Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-01


two stars of the first magnitude, Beteiseuse.
at the upper left-hand corner. and Rigel, at
the lower right-hand corner of the great
which forms the constella ton.
To the left, or east of Orion, at lower
altitude than Rigel, is Sirius. the Dog Star.
equal in splendor to five average stars OF
the first magnitude. Still farther to the left
and at a greater altitude is Procyon, the
Little Dog To thaTrtght of Orion, at about
the same altitude as Betelgeuse, y Ode
baran, the Bull s-eye, the brightest star In
Taurus Very nearly. overhead is Capella,
the Goat, the principal star in Auriga, the
Wagner, and now the brightest star Wis
ible, except Sirius.
From Sirius runs a curved line through
Procyon to Capella, and about midway
between the two last named stars you will
strike the Twins, Castor and Pollux. The
same curved line will run through a star
of the second magnitude snort distance to
the east of Capella.. This star is Beta Au-
rigac in the Wagoner's right shoulder.
Beta Aurgae has recently been invested
with a special interest from the discovery
that it is ENTHUSIASTICALLY double; that
is to say, it has been discovered that there
Is a periodical doubling Of the lines or the
spectrum of this star, caused on a principle
ell understood by spectroScopists, by the
alternate approach and recession OF each
of its component suns as they revolve about
each other The pair is too close. however,
to be separated by the most powerful tel
escope. This rs the second star discovered
in this way 10 be double. the first being
Mizar the middle star in the handle of the
Dippcr.
The First Magnitude.
Midway between the Twins and the east
ern horizon is the Sickle, which forms the
bushy head and shoulders of the old con-
stellation Leo. The star Regulus, in the
handle of the Sickle, is OF about the same
brilliancy as Polux, and like that star is
commonly regarded as of the first magni-
tude though considerably below the aver
age brightness of stars of that class. The
very brilliant star between Regulus and the
Twins is an interloper iE this part of the
heavens-the planet Jupiter.
In the west, at about the same altitude as
the Sickle, is the pair Of stars which mark
the head of Aries, the Ram, one of the second
and ore of the third magnitude. Near the
more westerly of the two is star of the
fourth magnitude, which, once noted, rem
ders the pair always easy to identity.
While facing the west we may see very
noticeable line of second magnitude stars,
running in a direction from Capella to
point in the horizon a little north of west.
| The upper three of these stars form near
| ly rdght-angled triangle, marked on the
Hemisphere. The uppermost of the three
| is Alpha Persei, the principal star in Per-
| seus; that at the right angle is the variable
| star Algol, the Blinking Demon" of the
Arab astronomers; the lowest of the three
! is Gamma Andromedae, in the left foot of
| Andromeda This last star is an exceeding
| ly beautiful colored double and is fine OBJ
| ject for a telescope of moderate power. Its
| component stars are, orange and green. The
star next below Gamma is Beta Androme-
| dae in the maiden's belt. The belt Is COM
| uleEed by two stars of the fourth magni-
| tude which form a short line with Beta,
| extending to the right. Just below the out
er of these faint stars is the famous nebula
| tn, A,,1r do
pears as blurred star of about the fifth
ma gntude. 1t can be identified unmistak-
| ably with an opera glass. The lowermost
| star in the line pointed out is Alpha andre
| medae. known also by the Arabic name AL
| pheratz 1t is in theI-head of Andromeda
| and also marks ones corner Of the Square of
Pegasus, which isGnow partly below the
| horizon. o. ii
| Algol and Mira continue to be objects of
| especial interest. Minima of Algol convent
| ent for observing will occur at 8 pm. on
| the Sd of the month:fat l2:4o am. on the
| 21st; at $50 pm. on the I'D; at 6:20 pm. On
| Where to Find Mira.
The PECULIARLY of AIgol is that after shin
ing steadily for about two and a half days
as a star of the second magnitude it falls
| in the space of about four hours to the
fourth magnitude aid in another four
hours RECEIVERS its usual splendor. The ex-
plaration of this singular behavior, now ac-
| cepted as 1ully eNtdpnsHeu' IS tnat the
star has dark satellite which revolves
about it in an orbit turned edgewise toward
us, and which passing periodically between
us and 1t cuts off portion of its light.
Mira Is now at pm. pretty low in the
west and had better be looked for early in
the evening In searching for it find first
the star Menkar Of the second magnitude,
by means of the triangle which it makes
with the Pleiades and the pair of stars in
Aries as indicated on the planisphere. Three
stars will be seen a short distance to the
right Of Menkar. The lowest of these, Del
ia Ceti, a star Of the fourth MAGNITUDE Is
very nearly midway between Menkar and
Mira.
Mira runs the cycle Of its changes La q
period of about eleven months during
seven of which 1t is Invisible to the naked
eye.
Let us turn to Orion and exercise our i'm.
agination for few moments, not in trying
to trace the outlines of this ancient hunts
man of mythology, but with the wonders
that have been revealed here by the tele.
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