The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-04-03
' . 80 - = = -
STAR, GAZING.
(From the Providence Journ

b sd From the Pip vidence Journal!l col
Inc starry heavens are never more
l1radiantlyi beautiful than on naoonless
Winter evenings, for then the most bril-
liant clusters that. grace the celestial
! records illuminate TIE night with atheil
! mysterious i1 and atremulous brightness
10 an astronomer every one of these
myriad COLDER sphetesf fs as a.fsatiil far as
|. the 60 y tenapee Of gasfriend, and every
movement Of the seeming zinextricahle
maze is'as clearly c6n1preh Tended as the
revolution of the earth around the spn.
The unscientific observer may, however,
easily learn the, names and relative po-
sitlons OF the principal stars While nc
! page in the starry volume is more easily
read or more quickly recalled to memo.
fy. In order to trace the prominent
stars Of the winter sky cnothing9is re-
CURED but to, take. q position facing the
south on one of these winter evenings
prepitieusr for istar-gazing g, amoonless,
cloudless night, with q clear and dry .at
ihesphere. As the observer turns to the
east he notices. a group OF brilliant stars
unlike any thing. else in the heavens, ris
ing toward the Zenith. It is tie grand
/ Orion, visible tor the whole lworld, his
shoulders blazing with epaulets, . his
starry feet trsversing the realms ofspaaacae }aaa
with majestic. grandeur and the stars Iof
his his glittering belt strung like diamonds
on the Invisible line Of the equator. The
group fitselfis only an elongated par-
allelogram with band of three brilliant
stars IN the center and row Of stais
running obliquely downward. But my
thology, taking these shining outlines for
framework, interweaVes and surrounds
them with the lofty stature and noble
bearing iof the mighty hunter whose
proud boast it, was, that there was moth
lngo earth that he could not conquer.
Bellatrix and Beteleguese sparkle onhis
broad r,ofad shoulderswRigel ,and ,Saip glow
on his left foot and right knee, A tri-
angle of three small stars marks the
ad head ii the, girdle is formed bYi three
orlght stars running from northwest to
southeast; ! the stars running downiward
form 3' % the SWORD and eight small stars
west OF Bellatrix point out the skin of
eilion in sthe left hand AM intefli-
gent observer can trace these principal
stars for himself. The equinoctial passes
themiddle Of it, so that it can be seeh
by, the whole world, and though ionay,
about 80 stars are visible to the naked.
eye the telescope reveals more Than
1000 The cluster, abounds in, astrd4
nomical @curiosities,. for it is rich in.
double and multiple stars and nssd uEf:e.. I.
On examining mini the middle starlofi the
sword 1t seems to be surrounded by a
diffused haze. This is the great nebnla
OF Orion, in many, respects, the most
wonderful object in the heavens. Ex-
amined with'a powerful telescope the
hazy appearance stin continues, butthe
brighter portion takes on the form of
the head and tyawning Jaws : OF some |
monstrous animal, and the tiny star id
resolved into six, the four largest form
ing a-trapezium,S within whose area no
nebul3 exist. ..asa,.'s s,sOss "a II
Celestial maps-hieturs- Orion in the
act of attacking Taurus, or the Bull,
with sword hanging from his belt, a
large club his right hand and the IL |
on's skin in his left for "a shield. .sTwoil
clusters in Taurus viii attract attention
and may be looked for aboVe, Orion. |
One Of these isJthel charming rgEoua Of |
the Pleiades, which come to the meridi-
anTfonl the 1st <ef Jafiuary, bat " Which,
earlier in, the evening", stilh aleadsfheI
glittering host that makes. the winter
sky /" tremulous with excess Of bright
ness. = - Five, of these stars are igroupetf4
around .Alcyone, called from It's gTeat
the" Light of the Pieiades. "
This cluster aimmortalizesI 1.-THE, sesenl
daughters of Atlas, who, dying of grief |,
for the loss of their sister, were changed +
to stars Only six stars are nowvisibieE /
10 the naked eye, and the, myth, relates
hat one of them Inarriett a mortal, and
therefore is her star dim among Her sisl /
5ers. The othef~noticeable cluster in
Taurus is the. ;Hyades, northeast; Of The
Pleiades, easily distinguished by dmesnsI
3f i've stars SO placed as to form,ths3
etter ": The brightest red Star in the,
heavens il. on the left, in the top OF the
etter, and IS called 'Aldebaran. ''
High ;upiaboue thebHorizon Hes the
Gemini, with its twin sta rs,
Castor and Pollux. The upper one is |
Castor, the finest double stAF visible inf
he northern heavens, the -eomponents
'oiuS Hedt " JSAaais onel Mbuo 6u0 1Jae
'ther tinged with green. Midway, be.
ween the Twins and Sirius, finely col.
,red, yellow, star. of the first l1aa Snitades
nay be seen. It IS ProcyQQp, the hriehits
,st' fstaf id Canis' Minor. ProcFon, 7 7
sirius and fBeselguesai fDrmoan' equIaf
ateral triangle, the sides being, about
g degrees I'm 'length3 while rrocyon,
'ollpx and oBetelguess1 form Gas large
ight-angled triangle. The tracing iof h
he geometrical fisItes formed by the
tars in this 7fi yicfini = will h,elp tet fix
hem in the memory 80
There aretmanyl othernoticeable sts rsai
which We can only refer to in this pic |,
tlre of the winter sky Above the
Twins, near the zenith, lies the constel-
alton Auriga, with its leading star Ca
,ella. known as one Of the three north