Antares. *DISTANCE FROM THE EARTH IN LIGHT YEARS OF CERTAIN FIXED 34,800 17.1 85 0.20 *Explanation.-The term "Light Year" is the time required for light to travel from these bodies to the earth. Their actual distance, in miles, being too great for use or comprehension, the distance, in miles, may be found by multiplying the velocity of light (183,000 miles per second) by the number of seconds in a year, and that product by the light years. Thus: Alpha Centauri 3.6X183,000×365×24×60×60 miles distant. THE HORIZON AT SEA LEVEL. Distances of objects visible at varying elevations from one foot to one thousand feet. The elevations given are in feet. Elevation. 1. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 20. DEGREES OF TEMPERATURE AT WHICH CERTAIN SUBSTANCES FREEZE, FUSE AND BOIL. |