Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-03-03

dSSOcldtlonS ana Is surrounded with a halo
of poetry and mythology which. no doubt,
lends to 1t quite as great a fascination for
modern star-gazers as does the singular
majesty Of the asterism itself. 1t is still
the Mighty Orion" as it was in the days
Of Homer. although its potency now is
rot over the weather. but over the mag
nation.
AS has been the case with many others
OF the consultations, chart makers have
drawn the lineaments of Orion with a free
hand. and have imposed upon us "a figure
quite unlike anything which we can detect
among the stars. His sword, his Hon-skin
shield. the club held aloft in his right
hand, are appendages which, looking at the
asterism Itself. we should hardly imagine
to exist without the aid of the figure which
We find upon the chart. Yet these Access
series are all referred to at an early period
and belong properly to the constellation,
as 1t was known to ancient astronomers
1t may be questioned, however, whether
they were seen or were even imagined by
the more ancient Neutrality-suspicious. If
we will close our eyes to the pictures OF
Orion, and will look at the stars themselves
we can readily make of them q crude like
ness to a gigantic human shape--such
giant as a schoolboy might draw ,.pun his
slate-and We may feel quite certain that
this figure is the original of the constel-
lation.
The Giant.
The Arabic name of this asterism was
Ell Djebbar Cthe giant. Its two brighter
stars still bear the names given them by
the Arabian Observation-Disclosures in
the right shoulder. and Rigel, in the left
foot. They are both Of the first magnitude.
pnllo frfH In, f1., Lace ~
second magnitude, and Saiph, in the riSht
knee, is of the third. These stars form the
four corners of the constellation, and no
one should have any difficulty in Identifying
them.
The three stars which form the belt are
sometimes regarded forming an aster-
ism in themselves. They are the Three
Kings; or they are Jacobs Staff, or the
Rake. Taken in connection with the stars
which form the sword they are sometimes
called the Yard L., the Yard and ELL
The line of the three stars is just three
degrees in length and it may, therefore,
be used as a sort of yard-stick in estimat-
ing angular distances. Observe that the
equinoctial. or the celestial equator, passes
very close to the uppermost of these stars,
dividing the constellation centrally, SO that
one-half of 1t is in the northern AMI the
other half in the southern hemisphere of
the heavens.
Noted Stars.
Sirius, the brilliant Dog-star, and Procyon,
the Lesser Dog, both to the left, or east
of Orion, can easily be identified from the
fact that they form with Betelgeuse q near
ly equiateral triangle
To the right of Orion is Aldebaran, the
Bulls Eye, the principal star in the con-
stellation Taurus. 1t is of the first mag
nitude. and 1t can easily be identified from
its decidedly orange color and the fact that
the Three Kings lie almost exactly mid
way between it and Sirius.
Close beside Aldebaran is the V-shaped
cluster of the Hyades. which, in connec-
ton with the bright star, form the face of
the great celestial Bull. The Pleiades, a
short distance to the right, are in the Bulls
shoulder. The Bull consists, in fact of
head and shoulders only, the explanation
being that this is the identical bull which
carried Europa from Phoenicia to Crete
and that when he was transferred to the
heavens, he was represented there as he
appeared while performing that feat his
body being below the water and hence in
visible.
Southwest from the zenith. and at about
two-fifths of the distance to the horizon is
Capella, the Goat, one of the brightest stars
in the northern heavens: This is The prin-
cipal star in the constellation Auriga the
Charioteer.
From Star to Nebula.
In February of last year there was dis
covered in this constellation nova" or
new star, which proved to be an object of
more than usual interest. When first seen.
it was of the fifth magnitude; but It RAPIDLY
decreased in splendor. occasionally bright
ching up a little, until in few weeks It
had disappeared entirely. During the De-
Rod of it's visibility astronomers studied it's
spectrum" assiduously. and when II finally
became lost to view they closed their ac-
count with it, supposing that they had its
entire record, to be filed away with those
of other contemporary stars. Great was
their establishment, therefore when in Au-
gust last it again flashed into view, rot,
however. as a star, but as nebula. 1t still
retains this character, having secured tp-
parently, a permanent status among coles
tial objects. Its position is shown on the
planisphere by a small circle although 1t
is too faint an object to be seen with the
raked eye.
Midway between Capella and the head of
Orion are two stars one of the second and
the other of the third magnitude, which
form the tips of the horns-very long
horns they are-of Taurus. The ecliptic, or
suns path runs between them.
Taurus is one of the consultations of
the Zodiac-the broad animal girile (this