Evening star., 1897-07-31
HEAVENS IN AUGUST
Hints for Those Who Like to Watch
the Stars.
TEE MErEORIC SHOWER NEXT MONTH
Conditions Are Favorable for a
Study Of the Zodiac.
FQUINOXES ON THE HORIZON

Written for The yening Star
The brilliant white star which may be
found at o'clock tonight almost directly
overhead is Vega, Alpha Lyrae, the
jewel in the constellation of the Lyre, and
one of the brightest stars in the northern
hemisphere. Run a line with the finger
from Vega, in southeasterly direction,
and at two-fifths of the distance to the
horizon you will strike Affair, star of the
average first magnitude brightness, in the
Eagle. Altar is flanked by two stars, one
of the third and one Of the fourth mag
nitude. the three stars forming line about
five degrees 1tRXength, which points nearly
in the direara6nzof Vega. These two flank
ing stars wereGvery likely, the wings of
the original egie, though the modern
chart maker haa thought otherwise and has
depicted bird here which has no sort of
resemblance fuEanything to be seen among
the actual stars.
Return to Vega and run line in north
easterly direction. At one-fourth of the
distance to the horizon you will strike
Alpha Cygni, a brilliant second magnitude
star-sometimes ranked as a first magni-
tude-which marks the tail of the Swan.
This star and Vega are at about equal dis
| tances from Affair, the three forming a
| large triangle, which makes useful land
| mark in ehis Part of the heavens. Near
the center or th1S triangle IS Beta Cygn1,
| in the Swans Head. This constellation, of
which the sfve brighter stars have cross
like arrangement, is known also as the
Northern Crosse Beta is In the foot of the
cross; Alpha in the head Its two arms
form the Swans wings.
Starting again with Vega. run a line in q
direction between south and southwest At
one-fourth of the distance from the horizon
to the zenith you will find Antares, q de-
cidedly red star. hardly up to the first mag
nitude, at the center of the sparkling con-
| stellation Scorpfo Directly on this line
from Vega to Antares. somewhat nearer
the former than the latter star, Is the
bright second magnitude star, which
| marks the head of the Serpent Holder,
Ophiuchus. Five degrees to the right or
west OF this star Is the head of Hercules.
marked by a reddish variable star, which
ranges from the third to the fourth mag
nitude Below this star and a little to the
right is a pretty pair of fourth magnitude
stars, which mark the left shoulder Of
Ophiuchus This little group Of stars Is a
quite noticeable asterism. OF which II Will
| be we'll to make a mental note
7 In the west Arcturus will be found at
0 o'clock tonight at about one-third Of
the distance from the horizon to the
zenith Contrast its orange-yellow hue
with the bluish-white of Vega. A line run
from Vega to Arcturus passes through the
trapezium which forms the body of Her
cuIes and through the Northern Crown.
This latter constellation, formed by near
ly complete oval of six or seven stars Will
easily be identified Its brightest star,
Alpheta forms with Arcturus. and a seq
ond magnitude star in the left shoulder OF
Bo-otis a triangle of which the three SIDES
are about equal in length. At the center
Of this triangle Is Epsilon Boots, an ex-
ceedingly pretty colored double star the
comnonents of which are ashy-white and
emerald-green, though to see 1t In .ts
beauty one requires a good three-inch tele-
scope st the least.
The ConstellatiOns.
In the opposite quarter Of the heavens
the great square of Pegasus is now fair
ly above the horizon. directly below the
Swan. In the northeast Andromeda, whose
head forms ~one. corner of the square.
| though lower. Is wholly visible. Above the
feet of the lhapiess Andromeda sits Cas-
siopeia, her naughty mother. In the north
west. at the same altitude as Cassiopeia,
is the Great Dipper in the Ursa Major.
Midway between these two consultations
is the Pole STAR Directly above the Poie
Star. and partly to the left, is the Great
Dragon the<tWe second magnitude stars
which form It's eyes being well up toward
the zenith. The Little Dipper, at the end
of the handle Of which Is the Pole Star
curves upward to the~left. The two stars
in this dipper which correspond with the
Pointers in the Great Dipper are some
times called the guardians of the pole
Tonight they are in line nearly perpen-
dicular to the horizon.
AS the heavens are now posed at Q
o'clock the tw0; equinoxes are on the hori-
! zon the yernal1 in the east, the autumnal
in the west. The occasion is favorable for
q snecial astfdy of the zodiac. Begin by
locating among the actual stars the celes-
tial eouatdf P6int the finger to the exact
| western point In the horizon, and sweep
with it line IA the heavens to the exact
eastern point, passing on the way three
degrees below the star which marks the
right shodlder bf Ophiuchus and eight de-
grees beloE Affair. All stars above this
| line are in. THE northern and all below are
| ferring to- the hemisphere it will be seen
that the PORTION of the suns path''-the
ecliptic of astronomers - which Is now
above the horiz6n, lies wholly in the south
ern hemispheree The sun will traverse this
half of its annual course between Septem-
| Der q next, when 1t will ''cross the line
| from north I'd south. and March q. when
| vernal equinox. The six zodiacal signs
through which 1t will pazs on it's way,
spending month In each, are marked on
the planisphere by their hierogiyphs, taken
from The almanac The first sign which
| the sun win then enter-the seventh reck-
which Is designed. apparently, to represent
a pair Of scales. This sign ends about
seven degrees east Of Spica, the PRINCIPAL
star In the constellation Virgo. Next comes
Scorpio the symbol Of which resembles
| somewhat an old English letter m. This
| sign ends near the star Beta Scorpif, the
| brightest OF the stars which form the Scor-
| pioI,'s claws. (. Next comes Saefttarius
symbolixed by q figure intended, doubtless.
for an arrow-SagfttariuS being an archer
but which resembles more nearly an
anchor. The sign ends at point now ex-