Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-31
STARS OF SEPTEMBER.

Autumn Begins on the s3d OF the Month
The Moon and the Planets to Exchange
Courtesies-Moruing and Evening Stars
in the Constellations.
The sun hastens off toward the equator
very rapidly throughout September, and on
the 2Sd-at 3:06 in the morning, to be exact
astronomical autumn begins The sun rises
at 5:27 September l, whereas It rose at 4:S3 on
the corresponding day of August. Its hour
of setting is 6;s3 on September l, as against
1885 on the same day of August. Cooler airs
will be In order henceforth. The frozen
north will relapse into long six months of
darkness, and the summer boarder will be
driven relentlessly back to the tedfum Of
his city affairs. Summer is almost over.
A pleasant Interchange Of courtesies be-
tween the last quarter Of Auqust's moon
the new month, when Mars approaches very
close to his more luminous sister. The pair
may be seen to best advantage about mid
night. Venus, queen of the heavens, passes
even closer to the moon. as we view 1t, than
does Mars. and the date OF her proximity to
the brightest planet is only one night later
than that Of her rival. Early in the even
ing September a lovely celestial spectacle
may be seen. Then it is that the moon be-
Rins the month in all its newness. while
shining close to 1t in q slightly southerly
direction glows the soft golden light of Sat
urn, now waning and nearing the end OF her
allotted time as an evening star.
Jupiter the Evening Star.
Jupiter remains brilliant as an evening
star throughout the month. His brightest
time of the year will occur on the evening
of the fifth, when he is in opposition to the
sun. Later In the month, and later in the
night, he approaches very near co the moon,
and as the moon is just then approaching
its fuilness, September II, the spectacle will
be glorious one, in which Uranus and Nep-
tune Will be seen In bright array, with Sat
urn glowing family. At midnight of Sep
tember II Mercury arrives at an inferior
conjunction with the sun. so that for q time
this small planetary gem is lost to sight.
Until October q Mercury belongs to the
morning stars, and he may be seen to the
best advantage just before the first October
sun rises. Saturn also passes over into the.
morning me-, stars september Is and those who o
evening hours must bid her goodby until the
bright nights of the Christmas period. The
rings which encircle this planet disappear
she and them
summer is over.
September finds the Great Bear again ap-
preaching the north, low down, while the
Little Bear descends on the left or west side
OF. the pole. The two foremost stars of the
Big Dtpper may be seen about 9 O'Clock, low
and slightly toward the east. There is some
of stars forming the Dipper, especially when
one pauses to think that each of them,
though but a point OF light in a great ex-
panse, is really an enormous globe hundreds
OF thousands of times larger than this earth.
Nobody can tell how far off they are, but 1t
is known that If our sun were removed and
placed beside them 1t would not shine as
brilliantly as the smallest of the whole Dip
per family. Yet the sun, It must be remem-
bered, is $50, 600 times larger than the earth
Two Brilliant Galaxies.
I'm the southern sky, two ecliptical con-
stellatlons shine resplendent- Sagittarius
and Capricornus. The former is commonly
on the star maps as q centaur,
though as far as imagination goes he might
rs well be crab or bird, for it is no easy
matter to delineate the figure of q centaur in
that constellation. In early days Sagittar-
ius was figured as satyr, which suited the
purpose quite as well as the centaur.
Capricornus formed the basis of an inter-
esting superstition which was held by the
old astrologers. They maintained that
whenever all the planets came together in
versely, when the conjunction occurred in
Cancer, there was cOnfagration. This be-
lief arose from the fact that when the sun
was in Cancer his rays were warmest, and
when in Capricorn they were feeblest The
astrologers reasoned that IL such effects fol-
lowed when one planet (the sun being
planet of the astrological system) was in
might be expected when all the planets
were together in Capricorn or Cancer.
High In the September heavens may be
seen the bright constellation, Aquila, with
that smaller constellation, the Dolphin,
close at hand, while all around and about
gleam the bright parts of the Milky Way
The stars for September furnish no brighter
and lovelier scene than this. With small
its glories are revealed in a two
fold sense. One must not look for anything
resembling q dolphin in the constellation
bearing that name, for no such resemblance
exists. Possibly there once was such a re-
semblance, but, as the constellation has
changed somewhat In brightness and in
relative position since the group was named,
reality are rushing through space at tre-
nendous rate, and it is easy to understand
why the smaller consultations should show
;he effects of their celestial system of rapid
'ults of their changed positions are barely |
,erceptible since the time, 1000 years ago,
when they were mapped.
The Herdsman OF the Heavens
-Bootes, the Herdsman, may be seen in
he Western sky throughout the September |
nights, chasing the Great Bear Off toward |
he North. This is the way the old astrolo- |
.ers imagined him, and it seems to be q very |
md suggestive conception. Bootes stands |
Upright now and may be seen to the best ad- |
rantage. In April he was con, eniently stu |
tied for observation, but none so well as |
low. Bootes is down on the star maps as a |
nan with uplifted arms. One hand holds q |
Hub, the other the leash OF the hunting dogs.
The tiny star just above Aquila is Sagitta, |
he smallest of the ancient consultations, |
md very near it is the constellation of Vul- |
,ecula, or "the fox and the goose" With |
he aid of very powerful telescope there
nay be seen in Vulpecula remarkable star
loud. 'Tt was formerly thought says
Prof. Proctor, "to consist entirely of small
tars, SO remote that they could not be
separately discerned; but it has lately been
discovered that the greater part of this
lebulas light comes from glowing gas. The
of the space occupied by this cloud
If luminous gas will be understood-though
10 mind can possibly conceive it-when
mention that at the distance of the nearest
# the fixed stars the whole of our solar sys-
EN- would appear but as a mere point, even
II q powerful telescope"
This nebula occupies region of space
many times larger than that through which
he planets of our solar system pursue their
,aths-a statement that may be better COM
when it is remembered that the
arth's path around the sun is fully lS4, ,OCO,-
90 miles, while Neptune, the remotest planet
# the whole solar system, has an orbit of
more than 5000, 900. 600 miles. This patch of
as in Vulpecula is, therefore, larger than
iI,cI md vii |