# Astronomical Dialogues Between a Gentleman and a Lady/Dialogue 2

​THE Evening of this Day proved one of the finest I ever saw, and the Night succeeding it was so very clear and bright, that the Moon being then not above our Horizon, there appeared many more Stars than usual. As we were walking to a Summer-House, placed on a Mount in the Garden, where the Lady had order'd the Celestial Globe to be set out, several Poetical Descriptions of such a Night occurred to our Thoughts, and were recited. The Lady closed all with that famous one of Mr. Dryden,
I was going to say ———But Love denies, &c. ​when she interrupted me, and said, I'll have nothing of Love mention'd nor talk'd of to Night; the Opportunity is too solemn, and I'm afraid I shall grow in earnest and serious about it: We will both make our Court now only to Urania, and every gay thing shall give place to Astronomy: Let's enter the Summer-House, and see whether I have rectified the Globe as it should be, and set it right to represent the present Time, which is just half an Hour past Ten.
Madam, said I, you have done it with Accuracy: And I see you have mended the hasty clumsey Figures, that I had made, of the Planets, and have placed very beautiful ones, of your own, in their Room.
But, said she, I don't know how to place the Globe due North and South, as my Book directs, unless there were a little Compass here, placed on the Frame.
Madam, said I, there usually is such a Compass made on purpose to be placed on the Globe; but I can shew you how to set the Globe right enough without it; Charles-wain.you see these 7 large Stars here, that are painted within the Figure of the greater Bear, ​3 in the Tail, and 4 in his Body: These our English Country People call Charles-Wain, and fancy the four to be the 4 wheels of the Waggon, while, forsooth, the three are to represent the 3 Horses of that draw it. But as to the present Concern, please to take Notice, that as this Constellation, in our Horizon, never sets, but seems to revolve round the Pole in 24 Hours; so these two Stars of the 7, that are nearest to the Pole Star, or the two hinder Wheels of the Wain, do always point up pretty nearly to the Pole Star; and are therefore sometimes called the Pointers; and consequently, if you carry your Eye on in a Right Line from them, they will direct you to the Pole Star, which you see is here, on the Globe, placed in the End of the Tail of the Lesser Bear and Pole Star.Lesser Bear, a Constellation of 7 pretty large Stars, much in the same Figure of those in the Great Bear, or Charles-Wain.
I See them on the Globe, said she, let us now look out of the Window and observe them in the Heaven; O! I see them yonder very plain, said she, and now I shall know in the Night as well as the Day, how to find the four Points of the Compass, East, West, North, and South.
There is no need of great Accuracy for our present Purpose; and I think it stands pretty true now. Before we look or go out again, pray, Madam, please to observe this Situation of the Globe, and then you will easily see how the Position of the Stars do at present correspond with it: There is indeed, now not any very eminent Star, or one of the first Light or Magnitude, exactly on the Meridian, either North or South: But you will see this great Star, which is called the Spica Virginis.Virgin's Spike, because painted on an Ear of Corn which she holds in her Hand, a little to the Westward of the South, and about 28 Degrees high above the Horizon; as you see, appears by bringing this Quadrant of Altitude, screwed in the Zenith, to it; whikh is an Arch of 90°, and being moveable, serves to shew the Altitude of any Star or Planet.
I See that, said the Lady, here on the Globe; But how shall I be able to find and count Degrees in the Heaven?
But if you please we will go on: Almost South-west, at this Time, and about 43° high, will appear another Star of the first Magnitude, called Deneb.Deneb, which is in ​the Tip of the Tail of the Lyon; I see it yonder simpering thro' that Western Window; if you will let me lift up the Sash you may see it without going out.
O! I do, said she, and the Virgin's Ear of Corn too, very plain: But what are those two great Stars that appear together almost nearly West, and let me see!—don't tell me—about, about—I must look out at the Pointers again to get my Measure———why, they are about 25 Degrees high.
Very well guess'd, said I, Madam; you will come to measure the Distance of Stars by your Eye, in a little Time, as accurately as the good Houswives and Workwomen can measure Cloth or Ribbons, by the length of their middle finger.
Well, said she, Mr. Observator, and so I can too, for all I have a Mind to be an Astronomer, as well as the best of them; and I don't design, Sir, that my Studies shall spoil my Housewifry: But pray tell me quickly, who those two famous Stars are.
Bless me! said she, is that Jupiter—well, I have many Questions to ask you about that Planet another Time, but I will not stop you now; pray go on, and shew me how to know more of these Stars and Planets; for I begin to grow mighty fond of their Acquaintance.
Don't you see, Madam, said I, here on the Globe, two Stars, about 15 or 16 Degrees high, and within two Points to the Westward of the Northern Edge of the Horizon: These two are called the Shoulders of Auriga, and the lowermost and most Northern is called Capella.Capella, and is a Star of the first Magnitude; these are very conspicuous Stars, and you may see them in the Heavens very plain out of that Northern Window.
I Do, said the Lady, very clearly, and I see, said she, also another pretty remarkable Star, about the same Height ​with Capella, about a Point to the Northward of the West, under the Great Bear; pray what Name do you give him.
That is called Pollux, Madam, said I, and his Brother Castor, you see, fits here close by him on the Globe, and between them they make up one of the Signs of the Zodiac, which they call Gemini, or the Twins.
Is that, said she, the Deity that the Countrywomen swear by, when they cry O, Gemini!———But don't look grave, or give me any Return: For tho' I trifle, and am Impertinent, I won't allow you to be so. Let us go on and see what noble Stars we can find to the Eastward of our Meridian.
Madam, said I, if you will look out at that North Window, and direct your Eye along by the Pointers of the Great Bear, till you see past, or beyond, the Pole Star, and continue it down till you come within 20 or 30 Degrees of the North North-East Part of the Horizon, you will see an Eminent Constellation which is called Cassiopæia's Chair: This is the Figure of it here on the Globe; 'tis ​always opposite to the greater Bear, either above or below the Pole Star.
I See it, said she, very plain, and a very notable Collection of Stars it is; but, pray, said she, what do you mean by calling it Cassiopæia's Chair, who, or what was that Cassiopæa.Cassiopæa? sure I have read something about her, in some Books of the Heathen-Gods.
No doubt of it, Madam, said I, and the Company you will see she is in, will refresh your Memory. This Cassiopæa, the Poets tell you, was the Wife of Cepheus.Cepheus, who was, once upon a Time, King of Æthiopia; and here the good old Monarch stands upon the Globe, with his Scepter in his Hand, just above Cassiopæia; and below her, at the very Edge of the Horizon, you see, you are to look for her fair Daughter Andromeda.Andromeda, who had the Vanity to think herself handsomer than the Neriedes or Sea-Nymphs, which put them into such a Rage, that they immediately applied to old Neptune, the God of the Sea, to revenge the Indignity.
On this, the obsequious Deity sent a huge ugly Monster up into the Country, which did a great Mischief there: The poor People, who in those Days were always ​punished for the Sins of the Great Ones, apply'd to the Oracle for Relief, and were told that the only way to appease the Gods, who were all on the Side of the Nereides, was, to expose the audacious Andromeda to be devoured by a Sea-Monster; which I suppose Neptune undertook to get ready for that Purpose: This was done, but the gallant Perseus.Perseus, whom you see here on the Globe, just behind her, as her Champion, deliver'd her and kill'd the Monster, and I hope carried off the Lady; and to reward the Mother of so beautiful a Creature, he got Jupiter to stick her up here among the Stars, and they form the Celestial Chair in which she sits in State: And, thus, Madam, I have given you the History of one of the Constellations, and if you please, I can tell you as long and as true a Story of many of the rest.
I Thank you, Sir, said she, but you shall not, this is enough for a Sample; and now I remember all this Stuff about Perseus and Andromeda, as well as if I had seen the whole Affair, as I believe I did once, or at least good Part of it shewn upon the Stage: And have much oftener seen it in Pictures and Prints. But drop​ping all Fables, let me go with my Lesson, I shall know Cassiopæia again, whenever I see her.
But, said I, Madam, I have a Story to tell you of Cassiopæia's Chair, that is no Fable, but a certain Truth, and yet is equally strange with the other fabulous Relation. About the Year 1572, there appeared a New Star in this Constellation, which at first was as big as Jupiter appears now to be, and was fix'd to one Place like the rest of the fixed Stars; but lessen'd by Degrees, and at last, at the End of 18 Months, went quite out, and appear'd no more.
That indeed is a very unaccountable thing, said the Lady, but as I have met with some such Relations of other fix'd Stars, so I shall leave my Surprize, and my Queries about it, till I come to trouble you about the Nature, Uses, and Distances of the fixed Stars in general; for I must have a deal of Talk with you about that and other things in Astronomy, before you get quite rid of me, and you must thank your self, if my Curiosity be teazing and impertinent, for you have wound it up to a very great Height I'll assure you. But, pray, Sir, let us now ​go on and make an end of our Stars, it grows late and the Air cold.
Madam, said I, we shall dispatch the rest, as fast as you please, for the Way I have shewn you, of finding and distinguishing the Stars above-mentioned, will teach you to do so, by any others in the Heavens: Thus you will see here above the Pole-Star, and about 14 Degrees from him, and a little to the Eastward of the Meridian, the Constellation, called the Ursa Minor.Little Bear, consisting also of seven pretty eminent Stars, of which the lowermost, now, or that in the Tip of his Tail, is the Pole-Star: You see here, almost due East, a fine bright Star of the first Magnitude, which is called Lucida Lyra.Lucida Lyra; and under it, a little to the South of the East, as Lyra is to the North, another great Star of the first Light, about 12 Degrees high, which is called Alcair.Alcair: And you can't but take Notice of these four Stars here all of the second Magnitude, placed in the Form of a Lozenge, which is called the Dolphin.Dolphin. About 8 Degrees high, and about 2 Points and 1/2 to the Eastward of the South, you see also a famous Star, of the first Light, in the Scorpion's Heart.Body of Scorpio, one of the 12 Signs.
You have guessed very right, Madam, said I, 'tis a Planet, and the most remote one of all, Saturn.Saturn.
Is that Saturn, said she, I'm heartily glad to see him, I shall know him again another Time; I long to peep at him thro' a Telescope, and to see his famous Ring: But of this, more some other Time, when the Telescope, you have promised me, is fitted up: Is there any thing else worth observing, before we remove to our Sleep?
Only please, Madam, said I, to take Notice of that Track of Light, yonder in ​Heavens, and here drawn upon the Globe, which is called the Milky Way.Milky Way. You see here by the Globe, as the Position of the Heavens is now, that it begins at the North Part of the Horizon, about Persueus, takes in Cassiopæia, and after that the Swan, and then runs on toward Scorpio, and towards the South Pole, and takes in the famous Constellation called the Cross; then it turns Northward again, thro' the Ship, a little above the Great Dog-Star, or Syrius, and above the Right Shoulder of Orion, and thence taking in Capella, runs on towards Perseus, where we begin to trace it.
I'm glad you thought to shew me this, said she, before we finish our Night's Observations; I see it plain in the Sky, and perceive that its Figure, on the Globe, corresponds exactly with it; I won't stay now to ask you what it is, because there may be one of my many Questions to you another Time; we will only remember what Mr. Milton saith of it:
Sir, said the Lady, a Thousand Thanks to you for the Pains you have taken to instruct me, and I wish you a good Repose.