Evening star., 1896-07-04

body may be traced curving downward and
eastward until it terminates with a pair of
stars. which form the Scorpions sting. The
legs must be imagined. This Is the original
scorpion. and 1t Is. perhaps, one of the
most like" of all the consultations, and it
may be added that owing to its richness in
stars OF the lower magnitudes. it is also
one of the finest The claws, however, its
most striking and really characteristic
features. have been torn from it by astron-
omers and have been placed in the constel-
Ia ton Libra, the Scales which adjons the
Scorpion on the west.
The head OF Ophiuchus, the Serpent
holder. Will be found on a line drawn from
vega to Antares. at about two-f1fths Of the
1t Is of the second magnitude The head
having been found the rest of the constel-
latfon. as here represented can be made
out easily 1t will be noticed that the head
OF Ophluchus Is close beside that of Her
cules, which latter Is q variable star rang
Ing from the third to the fourth magnitude
1t Is, moreover. double star and is a very
pretty object for q small telescope.
sBootes. the Herdsman, can be located by
means OF the star Arcturus. AS repre-
sented on the ordinary chart the Herdsman
has club in his right hand, while with his
!eft he holds by leash the two Hunting
Dogs, constellation which was formed by
Hevelius to fill in a vacant space between
the Herdsman and the Great Bear, and
which Is, of course, purely artificial as
terism
Major. or Great Bear, now in md-heayens
In the northwest. The sketch here given
is submitted with no other comment than
tnat 1t represents figure which can easily
opinion to whether or not 1t ts the oripi-
nal OF this mysterious celestial monster
The Northern Cross.
In mid heavens In the northeast Is the
Swan. better known as the Northern Cross.
This fine constellation was an especial
favor1te with the old myth makers, and
was the subject Of many legends explana-
tory of ITS origin. 1T was always regarded
as bird. but there was some disagree
ment as to the particular species. AL
though commonlyrregarded as a swan, 1t
was known also as the Bird Of Jupiter. or
simply as the Bird 1t was sometimes call
ed the Hen. The constellation owed its
name, or ma mes, doubtless. to the cross
like arrangement OF its principal stars, this
being form under which bird Is often
represented in rough way, one stroke
forming the Body and the cross stroke
forming the outspread wings. The Eagle,
OF which the principal star Is Affair, also
contains number Of stars which form a
cross-shaped figure. although less marked
than that Of the Swan.
To the left Of the Eagle and at rather
less altitude is the Dolphin. a little cluster
OF SIX or eight stars. which for prettiness
ranks next to the Pleiades. Some prosy-
minded modern star-gazer, ignorant per-
haps, Of the good old Greek name of this
little cluster of stars, has dubbed it Jobs
Coffin. and this has. unfortunately, be-
come its popular modern designation
The Planets.
Mercury is now a morning star rising
about an hour and twenty minutes before
the sun. little north of east. 1t will con-
tinue to be morning star until the 31st.
although by the middle Of the month 1t will
be too near the sun to be visible.
Venus will be q morning star although
TOO close to the sun to be visible to the
naked eye until the 9th, after which date
II Will be an evening star.
Mars has just entered the constellation
Ar1es-sign Taurus-and now rises a little
north or east at about 1870 am. Before
the close Of the month 1t will have become
an evening star, rising before midnight
Jupiter continues to be an evening star
but now sets before o'clock
Saturn now crosses the meridian at about
PM 1t appears as a star of the first
magnitude. little less brilliant than Arc
turus, which 1t resembles in color. and with
which and Spica 1t forms a large triangle
with two nearly equal sides. Since Febru-
ary u 1t has been retrograding-moving
westward On the 10th of this month it
VIII be stationary. After this date its
movement will lbe direct, or toward the
east
Uranus is about five degrees east of
Saturn. as shown on the pIanisphere, but
Ia just outside the limits of naked-eva vi
sion.
Neptune. in the constellation Taurus, be-
tween the Bulls horns. rises at about
am 1t appears a star of about the
tenth magnitude, far beyond the reach of
the naked eye. or even OF an opera glass;
Ihe moon will be new on the 10th, at
30 p M. and full on the oath, at 5:45 pm,
washington mean time. It will be in
perigee'-nearest the earth-on the 18th,
at q pm Its position at 8 pm. for every
evening during the month on which n 10
above the horizon at that hour is shown
on the planisphere
:, On the Sd, at 5 pm, the earth was In
aphelfon"-at its greatest distance from
the sun We are now 5000, 600 miles far
ther from the sun than we were on the 1st
of January 49,