ASTRONOMICAL

Hokitika Guardian, 2 July 1929, Page 2

ASTRONOMICAL

The earth will be in aphelion or at its furthest distance from the sun on July 4th, when the two bodies will be separated by about' 94,500,000 miles, a quantity which is about 1,500,000 miles greater than the mean distance between them.

The planet Mercury was to rise on July Ist at 5.52 a.m. and on July loth at 6.28 a.m.; it will be in superior conjunction with the sun on July 31st, when it will be about 125 million miles distant from the earth. Venus rose on July Ist at 3.52 a.m., and will rise on July 15th at 4.9 a.m.; Mars will set on these dates at 8.36 p.m. and 8.25 p.m. respectively. Jupiter rose on July Ist at 4.56 a.m. and on July 15th at 4.14 a.m.; Saturn will rise on these dates at 3.36 p.m. and 2.37 p.m. respectively. The planets Venus and Jupiter are now conspicuous objects in the eastern sky; the average apparent magnitude of the former during the month will be —3.8 and that of the latter —1.7, hence V§nus will be about seven times as bright as Jupiter. The two planets are rapidly approaching each other, and it will be interesting to trace their relative positions day by day;they will be in conjunction on July 14th, when their angular distance apart will be about a degree and a quarter, though some 450 million miles will really separate the two bodies from each other.