The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-07
THE SEPTEMBER SKIES.
NO Better Time to Commence the
 Study of the Stars.

Study of the Stars
 Wlth the coming of autumn the con stellations which make the evening skles or winter so much more brilliant tnan those of summer begin to appear. iHefe Is no better time to commence the study of the start than September, iior any better time to renew an en- tluslasm Tor astronomy once enter talned, but which the pressure of other interests has abated. The evenings are considerably longer than two months ago, another advantage.
 AL nine o'clock on September 15--an hour corresponding to ten o'clock on the lst and eight o'clock on the 30th of the month, the 15th being selected here be- cause the full moon interferes with ob- serVation on the 1st-there will be five stars of the first magnitude visible. LOW down in the northwest is the bril- Hant yellowish-red Arcturus; little to the west of due south but well up to- ward the zenith is Altair, noticeable at once because of its two companions one above and one below: well to the west Of the point overhead Is the steel-blue Vega, star which may have equals in beauty, but which has no superior; in the extreme southeast is Fomalhaut, the most southerly of the bright stars ever visible in the latitude of New York; as far around to the north as Fomalhaul is to the south Capella, in the same class with Vega and Arctur- us, is just above the horizon. These five are the brightest stars visible and no one should have any difficulty in To- eating them, and these once learned the locating of the constellations is easy. The logical and the easiest way to get a knowledge of the heavens is to be- gin with the bright stars.
 The next thing of striking interest about the September sky is that won derful stream of light across the sky from southwest to northeast--the milky way It's beauty cannot be appreciated in the dusty atmosphere of the city, an atmosphere glowing with the reflection of innumerable electric lights, but in the pure air of the country the milky way has silent grandeur deeply im- pressive and undreamed of by the den- izen of the town. Viewed from the al- titude of an Adirondack lake the sky contains nothing more attractive.
 Now the striking combinations can be noticed. Directly overhead is the Northern Cross, known to science as Cygnus. the Swan, but the cross is so plain that it can hardly be missed. Over in the northwest is the Big Dip per, or Ursa Major, the Greater Bear, as 1t is known to the astronomer. Ev- cry one knows that constellation. No tice that the curve formed by the last three stars in the handle of the dipper when produced points out Arcturus. More than half way to the zenith in the northeast is Cassiopeia and her chair. The five bright stars in zig-zag row which make up the most prominent part of this constellation are very mo- ticeable Below Cassiopeia Perseus, with the mysterious Algol. Is seen. If these points are mastered one has good framework on which to build more detailed knowledge, and once started, the pleasure of the study will steadily increase,
 Earlier in the evening, in fact, direct ly after sunset, Venus is the chief ob- ject of interest Brighter than any of the stars already mentioned, so much brighter that she looks more like fire DdilOon than celeStial ODJect, venus compels attention. She may be watched every clear evening this month, the moon being unable to dim the planets glory merely forming an added attraction on the evening of the 18th a few hours after the two have been in conjunction and when they will form charming picture. The conjunc- ton takes place about half-past one D. m., when Venus is about a degree and half to the north of the moon. At this time having the moon to help indi- cate the place. one ought to be able to see Venus in broad daylight. Venus reaches her greatest distance east of the sun on the morning of the 21st, but her brilliancy continues to increase un- til it reaches maximum on the 27th of October.-New York Mail and Express.