The daily gazette., 1879-10-15
The Color. of the Stars.

uOmerB. Inoy BIo bocn whiN, Icu, voi-
low end blue, and Of many intermediate
tipts and 81 ales ofDcolor. These also
seem to change from time to time iu the
case of many stars. Capella, for instance
now seen in the northe eastern sky, has
been red, then yellow, then deep blue,
and now 1t Ia mott ed ps pale blue; Vega
az blush white, pale blue, deep blue
and green; Aldebaran, Betelguese and
A Antares, red, and Arctnrus yellow and
red. Perhaps not more than two or
three Of the stars OF FIRST magnitude are
white.
Manv of the multiple stars present
splendid con rasts of color. Sir John
eischel,0 n u, scribipg cluster Of stars
in the Southern hemisphere, az seen
through his telescope, says that 1t had
"tbe effect OF a superb piece Of fancy
welry."
TEN THOUSAND MULTIPLE STARS.
As 10 the number Of multiple stars,
more than ten thousand which appear
single TO the naked eye, or to a power
of the telescope not high enough to re-
solve them, have been found to be d0u-
BILE triple, or quadruple, revolving in
many cases about COMMON centre OF
gravity.
double, POllux In quadruple, Mizar is
double, Arcturus IL double, so are Al
mach and Diphda; and the list might
be extended through hundreds and
thousands that have thus far been cata-
logued.
CONSULTATIONS OF THE ZODIAC.
To return 10 the earth and it revolu-
| ton arOund the sun: As it revolves
about the sun, on its annual journey of
nearly 600 miles, It, IN common with all
| the other planets Of our solar system,
passes by, or across, or under AZ you
may choose to describe it;but never nto,
through or near the twelve leading star
groups known as the Zodiacal COnstel-
Iations, and indicated by the twelve
signs OF the Zodiac. These are at all
tant from the earth, at low estimate, a
round million times it's distance from the
sun. They are named AZ follows: The
Ram, the Bull, the Twins, the Grab, the
Lion. the Balances, the Scorpion, the
Archer, the q oat, Aquarius or the Wa.
ter Bearer, and the Fishes.
Both Venus and Uranus are now, to
use the ordinary expression. ''in" that
constellation of the Lion, that is to say
IN direction from the sun to,cdrds The
cOnstell llatiOn, or between the sun and
that constellation, but more han sc, 600,
QUO ,UOO, 600 miles distance from 1t. The
plauel Jupiter il in Aquarius and night
Iy Increasing his distance from US. SaturI
| il NJ his nearest approach to the earth
and is now In the Fishes. The earth i.
also in the same constellation, the sur
being in the Balances-always maintain
ing its place six signs Of the Zodiac
ahead of the Earth.
Saturn was in opposition with the SUI
on Sunday last, October O.; the eartf
being on that day in a straight line be
tween them, over eight hundred NIL
lions Of miles from Saturn and NOR
than ninety miliOns from the sun. This
it will readily be seen, would put tn
earth and Saturn IN the same cOnstelIa
ton, though the cOnste lation itself Is
hundred thousand times farther fron
: saturn than Is Saturn from the earth.
The planet Mars is now In the con
stellation Taurus, the Bull, and near tn
Pleia,ies. 1t will be IN opposition wit
the sun daring the month of November
So that we have on these moonles
nights q rare exhibition Of all OF tn
three great exterior planets at their be-
mar king out in the heavens, with CLEAN
ing points. Of ruby and gold; the po,it,o o
of The Ecliptic, the uHvaryipg path {
the earth from year to year, as 1t beal
us onward under the stars, removed ;
such infinite distances, bringing US su
ce-sively within full view of the winte
spring, summer and autumn constell
uons.
8 Do not lose sight of the fact that the
consultations are all fixed in their re
pectIve positions, and that, to see the
In orderly succession, through the roul
of the year, zoe must make the circuit
. the sun. This we have done yearly
the past, and we will doubtless but !
peat the grand each succeeding year
our lives, making said revolution in
daye houfc AZ m nufeS and Ak SpcOn(
And-amaz ng result!-nOt a second lC
or gained. Astronomers assure us, in al
revolution of the past two thousai
years! Think for moment or the sile
resistiess rush of globe like this, of
curving track six hundred thousand M
lions of miles in extent, and Of the a
solute accuracy to The second of its sche
= ule Il me!
OUR OWN STELLAR SYSTEM.
During the months of autumn al
winter there may be observed belt
nebulous haze extending across t
D. heavens from northeast to sOuihwe
upon which lie In whole or in part t
CONSULTATIONS Cepheus, CassiOpG. p,
,e, us, Auriea, parts of Gemini and {
ION, the Swan, the Eagle, Sagittari
and others.
. This great zone ofstarry light, not o
of whose stars are distinctly visible al
definite point Of light, IL known as !
Galaxy, or Milky Way. The astrOI
mers Of the earliest ages cOnjectur
that it was an ssemblage of stars, but
remained for later time, in the iDvt
tiou of the telescope. to prove their &C
|. ieclure correct. There have alrea
ueen SO many stars seen here. each 81
ceedi ng Improvement upon the instI
ment bringing m0Ie and, more into vie
of various degrees of brightness that
becomes utterly impossible to classify
ARA nge their countless myriads.
Directing a great telescope, such
that at Cambridge or at WashiDgtt
towards any part of this zone, the mi
y is bewild- red at the multitude Of 81
points-eaoh a central sun-that cro'
It's field. Perhaps some faint impressi
of the number of stars comprised IN q
- zone may be gained from fact stat
by sir William Herschel.
Fixing his telescope in one positit
so that by the motion Of The earth up
, its axis a narrow section of the star,
&. the Milky Way should be brought II
ana carried across the field of the inst
meut, winch was about one fourth OF |
re space occupied by the disk of he moo
hp saws: ain the most Gro wded paris
the Milky Way, had fields of vie
- that contained no less that 5S8 stars, a
these were continued for many minut
no that in one quarter OF an hours III
there passed no less than 10000 st
through the field of view OF my te
Al another time, in forty minutes,
less than 900 passed across the NJ
~ | Go tI,aT foot