MARS
Has a direct motion of 22° 6′; his diameter remains constant, 4.4″, during the month. Can be seen at the early dawn. He rises at the following times: On the 1st, at 3:22; on the 16th, at 2:59; and on the 30th, at 2:33 a. m. On the 10th, at 6:00 p. m., 1° 29′ north of Neptune; on the 10th, at 7:55 p. m., 3° 51′ north of the moon.
JUPITER
“Speaks for himself” every evening this month. On the 1st, he rises at 10:34 a. m., and on the 2d sets at 12:06 a. m.; on the 16th, rises at 9:50 a. m., and sets at 11:16 p. m.; and on the 30th, rises at 9:03 a. m., and sets at 10:23 p. m. He has a direct motion of 4° 2′ 31″; and his diameter decreases from 34″ to 31.6″. On the 17th, at 9:44 a. m., he is 3° 44′ north of the moon. It may interest the general reader to know that while he is admiring, night after night, this beautiful body making its way through the “lesser lights” of the heavens, that the astronomer is laboring diligently to discover its properties and learn with exactness its motions. From the last report of Prof. G. W. Hough, Director of the Dearborn Observatory, Chicago, we find that “the disk of Jupiter was observed on every favorable occasion, and micrometric measures made on the principal spots and markings, including the great red spot first remarked in 1878.” These observations were made principally with a view to obtaining the time of revolution of the planet on its axis; and the result of the observations from September 12, 1883, to June 11, 1884, a period during which the planet made 660 revolutions, was a mean of 9h. 55m. 38.5s., which differs from the mean of five years’ observation by 1.5s.; the former mean being that much greater than the latter.
SATURN
Will be evening star till the 18th; after which date, morning star till the end of the month. On the 1st, rises at 5:40 a. m., and sets at 8:24 p. m.; on the 16th, rises at 4:47 a. m., sets at 7:31 p. m.; on the 30th, rises at 4:00 a. m., sets at 6:44 p. m.; from which it will be seen that except during the first part of the month it will be invisible to the naked eye. Its diameter is 15.6″ and does not change to the amount of one tenth of a second during the month. On the 7th, at 5:00 p. m., 1° 32′ south of Venus; on the 13th, at 1:19 a. m., 4° 3′ north of the moon; on the 18th, at 6:00 p. m., is in conjunction with the sun; on the 23d, at 11:00 p. m., 1° 41′ south of Mercury. This planet has also been the subject of observation from the Dearborn Observatory, for the purpose of detecting markings on the rings; but “nothing indicating a division in the outer ring has ever been noticed.”
URANUS.
On the 1st, this planet rises at 1:10 p. m.; on the 2nd, it sets at 1:18 a. m.; on the 16th, rises at 12:12 p. m., and on the 17th, sets at 12:18 a. m.; on the 30th, rises at 11:18 a. m., and sets at 11:24 p. m. Decreases in diameter two tenths of a second; and has a direct motion of 14″ 30′. On the 5th, at 1.00 p. m., it appears stationary; on the 19th, at 10:15 a. m., is 55′ north of the moon; on same date, at 10:00 p. m., is 90° east of the sun.