THE SEASONS; AND THE SUN'S PATH THROUGH THE ZODIAC. 1 4 a.m., 1911. D. H.M. Winter begins and lasts 89 0 42 S. of Equator. Date. H.M. 0 38 p.m., 1911. Spring begins and lasts 92 19 42 N. of Equator. Summer begins and lasts 93 14 42 N. of Equator. Autumr. begins and lasts 89 18 35 S. of Equator. Winter begins. Tropical year-365 5 41 D. H. M. 89 18 35 178 19 17 South of the Equator. The sun is 7 15 7 longer north of the Equator than south of it. owing to the slower motion of the earth (apparent motion of the sun) at. and near aphelion. THE PLANETS IN 1911. MERCURY (8) will be brightest: (a) As an EVENING STAR April 1-10 and Dec. 4-10, setting about 1h. 15m. after the Sun, being at greatest angular distance.east of the Sun April 14 (19°) and Dec. 7 (21°). At the April date he will be in , directly S. of Alpha Arietis and the line of stars in the horn of the Ram, and in Dec. in 7. near the end of the handle of the Milkmaid's Dipper. On Apr. 10 h will Mercury. be 4° S. of , and on Sept. 24 will be 6° N. of 9. (b) As a MORNING STAR Feb. 1-5 and Sept. 23-30, rising about 1h. 15m. before the Sun, being at greatest angular distance west of the Sun Feb. 2 (25°) and Sept. 25 (18°). When brightest in Feb. the Milkmaid's Dipper in will be about 10° W. of him, and in Sept. the Sickle in will be about 15° W. of him. The absence of the Moon in the Feb. and Sept. periods will render those dates still more favorable. VENUS (9), the "Queen of Beauty," whose sign is a looking glass, will be a most attractive celestial object nearly all of the year. Twice she will be at her very brightest: first, Aug. 8-12, as an EVENING STAR, and again after passing Venus. between the earth and sun (Inferior conjunction) as a MORNING STAR, Oct. 21-25. See Table of the Planets and Chart of Visibility of the Planets. Venus not only attains a greater degree of brilliancy than any of the others, but at such times and for about a month before and after she will show a large crescent phase like the Moon between new and the quarters. At the Oct. date she will shine with unusual splendor in the absence of the Moon and will cast a distinct shadow. While the annexed figure shows all the various phases through which the planet passes, the telescope shows the boundaries away from the sun to be irregular. The light will blend off and the margins will be more or less jagged, owing to the refraction of the sunlight in the planet's atmosphere and the irregularities of her surface, mountains, etc. The discovery of these phases was the work of the first telescope in the hands of Galileo, though B.-At greatest elongation West, C.-When brightest as a morning star Oct. 21-25, 1911. D. Just after inferior conjunction or Sept. 20, 1911. E-Fifteen days after superior conjunction, July 20, 1912. F. At greatest elongation East, July 7, 1911. When brightest as an evening star, AS SEEN IN THE EVF Aug. 8-12, 1911. H.-Just before inferior conjunction, Sept. 10, 1911. In following the course of the planets the reader will do well to use the other aids in this Almanac-"Chart of the Heavens," "Table of the Rising, Southing and Setting of the Planets," etc. Locate the planets in the zodiac on the chart and then follow them in their course past the stars, noting when they are in conjunction with the Moon, stars or other planets. At the beginning of the year will be found 5° N. of Milkmaid's Dipper in 1; Jan. 11 just 8. of the brightest star in and on the boundary between 1 and ; Feb. 1, 93° 37' N.; Feb. 8 in 10° S. of the A on the equator of the heavens: Feb. 26 on the prime meridian of the heavens 15 S. of the square of Pegasus; d Mch. 2,9 2 20 N.: enters Mch. 26-29; Apr. 1, 6, 14' N. and occulted; Apr. 15, 5 S. of the Pleiades; Apr. 26, 7° N. of Aldebaran, the lucida of the Hyades, May 1, 91° 29′ S.; May 7 in eastern 8 and due N. of Orion's Belt 24°: May 15 In line northward with the bright stars in the feet of the twins (I) and the brightest star of the heavens (Sirius) due south of her about 40°. Note that an immense diamond is formed by Venus on the N., Sirius on the S., Betelgeuse on the W. and Procyon on the E-a most striking figure in the evening skies west of the meridian; May 29-30 between Castor and Pollux in on the north and Procyon on the S., but nearest the former and 3° N. of W; June 12-13 in on northern edge of the group of dim stars called Præsepe; June 29, 6, 30° 40'-; July 5-6 less than 1° N. of Regulus in the end of the handle of the Sickle; Brightest Aug. 8-12, when about 15° E of Regulus, near the middle, where she soon becomes stationary with respect to the stars and then begins to move back westward or retrogrades. She may be seen in the daytime in July and Aug. by knowing just where to look for her; becomes inVaible early in Sept., being at inferior conjunction Sept 15. When next seen she will appear in the east in the morning, west of the Sun; 6, Sept. 24, being 10° S. ; Stationary again early in Oct. in eastern ; Occulted by Nov. 16; adrances past the stars of m, passing about 4° N. of Spica the last of Nov. and through The square of the last of Dec. MARS () will be brightest, as an EVENING STAR Nov. 24-25, being a MORNNG STAR until Aug. 8 and afterward an Evening Star to the end of the year. At the beginning of the year he will be in m, low in the East at dawn and about Mars. 5° N. of Antares; Jan. 26; Feb. 1, 3° N. of the Milkmaid's Dipper in Feb. 24, Mch. 11; Mch. 15 in about 5° S. of the bright stars in the head of the Goat, Mch. 25; last of Apr. in 10° S. of the A; Apr. 23 and May 22; June 1 on first meridian of the heavens; 625th. On the 15th of July be will be about 10° S. of the bright stars in ; Aug. 8 at western and h Aug. 16; last of Aug. 8° S. of Pleiades; last of Sept. close to and N. of the Hyades. Stationary middle of Oct. in 8: retrogrades very slowly back to the Pleiades Dec. 1. being at 8 Nov. 26, when he will rise at sunset, pass the meridian at midnight and set at sunrise, being then and for some time before and after that date an all night star. Several new canals were discovered on Mars in 1909. Snowstorms were also observed. JUPITER (4) will be at 8 Apr. 30, when he will be brightest and an evening and an all night star. Inasmuch as 2 requires 12 of our years in which to make a revolution about the Sun and pass all the stars of the zodiac, his move-Jupiter, ment from time to time will be very slight as compared to that of the plan ets whose orbits are inferior to his, as he traverses only one sign in a year. He is still in and during the first days of Feb. he will be very close (1° N.) the brightest star in that constellation-Alpha Libræ, situated on the Ecliptic and being the S. W. star of the square of Libra. The last of Nov. he will pass out of and E. of the square, and at the close of the year be about 8° E. of its easternmost See tables of Occultations, Conjunctions, etc. Of the seven satellites known to g to Jupiter only four can be easily seen by the aid of small glasses. These tellites do not undergo the same changes in brilliancy that our moon does owing the fact that is a semi-sun and his moons are supplied, in part, by himself, File our moon borrows her entire supply from the Sun.-See the following tables. SATURN (h) will be brightest Nov. 9 as an Evening and all night star, and be very bright for a considerable time before and after that time. Inasmuch as two and one-half years are required for him to pass throuh one sign or Saturn. constellation, it is evident we can scarcely detect any change in position with respect to the stars from month to month. He is in P. Of his large amily of satellites-ten in all-only one (Titan) is ordinarily visible with a 3-inch escope, but the wonderful ring system is always visible in such an instrument, exwhen. the earth is crossing their plane every 15 years. Each year, however, the 1th attains a maximum elevation above their plane and at such times the ring tem is best observed. This occurs in Aug. about the time of the western quadature of h. From Aug. on he will be only a few degrees west of the Pleiades and Brades. URANUS ( or H) will be brightest July 20 and will not be near any bright or spicuous star. Perhaps the best time for an amateur to locate this planet will be at its close conjunction with Mch. 11, when will be seen for several days only one-third of a degree (or about one-half the moon's apparent diameter) N. of d. To see this planet with the unaided eye is a test of red eyesight. NEPTUNE (W), the outermost known of our planetary family, will be brightest 11, in I, a few degrees S. of Castor and Pollux. It is stated that a good opera or field glass will show at the time of 8, or when brightest, proYeptune. vided one knows just where to look. Look for it on a line from Castor to Procyon and nearly midway between those stars, with a fine cluster stars just to the west. ECLIPSES, 1911. There will be two eclipses this year and both of the Sun, as must always be case when only two occur. They are as follows: I. Total, April 28. Partially visible in the United States as a small partial pse on the Sun's southern limb. The Sun will set more or less eclipsed east of a Se from near Pittsburg, Pa., to near Matagorda Bay, Texas. Washington, D. C., is on the northern Atlantic boundary of the area of visibility. No part of the eclipse will be visible north of a line from Portland, Ore., through Milwaukee and Pittsburg to Wash., D. C. Therefore the eclipse will be very small in the Western and Middle States west of the above mentioned line from Pittsburg to Matagorda Bay, Texas, being largest in the extreme Southwest. More exactly visible as follows: *Contact of limbs at sunset. NORTH sets ec'd O sets ec'd sets ec'd at sunset Osets ec'd sets ec'd sets ec'd sets ec'd 2.8 D at sunset 1.7 D at sunset -0 Centl. -11m. Pac. +10m. Pac. 6m. Pac. -13m. Centl. +15m. Eastn. -33m. Centl. +9m. Centl. +1m. Centl. -19m. Centl. -36m. Centl. -18m. Centl. I-Indicates that the eclipse will be increasing at sunset. D-Indicates that the eclipse will be decreasing at sunset, SUN 4 3 2 1 II. Annular, October 22. Invisible on the Western Continent. Visible in the Southwestern Pacific and Asia. The path of the annular phase passes through New Guinea, the Southern Philippines and Southern China to the Sea of Aral. The figure shows the Sun with 1, 2, 3 and 4 digits eclipsed on its southern limit. SITUATION OF THE PLANETS FOR THE SUNDAYS; ALSO MOON'S POSI Jan. 11 just S. of the brightest star in and on the boundary between and ; 6 Feb. 1, 3° 37' N.; Feb. 8 in 10° S. of the A on the equator of the heavens: Feb. 26 on the prime meridian of the heavens 15° S. of the square of Pegasus; 6 Mch. 2, 2° 20′ N.; enters Mch. 26-29; Apr. 1, 69, 14' N. and occulted; Apr. 15, 5 S. of the Pleiades; Apr. 26, 7° N. of Aldebaran, the lucida of the Hyades, May 1, 3, 91° 29' S.; May 7 in eastern 8 and due N. of Orion's Belt 24°; May 15 in line northward with the bright stars in the feet of the twins () and the brightest star of the heavens (Sirius) due south of her about 40°. Note that an immense diamond is formed by Venus on the N., Sirius on the S., Betelgeuse on the W. and Procyon on the E-a most striking figure in the evening skies west of the meridian; May 29-30 between Castor and Pollux in on the north and Procyon on the S., but nearest the former and 3° N. of : June 12-13 in on northern edge of the group of dim stars called Præsepe; June 29, 6, 30° 40'-; July 5-6 less than 1° N. of Regulus in the end of the handle of the Sickle; Brightest Aug. 8-12, when about 15° E. of Regulus, near the middle, where she soon becomes stationary with respect to the stars and then begins to move back westward or retrogrades. She may be seen in the daytime in July and Aug. by knowing just where to look for her; becomes invisible early in Sept., being at inferior conjunction Sept 15. When next seen she will appear in the east in the morning, west of the Sun; 6, Sept. 24, being 10° S. of ; Stationary again early in Oct. in eastern ; Occulted by Nov. 16; advances past the stars of m, passing about 4° N. of Spica the last of Nov. and through the square of the last of Dec. Feb. 24, MARS (♂) will be brightest, as an EVENING STAR Nov. 24-25, being a MORNING STAR until Aug. 8 and afterward an Evening Star to the end of the year. At the beginning of the year he will be in m, low in the East at dawn and about Mars. 5° N. of Antares; Jan. 26; Feb. 1, 3° N. of the Milkmaid's Dipper in 7; Mch. 11; Mch. 15 in about 5° S. of the bright stars in the head of the Goat, Mch. 25; last of Apr. in 10° S. of the A; Apr. 23 and May 22; June 1 on first meridian of the heavens; 625th. On the 15th of July he will be about 10° S. of the bright stars in P; Aug. 8 at western and h Aug. 16; last of Aug. 8° S. of Pleiades; last of Sept. close to and N. of the Hyades. Stationary middle of Oct. in 8; retrogrades very slowly back to the Pleiades Dec. 1, being at 8 Nov. 26, when he will rise at sunset, pass the meridian at midnight and set at sunrise, being then and for some time before and after that date an all night star. Several new canals were discovered on Mars in 1909. Snowstorms were also observed. JUPITER (4) will be at 8 Apr. 30, when he will be brightest and an evening and an all night star. Inasmuch as 2 requires 12 of our years in which to make a revolution about the Sun and pass all the stars of the zodiac, his moveJupiter, ment from time to time will be very slight as compared to that of the planets whose orbits are inferior to his, as he traverses only one sign in a year. He is still in, and during the first days of Feb. he will be very close (1° N.) to the brightest star in that constellation-Alpha Libræ, situated on the Ecliptic and being the S. W. star of the square of Libra. The last of Nov. he will pass out of and E. of the square, and at the close of the year be about 8° E. of its easternmost star. See tables of Occultations, Conjunctions, etc. Of the seven satellites known to belong to Jupiter only four can be easily seen by the aid of small glasses. These satellites do not undergo the same changes in brilliancy that our moon does owing to the fact that is a semi-sun and his moons are supplied, in part, by himself, while our moon borrows her entire supply from the Sun.-See the following tables. SATURN (h) will be brightest Nov. 9 as an Evening and all night star, and will be very bright for a considerable time before and after that time. Inasmuch as two and one-half years are required for him to pass throuh one sign or Saturn. constellation, it is evident we can scarcely detect any change in position with respect to the stars from month to month. He is in P. Of his large family of satellites-ten in all-only one (Titan) is ordinarily visible with a 3-inch telescope, but the wonderful ring system is always visible in such an instrument, except when. the earth is crossing their plane every 15 years. Each year, however, the earth attains a maximum elevation above their plane and at such times the ring system is best observed. This occurs in Aug. about the time of the western quadrature of h. From Aug. on he will be only a few degrees west of the Pleiades and Hyades. URANUS ( or H) will be brightest July 20 and will not be near any bright or conspicuous star. Perhaps the best time for an amateur to locate this planet will be at its close conjunction with ♂ Mch. 11, when will be seen for several Uranus. days only one-third of a degree (or about one-half the moon's apparent diameter) N. of . To see this planet with the unaided eye is a test of good eyesight. NEPTUNE (V), the outermost known of our planetary family, will be brightest Jan. 11, in I, a few degrees S. of Castor and Pollux. It is stated that a good opera or field glass will show at the time of 8. or when brightest, proNeptune. vided one knows just where to look. Look for it on a line from Castor to Procyon and nearly midway between those stars, with a fine cluster of stars just to the west. ECLIPSES, 1911. There will be two eclipses this year and both of the Sun, as must always be the case when only two occur. They are as follows: I. Total, April 28. Partially visible in the United States as a small partial eclipse on the Sun's southern limb. The Sun will set more or less eclipsed east of a line from near Pittsburg, Pa., to near Matagorda Bay, Texas. Washington, D. C., is Chicago on the northern Atlantic boundary of the area of visibility. No part of the eclipse will be visible north of a line from Portland, Ore., through Milwaukee and Pittsburg to Wash., D. C. Therefore the eclipse will be very small in the Western and Middle States west of the above mentioned line from Pittsburg to Matagorda Bay, Texas, being largest in the extreme Southwest. More exactly visible as follows: *Washington, D. C. Charles.on, S. C.. 6:23 p. m. 5:22 p. m. 3:11 p. m. 2:52 p. m. 3: 8 p. m. 5:39 p. m. 6:23 p. m. 4:46 p. m. 4.0 3.0 3.9 sets ec'd sets ec'd 5:27 p. m. 5:22 p. m. 6: 7 p. m. Louisville, Ky... 5:56 p. m. *Richmond, Va.. *Contact of limbs at sunset. I-Indicates that the eclipse will be increasing at sunset. D-Indicates that the eclipse will be decreasing at sunset. NORTH 2.8 D at sunset sets ec'd 1.7 D at sunset -11m. Pac. +10m. Pac. 6m. Pac. -13m. Centl. +15m. Eastn. -33m. Centl. +9m. Centl. +1m. Centl. -19m. Centl. SUN 4 2 II. Annular, October 22. Invisible on the Western Continent. Visible in the Southwestern Pacific and Asia. The path of the annular phase passes through New Guinea, the Southern Philippines and Southern China to the Sea of Aral. The figure shows the Sun with 1, 2, 3 and 4 digits eclipsed on its southern limit. SITUATION OF THE PLANETS FOR THE SUNDAYS; ALSO MOON'S POSI |