The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-04-29

cost is 1ndlSpenSably required whenever
celestial work is to be done. OF course 1
need hardly say that there are certain in
quiries in which these tremendous instru-
nlents cannot be dispensed with. There
are however, many very interesting and
instructive observations possible which
only require the very simplest optical as
siStance.
On my first visit at night to the obser-
Vatory of one of the greatest modern as
tronomers l was much struck by MOTTO
ing that the instrument he happened to
be directing toward the heavens at the
time was a common opera glass. The be-
ginner should follow this example and
make his first acquaintance with the glo-
ries by the aid of the same familiar form
of telescope. The special advantage which
the opera glass or ordinary binocular pos
sesSeS for our present purposes consists In
the exceptional larger ss of the portion of
the sky which it permits him to compre-
bend in one glance. The beginner VINO is
privileged to explore the heavens through
a mighty telescope often feels rather dis
appointed when he finds how small Is the
region which Is presented in the field.
Indeed with one of the greater instru-
ments it would not be possible to exhibit
| the whole disc of the moon in single
glance. The construction of the opera
glass is, however, such that its field will
take in whole consultations at the same
time, and this is circumstance which
offers great advantage TO one who Is
DESTROYS of obtaining a general notion OF
| the contents of the heavens.
SEEN IN THE PLEIADES.
Suppose that the opera glass be turned
on any well known group of stars, such
for example as the Pleiades, then u most
| interesting spectacle will be instantly dis
played. With the unassisted eye we can
interesting spectacle will be instantly dis
played. With the Unassisted eye we can
generally see about half a dozen stars
in this group and those persons who are
endowed with exceptional keen vision can,
it appears, detect as many as ten or a
dozen, or sometimes even more. But the
opera glass exhibits to the aStoniShed be-
holder thirty or forty or even fifty or
sixty stars in this same little constella-
ton. a glance through it once prove
that the stars which we ordinarily term
the Pleiades are merely the few brightest
members among the hundreds which con-
stitute mighty group of giittering points.
| The great majority OF this host of stars
are too faint to be disclosed to ordinary
vision, but 1t only requires such a COM
paratiVely slight assistance as the opera
glass affords to render them conspicuously
visible. ought, however, to add that
there are many members of the same clus-
ter which are far too faint to be discern
able even by the most powerful opera
efficient telescopes. When the full glo-
rieS of the group are displayed by the
greatest instruments it is seen to number
more than two thousand members.
| WHAT THE TELESCOPE REVEALS
The success which the beginner will
7
be hoped, induce him to direct similar
giances to other parts of the sky. He
will find that whatever part of the heavens
he way scrutinize with the help of the
opera glass, the field of view is StreWr
with a number of stars far greater thar
that which his unaided vision can show
much to say that ever the entire heavens
an opera glass exhibits a number of stars
7 perhaps ten times as great as can ever
be seen with the unaided eye. When we
n re-.
Vealed is to be regarded as a sun, anC
| that these suns are many of them quite
as large and quite as important as the
sun belonging to our own system, Their
indeed we must admit that the opera glas:
/ has given us a glorious insight into the
| sublimity of the heavens
| But the stud ent who has employed him.
| self for some nights both pleasantly anC
proftably in studying the different parts
of the sky with the opera glass viii
presently feel a desire to see what the
| stars look like through some more effect
| i've instrument l shall, therefore, sup
pose that he has provided himself with
say, about three inches in diameter anC
| three to four feet in length. The youns
| astronomer will at once notice that hi;
/ telescope shows a remarkable advance
/ over the opera glass in power It's capa
I Diities will be most easily manifested by
/ the very large number of additional star:
/ that are disclosed. The stars in the sky
seem indeed to be almost as far beyond
enumeration as are the sands on the sea,
! shore. But it is not only their increase
/ in number which is the specially remark
able point; the beginner will now pay at
/ tention to the circumstance that many OBJ
! jects which appear to the unaided vision
! merely as single stars are really com
posed of two or more stars so close to
/ gether that the separate points cannot b,
/ Disseminated except with telescope aid
The most notable instance of what i!
I called double. star is to be found il
Mizar. This object may be easily identi
fed by observing that it is the middle
star of the three which form the handl,
of the constellation known as the dipper
or the pillow in ordinary language. In tn,
language more usual among astronomer
Mizar is the middle one Of the three star
which form the tail of the great bear
So far as the unaided vision is concerned
the only circumstance which might at
tract particular attention to this objec
is the presence of another small sta
named Alcor quite close to the brighte
object. The telescope will, however, a
once demonstrate the remarkable fact tina
! Mizar is composed of two bright star
quite close together. The spectacle is in
shows that the object before us is NJ
less than a pair of twin stars obviousl,
related and associated by invisible bonds
How intrinsically great this double sta
is may be appreciated from the
fact that the larger of the two compo
nents of Mizar has been found to weigl
more than ten million times as much a
I the earth.
After a little experience the observe
will discern that many other interesting
I double stars are also within the range o
the small telescope we have supposed hin
| to be using. Let him observe Castor, 70
! instance, when he will see noble pair o
suns which revolYe each around the othe
in a period of a few centuries. He mus
also look at the wonderful star Theta il
the sword handle of the constellation O
Orion. There he will be delighted to be
stars and two smaller points, the Who'll
six being so close together as to appea
like a single star, except when the powe
of the telescope is applied.
DOUBLE STARS.
But perhaps the most beautiful featur
in the whole of double star astronom
bright stars are usually of a white color
There are, however, certain stars more o
less tinged with red, with yellow, or wit
orange 1t happens from some cause o
other that in many of the double stars tn
hueS of the componentS are EXCEPTIONAL
vivid. The beauty and delicacy of tn
spectacle thus presented is not infrequent
ly enhanced by the circumstances that tn
tints of the allied objects are strangei
contrasted. Here is. indeed one of til
most pleasing displays which the heaven
offer to our contemplation. Turn the tel
eScope, for instance, on that famous oil
ject which indicates the bill of the swan
l refer to the star called Beta Cygni,
give it the exact designation which the as
tronomers generally employ. There wi
be found a double star of which the Lar
ger member is truly gem glittering wit
the hue of a beautiful topaz, while til
smaller star associated Herewith display
an emerald blue, The fact that genuin