The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1885-05-07
Fixed Stars.

OF the 5000 fixed stars visible to the
naked eye, and the 100000 within
the range Of the telescope, only twenty
are classed as stars of the first magni-
tude, and o. these fourteen are visible
! in this latitude. They are Sirius, or
the Dog star, which any one can easily
distinguish, as it is the brightest OF all
the stars in the armament, and the
most brilliant gem in thesouthern sky.
Arcturus, the bright star, and pointed
to by the last two stars in the handle
of the Dipper; Rig !, the pale blue
gem in the forefoot of Orion; Capella,
a blue star also, seen in thenorthWest;
| Vega, the bright green star in the
northeast; Procyne,a blue star fifteen
degrees east Of Orion; Betelgeuse, a
red star in the shoulder of Orion /;
Aldebaran. red star in front of
| Orion's head; Antares, red star in
| the heart of the Scorpion; Affair, a
green star in the Eagle; Spica, a blue
star in the Virgin; Fowalhaut, a
white star in the Southern Fish; Pol
lux, in the Twins, seen northeast Of
Orion; and Regulus, the beautiful
white star very close to the planet
Jupiter, not far east of the Zenith.
Ali these can be seen any clear night
at nine o'clock, except Antares, Altar
Spica and Fowalhaut. and they also
can be seen in the hours just before
dawn. A casual glance at the stars
gives the impression that they are all
of the same color, but, by comparing
them one with another, it will be
found that they are Of various tints
Another curious fact is that they
charge their color with the degree OF
their incandeScence. The brilliant
Dog star was described by the an
clients as fiery red; it gradually paled
to white. and IS now green. Cdpella
has changed from red to yellow, and
from yellow to pale blue; and the bril-
liant new star of 1872, which suddenly
bIaZed forth in the constellation OF
Cass1opeia and remained visible fol-
six months before fading out of sight
changed from white to yellow, anG
then to red.
The first magnitude stars are not al
of equal brightness and apparent size
Sirius is three times brighter and az
parently larger than any other star il
the heavens, the easy chief in the
wondrous procession ever moving
overhead from east to west. The mex
brightest is Campus, the steel blue
: gem in the southern heavens, which
the Arabs regard with such deep rev
: erence. It is not visible in this lati
tude, but can be seen just above thu
horiZ IN in the latitude of New Orleans
Next comes Alpha Centauri, the frs
} Of all the fixed stars found to have al
estimable parallax and the neares
one to our earth. This star, t0gethe
} with the two brightest 10 the South.
, ern Cross, are invisible in our latitude
but can be seen at Key West, in Flor
/ ida, which is the only spot in oul
: country from which the Southern
Cross, itself regarded by some as tn
' most impressive of all the constella
: tions, can be looked at.
1 Astronomers are overwhelmed a
Y the contemplation of the fixed star
: from us and from one another. TIL
e planetary intervals in our solar system
e are insignifican in comparison will
: them. One might SUPPOSE that wit
base line of 185, GOO, 900 miles betweeI
opposit points of our earth's orbit
we could secure q measurable angl
for computing the distance OF a stal
II but it is found that the two line
drawn from astar to the opposite end
v OF the line are swallowed up in tn
Il immense stretch of space they trav
S earse; they make no appreciable angl
: at all, but appear as one line. /
It German astronomer has discovered
d method by which an approximat
g parallaX for some of the stars
n obtained, and this shows that tn
S nearest fixed star, Alpha. in til
IS Centaur. is 224 600 times farther fror
e the earth than the sun is, and til
e North star 100000 farther off tina
e the suns distance. These measure
II ments can be expressed only i
8 figures; it is impossible for the huma
e mind to grasp them.