Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-11-03

Pegasi. The Great Square, with
Andromeda and one star in Perseus,
presents a conhguration not unlike the
Great Dipper of Ursa Major. The star
next to Alpheratz in the handle of this
clipper Is Beta, or Mirach, and the
third Gamma. or Almaach. The handle
bends at this. point, and at distance
nearly equal to that of Mirach from
Almaach we see the very remarkable
variable star Beta Persei, or Algol. If
we extend the straight line formed by
Beta and Gamma its extremity is
marked by Alpha Persei, so that really
the consultations Pegasus, Andromeda
and Perseus are closely connected, ms
the two latter are in the ancient
NEUROLOGICAL legends. Alpha marks
the hcad, Beta tho waist. and Gamma
the feet of the royal maiden that was
rescued from the frightful monster by
the hero Persons. Extending the line
of Alpha and Gamma by its own
length, we perceive the beautiful first
magnitude star Capella. In u north
westerly direction from Beta ut q dis
tance of 10 degrees the naked eye may
see a little cloud of light, which is the
great nebula" In Andromeda, where
in the comparatively recent year 1885
quite suddenly star appeared which,
after the brief space OF half a year,
totally disappeared again, thus form
ing one of the list of those mysterious
stars called temporary. Directly south
OF Beta Andromedae the constellation
Pisces, or the Fishes, spreads out
through a not inoonsiderable space in
the sky. Although it contains no star
that deserves to be called conspicuous,
1t is the last of the consultations Of
the zodiac, and the vernal equinox is
situated within its boundaries. The
constellation consists of two fishes con-
nected by two ribbons tied together,
all indicated by rather faint stars. The
star representing the knot of these
ribbons Is Alpha Piscium, or FL Risha,
an Arabian word meaning ''knot. !"
This star is double and constitutes a
binary systsm. The southern fish is
marked by a pentngon, which in -
moonless and oloudless night may be
easily recognized Cassiopeia is one
Of those consultations whose shape,
once known, cannot easily DO forgotten,
for, being one of the circumpolar con-
stellations that never set in our lati-
tude, it may be seen at any time OF the
night, and its peculiar CONFORMATION,
that OF w, renders it very con-
spicuous. Cassiopeia lies on the
opposite side Of tho pole from the
Great Dipper, at nearly the Same dis
tance. The topmost star in the last
stroke is Beta, or Caph, while the
lower star in that stroke is Alpha, or
Shedir. The reader will recolloct that
Polaris is not exactly coincident with
the true pole of the heavens, but ut
present 116 degrees distant from it.
Polairs., therefore, describes every "a
hours u small circle around the pole,
and hence it is of some Importance to
know. on which side of the pole the
pole star is situated at n time. 1t is
always on the side toward Caph.
Cepheus is likewise a circumpolar con:
stellation, though not as conspicuous
| us Cassiopeia, nor does it contain
quite as prominent stars. Five of its
brightest stars form u kind Of distorted
X, the topmost point Of tho first stroke Of
which is Alpha Cephei, or Aldermin,
beta, or AlphirlS, and in the eS-
trenity of the last stroke is Gamma o.
Err Raj.
The beautiful star Arcturus ha,
either set or is going to set. Lyra,
l i
horizon. Cygnus and Aquila. with
meridian and the western horizon, ARK
! Taurus, with Pleiades, Hyades and thu
! bright star Aldebaran, the magnificen
constellation Orion, and the most bril-
| liant OF all the fixed stars in tn,
heavens, glorious Sirius, are climbing
i up in the east, soon to present tn,
| most beautiful of all stellar panoramas
4 In the year ITO the famous astrono
mer Lexell computed the orbit OF ,
comet that bears his name and which
had appeared that year. 1t attracted
4 particular attention on account of 1T
brightness and its close approach t.
the earth. Lexell, from calculation
he had made, predicted for it a perioe
Of only five and one-half years, blu
it was never seen again. Its non
temperance in 1776, however, coult
he accounted for by the suppositiol
that its orbit at that time did no
bring 1t sufficiently near the earth
but this supposition could no longe
hold good as to its reappearance il
l7S1, so that the whole affair wa
wrapped up in mystery until the grea
French astronomer. ana mathematician
Laplace, showed that in 1779 the come
must have approached the great plane
! Jupiter so closely as to be diverted b,
the great attraction of the latter int
new orbit, too distant to be see
from the earth. According to som
4 Investigations made by the famous dis
coverer of the planet Neptune, Lever
rier, the mysterious planet woul
probably come back about the yea
1880 Now, in that year Prof. Brook
Of Geneva, N. Y, discovered a come
that was called after him. Pro-
Chandler, of Harvard University, ha
shown that tho mysterious comet {
Lexell is in all probability the same /
Broolse's of 1889 by supposing that tn
, planet Jupiter first transformed i
orbit from d parabolic orbit, that
from one that does not return I'M
itself, into an elliptical one, with
period of five and one-half years, the
removed it from our sphere OF ohserv;
tion, and again, after more than
century, has brought 1t back to IL
, Some days ago Harvard College h;
been notified that calculations of II
orbit OF Brooafe's comet, made /
, Professor Hussfy of Lick Observator,
show that the Stranger will be neare
the sun on November sd. 1t will col
tInue to increase in brightness I,
some time.