The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1896-01-11
FOR JANUARY.

paors In the north-Soi''sN''".
D,- disappear below our horizon;
-. o,emini) and Leo. In the east
- only partlv risen; ana over
Aur,ga, Taurus. Aries, Perseus' An
,ada and Cassiopeia-
- ,be aid OF the accompanying pan
", these consultations should all
80 readily and their brighter stars
"A eosily be identihed.
those who may not be famihar vain
u.s of q planisphere 1t may be wen
Ia In that this chart represents the
,,,sble half of the heavens; that IL
:, II represents ON HAT surface the
~ The celestial sphere which 10 above
sn,izon AT the hour named, It's circuni-
~ or inc point directly overhead. Inc
~ nv of using such chart Is 10 hold
Viz overhead and Imagine that you
earinp ut the actual heavens. having
rerard to the points OF the, compass,
Indicated by the marginal letters.
u me chart Is held Ia this way these
"a viii all come right and the stars
al fail into their proper places. Inc
a. HE circumference of the chart
N Corresponds with the point In the
~ I'm which the observer Is supposed
~ should always be kept lowermost.
III ~. we are upon the subject of the
:. III may be well to direct attention TO
,tnes mon II, which represent the. I'M
,ary celestial equator and the paths OF
s,,n and the moon. These lines are
halves of great circles of the heavens,
complenentary portions being below
bnrIzon. 1t will be seen that the
nor spans the heaven from the exact
ern TO the exact western point or the
ION. passing very close to the upper
star in the belt of orion and about
~ nf bnt
kw me star Menkar, in the head OF
ne Bearing these points In mind, one
aasily locate il in the heavens. This
at circle is the line in which. the plane
HE earth's equator, extended tndeti-
ly cuts the starry sphere, and 1t lies
ctiv midway between the two celes-
noles The distance of the celestial
sior from the zenith, reckoned in de-
% Is always equal to the altitude or
visible pole and is the same as the
sstrial latitude of the Observers sta
he suns Path" known among astron-
rrs as the "ecllptic," crosses the celes-
equator 0he "equinoctiafo at two
net-!cally opposite points. known as
.eouinoxes," one of which, the vernal
inox, Is shown on the chart. Observe
this crossing point is very nearly in
with the more easterly stars of the
hare OF Pegasus. at a distance from the
er OF the two u little greater than
|ir distance apart. From this point the
runs eastward between the pleiades
d the star Aldebaran, about i've de-
es south Of the Twins, close TO the
net Jupiter and still closer to the star
gulus striking tho horizon at a point
Eth OF east. The ecliptic runs along
center of the zodiac" a belt OF twelve
Oscillations of signs" through which
\ sun successfully passes in the course
his annual (apparenO round of the
bvens The six signs which are now
bve the horizon at O'Clock are marked
the chart with their familiar hero
'phic symbols
bsses that of the sun are known as it's
pdes" These nodes are continually
pfting their positions moving along the
hs path In direction from east to
fst.. In other words. the moon each
Pnth crosses the SUMS path ut points
hich are each a little to the west of the
snts at which it crossed in the proceed
F. month. The rate of the movement
such that each node makes n complete
fcuit Of the heavens In about eighteen
n q half years. AT present the de.
binding" node. at which the moon
IS IS from the northern to the southern
q OF the suns path, Is near the star
fgulus, as IS shown on the chart. The
Ssition Of the moon itself at @ p. m. for
Ferry day of the month on which she is
2oye the horizon at that hour Is marked
the chart
among objects Of especial interest this
path are the two variable stars, Algol.
Perseus, and Mira, the wonderful
PR In the constellation Cetus. "Min-
pa" Of Algol convenient for observing
~ OCCUR at IL p. m. on the 9th; at p.
on the llth at p. m. on the l4th; at
p m. on the 3lst The peculiarly Of
Us star is that after shining for about
70 and a half days as a star of the Sec
pa magnitude, II descends in the space
"a about four hours to the fourth magni-
lGe ana IN the course of the next four
puls regains It's usual brilliancy. The
fn,dnauon is that the star has a dark
llellite revolving round 1t. which. pass
y perlodlcally between us and 1t, cuts off
po7 ton Of its 'ignt. Algol Is now, at
O'Clock, very nearly in the zenith 1t
n be located exactly with the aid of the
mart, There IS near II a star OF the
,urth magnitude, which serves as a very
'hVenient Comparison star" When at
minimum Algol and this star are of the
me briliancy
Mira can be found easily by noting It's
,slion with relation to Menkar and the
,her stars of Cetus shown on the chart.
MS star has period of about eleven
onths, during seven of which it Is In
Slme to the naked eye, being when
lntest Of between the ninth and tenth
agnitudes. When shining with its great
y brilliancy it occasionally becomes the
val OF Mankar which is o. star of the
,cond magnitude but more often It stops
EAR it attained 10 on,y the fomrth mag nag
ltude and the year before to the third.
maximum Of Mira may be looked for