The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-09-24

that form this brlillant upper, the wv" chi
ones OF the bowl are called the Pointers.
They point upward to the North STAR
The Pointers are five degrees apart and
furnish an excellent unit OF measure for es-
timating star distances In the sky. Milar,
the star at the bend in the handle Of the dip
nor. forms with little AlcOr close, naked
eve pair. Mizar itself, under a low, magni-
fyinp mower. separates into two beautiful
stars. Mizar was the first pair successfully
photographed by Bond.
In a line with the Pointers. and about
thirty degrees from them, shines Polaris,
the most valuable star to us in the whole
heavens, The Pole star in the telescope
resolves into a brilliant principal, attended
by a small companion. IL Is the brightest
of the seven stars forming the Little Dipper,
and Is the end one in its handle. Inc two
end stars i'm the bowl, called the Guardians
of the Pole, are quite bright and lie ABOVE
the midway point between Polaris ana ,he
end star in the handle OF the Great Upper.
The remaining stars in the Llttle Upper
are quite dim, and yet perfectly distinct on
a clear mOOnless night. They are about
four degrees apart. and in the handle form
a curve, which is the reverse of that In ursa
Major. The Little Dipper is the most con-
spicuous part of the constellation Ursa
Minor. ,,
lies pracO, the dragon slam by Cadhus'
and whose teeth grew such crop OF blood
thirsty men. 4 chain Of fifteen starr, not
bright, which bends toward Polaris ana
then away from it, forms the Dragon
body. Its head is formed Of four bright
stars near the meridian and a little north OF
the zenith. 4 straight line from vega, the
brightest star near the zenith, to the Oowl
OF the Little Dipper, passes through the
quadrangular head Of the Dragon. lhous-
ands of years ago. when the Egyptian pyra-
mids were building. the pole star OF the
northern heavens was Thuban, star
| in DracO. Thuban was then brighter
than Polaris. but it has faded away untii
J Iolaris is now much the brighter OF the tWo'
ThubaB is easily found by drawing line
from Mizar TO the Guardians of the POle' it
is the brightest star about midway between
these points. Note the distance from Thu
ban 10 Polaris-it is the distance that the
celestial pole has moved in four thousand
years.
On the side Of Polaris. opposite TO the
Great Dipper and near TO the pole, stands
King Cepheus with Outstretched hands
This IncOnspicuOus constellation has It's
brighter stars grouped IN the form OF an n
regular Il. Near King Cephus is his wlie
Cassiopeia, the brilliant lady in the chair,
and Andromeda, their daughter bound to
the rock.
liza line be drawn from Mizar to POlaris,
and prolonged about - degrees, it Will
reach CassiOpeia. The conspicuous figure
here is Cassiopela's chair, formed Of hye
bright stars which taken together make
ann irregular W, and with sixth dim
star, chair whose legs point away from
! Polars. Il was in this constellation that
the wonderful temporary star Of Tycho
Brahe, in the wear 1872, famed out brighter
| than the planet Venus; and for year was
distinctly visible at midday. There are
those that now believe. but with no good
reason for their faith, that this star, the So
called "Star Of Bethlehem" will shortly re-
appear in this constellation.
! Lyra, the lyre whose sweet music en-
chanted all nature when famous Orpheus
touched its chords, now appears directly
overhead. perhaps little 10 the west II
may be found by looking for the brilliant
star Vega. Vega with two lesser lights. about
two degrees apart, forms an equilateral tri-
angle near the zenith. The northern OF
these lesser lights is the famous Epsilon,
Look at it in an opera glass and ii readily
resolves into beautiful pair. Look at each
of these into a telescope and in each case
again a beautiful pair appears. There i
little doubt Of the rotation of each pair, and
possibly both pairs revOlye around their
common centre of gravity. South and lit
tie west Of Vega are two bright stars In
Lyra. Beta, the one lying toward the east,
iluctuates. Every week it fades and then
brightens, whole magnitude.
Cvgnus. the swan, is beautiful cOnstel-
latiOn, because Of its fine Roman cross. II
lies east of Lyra with the upright OF its cross
stretched upon the Milky Way. and the arms
at right angles to it. The stars Of the cross
are about seven degrees apart and quite
bright. Deneb. the brightest, is great sun
Of unknOwble dimensions, for ii has no per
ceptble parallaX or proper motion. II
forms the northern end or head OF the cross
Beta. the star in the foot Of the cross, is not
so bright, but in the telescope IL appears as
one of the finest doubles in our sky. About
| six degrees above the eastern arm OF the
cross is the famous star siXty-One Cygni
scarcely visible 10 the naked eye. From
the days OF Tych0 Brahe down. astronomers
had failed again and again in the attempt "a
measure the distances 10 the fixed stars
SiXty-One Cygni was the first of the heavenly
host to reveal its distance. The delicate
measurement Of Bessel proved that thi-
| great sun was nearly 100000 times as laI
from Us as our own sun.
There NAV now be found near the eastern
horizon four bright stars about fifteen de
| grees apart, forming a great square. lwo
sides OF this square are nearly in line with
lhldIlS, anu W IT, ulp'i ''ih't - "'tt'HN
"A triangle of smaller stars. which aids IN
identifying it. This is the Great Square OF
Pegasus. the Winged Horse.
Alpheratz is the northeast star corner OF
the square. When Alpheratz has risen Ia
the meridian all the astronomical clocks N
our ObeervatOries mark the beginning OF The
sidereal day. This star Is just over tho
boundary line Of Pegasus and belongs q
/ AndrOmeda. the princess that was chained
hy her graceless parents and at the mercy nj
the sea monster. The hero Persons sic"
the monster and obtained the maiden a.
his wife, Three DINER very bright stars
about twelve degrees apart, extend from
AlpheratZ nOrthward and somewhat toward
the horizon. These form the handle Of IN
immense dipper OF which the Great square
is the bowl. Andromeda lies above thu
stars i'm this handle, embracing them all eA
cept the end one.
The end star in the handle To the Great
Square is AlgOl, the variable star in Per
seus. Alg0l is "A wonder, and during tht
fall and winter months, when ii has riser
higher in the sky, it will be an exceedingl,
interesting object. Algol usually shine
almost as bright as Polaris; but at intervals
of about sixty.nine hours it fades away
and remains very dim for a few hours.
Towards the west, and about midday be-
tween the horizon and the zenith, may be
seen the Northern Crown. a constellation
that very much resembles the object whose
name il bears. The half dozen stars IN the
Crown are not of uniform brightness; they
are arranged close together in symmetri-
cal curve nearly in the form Of halt-clrcle
with the opening toward the zenith.-W [.
BartOl in the Philadelphia Times.