Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1885-07-10
Some Of the Fixed Stars.


-. Louis Republican.
OF the 5000 fixed stars visible to the
naked eve, and the 10000, 600 within
the range OF the telescope, only twenty
are classed as stars of the first magni-
tude, and of these fourteen are visible
i'm this latitude. They are Sirius, or
the Dog star, which any one can easily
distinguish, as il is the brightest of all
the stars in the armament, and just
now the most brilliant gem in the
southern sky; Arcturus, the brgh'
star seen we'll up in the east ut
o'clock, and pointed 10 by the last two
stars in the handle OF the Dipper; Ri
gel. the pale blue gem in the forefoot
Of Orion; Capella, n blue star also,
seen in the northwest Vega, the bright
green star in the northeast; Procyne,
a blue star fifteen degrees east OF ORR
on; Betelgeusc. II red star in the shout
der of Orion; Aldebaran, red star In
front Of Orion's head; Antares, red
star i'm the heart of the Scorpion; AL
tair. green star in the Eagle; Spica,
blue star in the Virgin; Fowalhaut,
white star in the Southern Fish Pol
lux. in the Twins, seen northeast of
Orion; and Regulus. the beautiful
white star just now very close 10 the
planet Jupiter, not far east Of the re-
NTH, at o'clock at night. All these
can be seen any clear night at 3
o'clock, except Antares, Affair, Spica,
and Fowalhaut, and they also can be
seen in the hours just before dawn. A
casual glance at the stars gives the inn
preston that they are all of the same
color, but by comparing them one
with another, il will be found that
they are of various tints. Another GU
rious fact is that they change their color
with the degree of their incandescence.
The brilliant Dog star was described by
the ancientS as fiery red; it gradually
paled to white, and is now green. Ca
pella has changed from red to yellow,
and from yellow TO pale blue; and the
brilliant new star OF 1872, which sud
| denly blaZed forth i'm the constellation
of Cassiopeia and remained visible for
| six months before fading out of sight,
| changed from white to yellow, and
| then TO red.
The first magnitude stars are not all
of equal brightness and apparent size
Sirius is three times brighter and APP
| parently larger than any other star in
the heavens. the easy chief in the won
drous procession ever moving overhead
from east To west. The next brightest
is Campus. the steel blue gem in the
southern heavens. which the Arabs re-
gard with such deep reverence. 1t Is
| not visible in this latitude, but can be
seen Just above the horizon in the lati-
tude of New Orleans Next comes the
| Alpha Centauri. the first of all the fixed
| stars found to have an estimablc para
| lax, and the nearest one found TO our
| earth. This star. together with the
two brightest ones in the Southern
Cross, are invisible in our latitude. but
| can be seen at Key West, Fla, which
is the only spot in our country from
| which the Southern Cross. itself re-
| garded by some as the most impress
| i've of all the consultations, can bs
| looked at.
| Astronomers are overwhelmed at tho
contemplation of the enormous dis
tanceS of the fixed stars from Us and
from ore another. The planetary in
teryals in our solar system are insio-
! eitiCafit -. comparison with them. On,
might suppose that with base line q
Isl. 900. 600 miles between opposite
points of our earth's orbit. we coulC
secure Il measurable angle for comput
ing the distance of star but it j
found that the two lines drawn from
star to the opposite ends of this lin
are swallowed up in the immens'
stretch of space they traverse; the.
make no appreciable angle at all, bu
appear as one line. \ German astron
omer has discovered "A method b.
which an approximate paralax 70
some of the stars is obtained, and thi
4 shows that the nearest fixed star, A
pha. in the Centaur, is 22i,000 time
farther from the earth than the sun is
and the North star 5000. 900 further Of
than the suns distance. These meas
urements can be expressed only in tig
ures; it is impossible for the huma
mind IN orraSp tlpm