The Ways of the Planets

When an inferior planet is at greatest eastern elongation, it is, of course, east of the sun, and can be seen above the sun in the evening after sunset, and is an evening star....

Jupiter is now (1912) in the constellation Scorpio, and he will be in this region, and thus a summer star, for several years to come. In 1913 he will be in opposition early in J...

For matters outside of the solar system, the unit of measure is the number of miles that light travels in a year. The speed of light is a little more than 186,000 miles in a sec...

The one degree a month which he travels along the ecliptic is toward the east, except for a little more than two months before opposition, and the same length of time afterward,...

If Venus is finally proved to have no alternations of day and night, she is still better off than Mercury, who has practically no atmosphere to protect him from the intense heat...

The sun and the moon, they noted, also moved from place to place among the fixed stars, and they called all these errant bodies planets, which means “wanderers.” These are the “...

The normal temperature of an unprotected body at the distance of Mars from the sun is about thirty-two degrees blow zero (Fahrenheit); and since we know Mars has no dense atmosp...

Since Uranus was discovered he has made one circuit of the skies, which he finished in 1865, and he is now (1912) more than half-way around on another. His position now is in Ca...

Another cause of Mercury’s apparent change in brightness is due to the fact that, in common with Venus, he goes through phases from crescent to full like the moon. This is, as w...

When Venus appears in the sky she is not often mistaken for any other planet. Among all the planets she is the most readily recognized and the easiest to find. This is due large...

After leaving Gemini the ecliptic passes through the small constellation Cancer. Its way runs southeasterly for about twenty degrees, passing just south of a charming little clu...

It is likely that about all have been discovered that can be seen even with a telescope, for a fairly systematic and thorough search has been made of the heavens for this purpos...

The text contains symbols that will not necessarily display correctly with all viewing devices, and one symbol (for the Full Moon) cannot be replicated digitally. It is represen...

Neptune, discovery, 15; distance from sun, 19, 43; not visible to naked eye, 20; age, 34; diffuse matter of, 37; unknown to ancients, 40; superior planet, 41; influence on comet...