Phases for the month occur in the following order and time (Washington
mean time): First quarter on the 2d at 4:09 p. m.; full moon on the 10th
at 6:36 a. m.; last quarter on the 18th at 10:46 a. m.; new moon on the
25th at 9:49 a. m. It is also on the meridian on the 1st, 15th and 30th,
at 5:18 p. m., 3:38 a. m., 5:03 p. m. respectively. On the 2d it sets at
12:41 a. m.; on the 15th rises at 11:23 p. m.; and on the 29th sets at
11:28 p. m. It is farthest from the earth on the 13th at 1:30 p. m.; and
nearest to the earth on the 26th at 3:42 a. m. In latitude 41° 30′ north,
its least elevation above the horizon is on the 15th, and its greatest
on the 28th; on the former date being 29° 48½′, and on the latter 67°
12½′. There will also be a total eclipse, beginning on the 10th at 4:44
a. m., and ending at 8:33 a. m. The beginning of the part called “total”
continues from 5:52 to 7:25 a. m., or one hour and thirty-three minutes.
Magnitude nearly 1.5. As the moon sets in the neighborhood of Washington
at about 5:30 a. m., only the first part and none of the “totality” will
be there visible. Our neighbor, the moon, has one peculiar trait, which
we could wish belonged to all our friends. It never “turns its back on
you.” Cold it may be, and is often so called, but in darkest hours, and
under all circumstances, it presents its face to the earth. It may be
only politeness or etiquette, that causes it thus to act; but the fact
remains. It may move a trifle, so that we can sometimes see more of it
than at others, but four-sevenths is the limit of its surface as seen by
man. What may be on the other side has never been revealed. For aught we
know, there may be
“Sweet fields arrayed in living green,
And rivers of delight.”
But the probabilities are strongly on the other side. So far as we can
discover, no atmosphere is there to catch and hold the rays from the
burning sun, and hence it seems that all must be cold and bleak and
barren. “Distance lends enchantment to the view,” and it were perhaps
better that we should thus enjoy its mild light and gentle influence,
than cultivate a closer acquaintance.