The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-09-29
rHE HEAYENs Az NIGHT.
An Observer Writes OF GIorIous stars
and CONSIDERATIONS.


and CONSIDERATIONS
just before this haze befell, 1 was
hunting in the beautiful hills that
bound our view on the northwest, My
comrade, by declaiming in his sleep one
night the celebrated Grafton Of the
governor of North Carolina in the
presence of the governor of Sonth Car
DINA, to-wit: Longum inter bibendum
tempes est, woke me-:
ut was the the time when granted
from the gods,
The first sleep creeps most sweet on
weary folk"
and L was just dreaming that / was
governor of South Carolina. At such
a time 1 was most unwilling to hear
voices from the every day world, but
the articulation was so startling that
it rang on my ear like a fire bell.
Finding that it was likely to be a long
time between drinks, l stepped out to
look on the quiet stars and 30 compose
my mind.
1 discovered what had escaped my
notice, that the skies, just now, from
sunset to sunrise, present attractions
which to see are well worth a night of
waking.
Venus, closely following the sun, is
out of sight early. While waiting the
appearance of the next planet, which is
Saturn, 1 amused myself with the
bright white star, Vega, in the constel-
lation Lyra; the brilliant red star, Arc
turus, in the knee of Bootes; Affair,
in the Eagle and Fomalhaut, in the
southern Fish.
To the east the Pleiades are seen in
the neck OF Taurus, while twenty
| eight degrees to the northeast, is Ca
pella, one of the most brilliant stars in
the heavens. Below the Pleiades are
''the rainy Hysdes," As Horace calls
them, (which make the face of Taurus.
The brightest of them in the v they
make. is Aldebaran, the BULLS eye.
Near this brilliant star is the planet
Saturn, so bright that L mistook him
for Jupiter, and came near falling out
with my ancient friend, the almanac,
which is to the would-be funny man a
never failing spring from which to re-
fresh his halting wit.
Next comes the fiery planet Mars,
just now at his brightest, being about
rs nea us now as he aver comes, and
not more than six degrees northeast is
Jupiter.
To the south is Orion with his bright
array, Betelguse, Bellatrix, Rigel,
Saiph and others along with the hun
ter's sword and belt. For such a fame
as Orion's, mighty hunter, and such a
place one would cheerfully suffer
death as he did-"a pizen sar-
pint bit his heel" and he
was set in the heavens by Diana's
request. When Orion is on the mer-
idian the heavens are at their best.
Twenty-three degree below Orion's belt
is the dog star, Sirius, ''that balefnl
star, the autumn sign of fevers.'
Baleful though he may be. he is the
brightest star in all the heavens,
though he Is twenty millions of miles
away. Long may he wave.
The notion onc prevailing that this
star, the dog star, when rising and pass
ing over ones head, c~oincidently with
the sun, increases the heat, il no longer
entertained.
Twenty-six degrees north is Procyon,
the little dog, with one bright star that
bears the name of the Constellation.
North of Procyon is the Constellation
of the twsns Castor and Pollux-about
twenty degrees-and in this clear at
mosphere it is hard to see any difference
in their magnitude, though one is of
the first and the other of the second.
AS if the show, thus far were not
wearying from its very glory, the Con-
stellation Of the Lion joins, with Reg