Evening star., 1897-03-06

twins, very evidently, an astronomical and
a NEUROLOGICAL.
The Crab.
Cancer. the Crab, which comes next. as
We proceed eastward. is so poor in stars
visible to the naked eye, its brightest being
scarcely up to the third magnitude that it
can best be located from it's position be-
tv cen Ceniini and Leo. We might pass this
constellation WITH cut further notice were it
rot for the fact that 1t contains one of the
prettiest telescope star clusters in The
heavens-Praesepe, the Beehive, or the
Manger, for the name admits of either in
depreciation. situated at point about one
third of the distance from Pollux to Reg
ulus. A triangle of fourth-magnitudes stars
will be found here, each side OF which Is
about five degrees In length-the distance
apart of Castor and Pollux, and OF the
Pointers in the Great Dipper. Praesepe
is near the center of this triangle. To the
naked eye 1t appears as f1eck of nebulous
light. A field glass or even good opera
glass will show 1t distinctly as a star clus-
ter, though to see it IN its full beauty re-
Quires a telescope of some size. The two
more easterly stars In the triangle referred
to. Gamma and Delta Cancri. were known
anciently as the Aselli, or Asses, obviously
because of their position on each side OF
the Manger. Here again We come upon a
rustic name for stars, which should give
US little more confidence in our view of
the Hyades and of the Goat and Kids.
Still proceeding eastward, we next strike
the Sickle-ano,her object bearing a name
which smacks of agriculture. and which.
all must admit was given to this group OF
stars for a sufficient reason. The Sickle
forms the bushy head and shoulders of
Leo the Lion. In its handle Is the bright
star Regulus. sometimes called Cor Leonis
the Lions Heart. The hind quarters of the
Lion are marked by rectangular figure of
about the size of the bowl of the Dipper,
formed by four stars, of which one is of the
second magnitude, one of the third and
two of the fourth. The brightest of them,
Denebola-a name contracted from Denab
al Asad. Tail of the Lion-is in the brush of
the Lions tail as the animal is depicted on
a chart. His hind legs extend downward
across the celestial equator, into the south
ern hemisphere; his fore legs extend for
ward. the Lion being represented in the act
of springing on his prey.
The constellation Virgo, which follows
Leo, is still-at 0 o'clock-partIy below
the eastern horizon. Its brightest star,
Spica, the Wheat-ear. has just risen, but is
too low to be visible.
A Celestial Calendar.
We have passed in review six of the
twelve markers by which the ancients kept
the tally of the changing seasons-the
signs" by which men regulated their
nual labors before the days Of almanacs.
AS the sun performs its annual round of
the heavens 1t passes successfully through
these considerations. Could the stars be
seen In the daytime. one familiar with
these markers could at any time tell from
simple inspection of the sky the day
of the year as readily as one can tell the
hour of the day from a simple inspection of
the face of clock.
Thus. en- May 10 the sun would be seen
Cat the present time) midway between
the Pleiades and the Hyades; on July ii
1t would be directly south of Pollux; on Au-
tr-f fl0 i1o ID
tober IA two degrees north of Spica For
an obvious reason the great celestial clock
cannot be used exactly in this way but
practically the same thing may be accom-
plshed, and anciently was accomplished by
observing the aspect of the heavens Just at
daybreak, before the stars have quite
faded from view. and noting what stars are
in the ne.snborhood Of the rising sun.
constellation which at that hour was just
appearing above the eastern horizon was
said anciently to be rising. and one which
was at the same hour seen low in the west
was said to be setting. All works and
| days were regulated anciently by this ris-
| ing and setting of consultations. 1t was
| only thus that an accurate trace of the
| seasons could be kept.
| The Suns Travels.
1t was noted above that Aries is the first
| Of the zodiacal consultations Formerly
| the sun. upon passing the vernal equinox,
| or, in other words, upon crossing the celes-
| t!al equator from south to north entered
| tni5 constellation. The two points at which
! cquinoxes-are not fixed, however but are
| Siding along the ecliptic, or suns path, in
| a direction from cast to west, at a rate
| which In the last two hundred years ha s
| carried them about one-twelftn of the way
/ around the heavens, or just the length of
] enc Sign" These signs still continue to
| be recaoned from the equinox. and as a
| consequence they have ceased to coincide in
/ pCsiIiOQ with the nStclIatiOnS which hea r
| the same names. Thus. on the 10Th of this
month at 3 am. Washington mean time,
| the sun will pass the vernal equinox. and,
| according to The almanac, will "enteg
, Aries" This means the "sign," not the
| constellation Aries. The sun will really
then enter the constellation Pisces. which
rrecedes Aries. and will not reach this lat
| ter constellation until about April 20. 1t
| will then enter the sign" Taurus, and SO
| on along the whole line. The sun now en-
| tiers each sign a full month before it en-
! sers the constellation Of the same name.
The Planets.
Mercury will be a morning star through
cut the month. but too near the sun to be
visible.
Venus is still an evening star setting a
little north of west about three hours after
the sun She Is still above the horizon at
9p.m.. though too low TO be visible. Venus
will shine with her greatest brilliancy on
the 21st of tie month. when she will pre-
sent the phase of a crescent moon about
three days old. about one-fourth of her
disk beEg then illuminated. She Is now
swinging round IN her orbit to pass be-
tween us and the sun, which she will dc
on the 2sth of next month. Her season as
an evening star is. therefore, rapidly dra W.
ing to close. Her distance from us to-
night is about 52.OOO,O0O miles.
| Mars Is also evening star, and is in
! Taurus, very nearly midway between the
tips of the bulls horns. He is about equal.
ly distant from Capella ana Betelgeuse ap-
i pearing as a star OF the first magnitude
! and may easily be identified from his we'll
known rriddy color. His distance from us
now Is nearly l10.OOHW miies-more thar
twice his distance when we passed be-
tween him and the sun on the 10th of De
cember last. His brilliancy is hardly NOR,
than one-fifth as great now as 1t was then
Jupiter.
. Jupiter Is a magnificent evening star, Ii
the constellation Leo. He was In opposi
tion to the sun. crossing the meridian q
. midnight and shining with his creates
brilliancy for this year on the sd of las
month. Jupiter happens at the presen
; time to be near the point in his orbit a
which his distance from when we pas
between him and the sun. Is the greatest
A-lNH