The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-01-22

More than one learned investiga includ-
ing the late DR.. Seyffarth, has come to the
conclusion that many, at least, of the con-
stellations known to US were familiar to the
inhabitants of the earth before the flood
Yet most of the consultations are so fanci-
full that only vivid imagination is able to
picture the figures among the stars which
men for ages past, and in all countries,
have agreed to recognize there.
Modern Investigations have also made
the stars more interesting by showing the
existence OF many differences between them.
The spectroscope finds evidence that some,
like Capella and Arcturus, closely resemble
our sun in composition and age, while
Others like Sirius and Vega, are probably
much younger than the sun; and some, like
Betelgeuse and Antares, are older than the
sun, and slowly approaching the age OF ex-
tinction. From all quarters of the heav-
ems the stars fash to us in their light the
information that they contain iron, cal
cium, nickel, lead and many other metals
and substances that we find upon the earth,
and that blaze in the philosophers of the
sun.
To know the stars, then, is to enjoy
the glory OF many suns instead OF one
alone.
Anybody who goes out about ten o'clock
on one of these clear winter nights to some
open place where there are no electric lights
to dazzle the eyes and obliterate the won
ders OF the sky, and faces the south, viii
see hall way between the horizon and
the zenith, and little to the east of the
meridian, the splendid constellation of
Orion, which is represented by the first
picture in this column. There is no con-
stellation in the whole armament equal to
this, not even the famous Southern Cross
AS Aratus wrote, more than two centuries
before Christ:
Eastward beyond the region of the Bull
Stands great Orion; whose kens not him in
cloudless night
Cleaning aloft shall cast his eyes IN vain
no fluid brighter sign in all the heavens.
The antiquity of this constellation is in
Dictated by Job: "Canst thou loose the
bands of Orion?" The first magnitude
star near the right shoulder of the giant
hunter is Betelgeuse, an orange or topaz
colored sun, which is exceedingly beautiful
when seen through good telescope. In
the opposite shoulders O. star of the second
magnitude, named Bellatrix. In the up
lifted foot is another first magnitude star
called Rigel, whose brilliant white rays
contrast beautifully with the rich golden
hue of it's rival, Betelgeuse. Rigel is a
famous double star, and if our observer is
armed with trst-rate three-inch telescope
he can see the little deep-blue companion
star modestly peeping out through the
dazzling rays OF it's great brother sun.
The three stars in the Giants Belt a1e
of the second magnitude, and the lower one
is also celebrated double, the companion
star, which can only be well seen with
powerful telescope, possessing such sim
gular color that the Russian astronomer
Strive felt compelled to invent word to
describe it, He called it ''olivaceasubru-
bicunda." Hanging from the belt is the
sword marked by three luminous points,
the middle OF which is the Great Nebula of
Orion, although the naked eye does not
distinguish it from star. 1t is hardly pos
sible that the most unimpressionable per-
son could see this marvellous phenomenon
with q good telescope without a feeling of
awe. 1t is vast mass of greenish haze,
millions OF millions of miles in actual ex-
tent, embracing a number OF stars, and
containing streams and riffs and black
gaps of the most singular form, suggesting
the operation OF world and sun shaping
forces on the most stupendous scale
imaginable. 1t has been shown that many
changes in the appearance OF this nebula
have taken place in the last two centuries.
The telescopist will find that the whole
neighborhood Of the Great Nebula is strewn
thick with the most beautiful and interest
ing double, triple, multiple and nebulous
stars. 1t is mine OF wonders that he wiz
never tire of working.
The third magnitude star in the Giants
right leg, below the sword, is called Saiph
II the observer will follow out with his
eye toward the southeast the line indicated
by the three stars in Orion's belt he will see
the brightest star in the heavens Sirius, or
the Dog Star, belonging to the constella-