Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-05

profusely adorned with shaggy. streaming
name.
The Great NebuIa.
Photography has revealed the fact that
this so-called Great Nebula is only the
more conspicuous portion of a mass Of
nebulous matter which extends over near
ly the whole of this constellation. A broken
line curve on the plsnisphere, drawn down.
ward from the star Bellatrix, marks the
location of the great spiral nebula which
was first brought out on a photograph
taken by Prof. w. III. Pickering at Wilson's
Peak in 1889 and which was subsequently
| photographed by Prof Barnard In It's
general shape il resembles the figure O.
The old. fong-known nebula seems to lie
IN TIE vortex of this grand yet only faint
| ly luminous spiral
The spectroscore has given conclusive
evidence that the light of this great lumin-
Gus cloud. and that of all other true neb-
uiae, comes from glowing gases of which
one is certainly hydrogen, while respecting
another there is still a question whether IL
| Is nitrogen. as Is the opinion of DIR. Hug
gins, or. as Sir Norman Lockyer maintains.
the vapor of magnesium. Beside these
two gases. which are found in the most OF
the nebulae, II Q Orion nebula appears to
contain several other gases. none of which
has thus far been identified with any ter
restrial substances. The difficulties in the
way of making the investigation are such
however. that the failure to identify the
nebular gases does not prove that they are
titEnSNtS wholly unknown 10 us. AS TO the
nature OF the nebulae, the theory which
seems just now to have the most In its
favor, though IL Is by no means accepted
universally by astronomers is that OF SIR
Norman Lockyer, who holds that nebula
is simply cloud of meteorites. which are
in a state of commotion, the individual
meteorites colding continually with one
another with a force sufficient TO vaporize
and render luminous their more volatile
substances and thus to surround them
with feeble luminosity, though the heat
crgendered is not great enough to render
their whole substance gaseous. The neb-
ula IS supposed to be condensing and to be
growing hotter. Out of its materials are
tC be evolved eventually. according to this
view. new worlds-new suns and planets.
The question has been raised whether the
Orion nebula lies in the midst OF the stars
which form the constellation, or Is merely
IN the same line of sight, either on this side
of them or beyond them. Among the rea-
sons for thinking that IL lies In the midst
| Of these stars and is connected with them
| physically, is the fact that many of the
stars of Orion agree in having a certain
| dark spectrum line. which appears to coin
eide with one of the bright lines OF the
| nebula. and which has been observed in but
I a few stars in any other part of the heav-
! ems. This region would seem. therefore. to
stand by itself-to be in some sense a dis
tinct department of creation. Its stars. it's
suns appear to be in some respects differ
emit from those in other parts OF the heav-
ems: and apparently, too, the work Of world
formation is still actively going on here on
a scale of which the grandeur utterly baf-
fies the feeble power of our Imagination TO
conceive.
AIgoI.
The variable star Algol-Al Ghul. the De-
mon-will be at a minimum of brilliancy at
o'clock tomorrow evening. To find this
star, face the west. A line of four second
magnitude stars will be seen curving down.
| ward from a point nearly overhead to one
corner Of the Square of Pegasus, which at
that hour will be just above the western
horizon. The uppermost of these stars IL
Alpha Persei. in the body of Perseus. The
next as Gamma Andromedae, in the left
foot of Andromeda. Algol lies to the south
OF line joining these two stars, with
which 1t makes q nearly. right-angled tri-
angle.
The popularity of Algol is that after shin
ing as a star Of the second magnitude for
about two and half days il begins to lose
It's light. and in the space of about four
hours ii drops to the fourth magnitude
Having remained thus for fifteen or TWEEN
ty minutes. II begins to brighten and in
another four hours Ii has recovered its
usual splendor. The explanation of this
singular behavior. now considered to be fully
established, is that the star has a dark
companion, which revolves around IL in an
orbit turned edgewise toward u.s. and
which passing periodically between II and
us cuts of portion of its light. When
first seen tomorrow night the star win be
of only the fourth magnitude. II one will
keep watch upon 1t. it will be found to be
Frightening slowly. BY midnight II will
equal in brflliancy the two other stars with
which 1t forms triangle.
The Planets.
mercury Is now a morning star. II may
be looked for in the southeast half hour
or so before sunrise. 1t is unfavorably sit
uated for observing, however, and is not
likely to be seen except when the sky Is
unusually clear near the horizon.
Venus Will be morning star until the
18th of the month, and after that date an
evening star. She is too near the sun to be
visible.
Mars is now a morning star. about one
and a half hours west of the sun. II may
possibly be seen on a clear morning, low in
the southeast.
Jupiter is an evening star. in the constel-
iation Virgo, rising at about 10 o'clock. on
the oath of last month this planet was sta
tionary. 1t is now retrograding-moving
westward.
Saturn and Uranus both i'm the constella-
ton Scorpio, are morning stars, rising at
about am.
Neptune, in Taurus, about two degrees
northwest of the more southerly of the two
stars which tip the Bulls horns, is the only
planet now above the horizon at . pm. II
is invisible, Of course. to the naked eye.