The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-09-08
|rK0xoMY FoR SEPTEMBER,

he Milky Way now passcs at p. m.
pctly overhead. In It or near t,hre the
.tellations Scorpio and Sagittarius, both
in the Southwest: Ophiuchus, holding
his grasp tho wriggling serpent; the
lie. with its brilliant star Altar; the
IN. or Northern Cross. near In the re-
\: Cepheus. in midheavens In the
rtbeast: and below Cassiopeia the old
. Perseus. brandishtng In his right
ID an invisible sword and swinging In
left the frightful Gorgon's head.
10 the right of Casslopeia and Perseus,
about one third OF the distance from
horizon to the zenith, is Andromeda.
constellation is easily located by
ans Of its three brighter stars, all OF
second magnitude, which lie at about
same distance apart In a line curving
Eard TO the right. The lQwermost OF
three is Gamma. beautiful colored
bile star. one OF the finest In the heav-
consisting OF an orange yellow star
a fainter companion, which Is emerald
en-. This star is splendid object for
mall telephone. The middle star of the
ee--the brightest Of the three which
al
most, in the head, is Alpha, known
by the Arabic name Alpheratz.
ndromeda is now in her best position
observing as a constellation. She re-
es in the natural and easy pose which
may be imagined to have assumed
be bound to the rock, awaiting the ar
d OF the sea monster who, but for the
hly Intervention of Perseus, would have
q meal OF her. To the modern star
r. however. this constellation is less
resting for its mythology than for it's
nebula. This object lies near the
Tmost OF the three stars in the belt.
an easily be detected with the naked
as peculiarly fuzzy star. Through
opera glass it has still more OF a hazy
Its appearance in the field OF a
| telescope was very aptly described
imon Marius, who first turned tele-
8 upon 1t, in 1912, as that of "a candle
Ing through horn In form 1t is
lilly elliptioal, and photography has
IN that encompassing its central nu
or core OF light, are whorls and in
ing streaks of a fainter glow, the
bgement of which tells plainly OF mo-
There Is certainly mighty turmoil
lme sort going on, however slowly in
legion Of space; but whether the nebula
Imply vast whirlpool of nebulous
pr. whatever that may be, as is the
ession which one first receives on
hg at its paragraph, or, as closer
ination renders more likely, 1t is an
cation of whirlpools-an intricate in
ling of eddying and coiling streams
difficult to decide.
the .'meteoric theory" of Mr. Lock-
that which is here whirling and ed
is mass of meteorites-bits OF
and metals-and the nebulous glow
to their collisions, which result in
sufficient to vaporiz9 and render lu-
rs their more volatile substances. The
Foscope favors this view, If 1t does not
ish it. The light of the nebula is
by this instrument to come partly
matter in the solid or liquid state
artly and mainly from gaseous mat
OF the gases, one Is certainly hydro.
respecting another which seems to
but equally plentiful, there is u quse-
fhether it is nitrogen, as is the cpin-
DIR. Higgins, or. as Mr.. Locky err
ds, the vapor of magnesium. These
together with few others that be-
heir presence occasionally through
bectrscope and none OF which has
identified with certainty, are found
uf tho nebula.
orm some idea Of the probable size
nebula, assuming that its distance
is is about seventy light years.
though simply wild guess is an
ption probably within bounds-wc
nlculate from the nebula's apparent
at actually 1t is large enough more
b bridge the space between us and
Centauri, the nearest of the stars,
diameter exceeds that of the solar
nearly 5000 times.
"a Andromeda ferns one corner OF
(at Square of Pegasus, now O conspic-
bject at 9 o'clock in midheavens in
1t. Although the Square is roughly
ular. each angle marked by star
second magnitude, its sides are not
In length. the shortest measuring
2 and the longest II degrees. Its
sides range north and south; Its
east to west. The two stars which
70 eastern side serve as pointers"
4ernal equinox--the point at which
crosses the celestial equator from
thcrn to the northern hemisphere
iarch Il. and from which astrono-
Fckon the right ascension" coTre-
TO terrestrial longitude, of cells
Fets. a line run through these two
ON north to south and prolonged
lance OF about equal TO that of the
part terminates very close TO this
NJ point in the heavens.
Andromeda, as she is now posed,
the Ram, the first in order Of the
consultations which form the 20.
he constellation Ia narl, 90