Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-10-01

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these two bright stars lies the constellation
Capricorn
Capricorn is one of the zodiacal constel-
lations, the tenth reckoning from Aries.
The name signifies Horn of the Goat"
The constellation is associated mythology
iCally with the horn of plenty CornucO-
pia) which tradition asserts was of
the horns of the goat AmaIthea, which
nourished Jupiter in his infancy. The con-
stella,ion WAS regarded anciently, however,
as much more than d simple horn. 1t was
a strange composite animal, the conception
of which Cne is wholly at a loss to account
for. having the head, horns and body of
goat and the tail of fish. but tail coll
ed. as it Is represented upon a chart, in
very unhshIike way.
This constellation is said TO contain fifty
one stars visible 10 the naked eye. but only
six of them are above the fifth magnitude
and Tho brightest three are of only the
third Tn" tail Of this goat monster is at
Cne-th!ri OF the distance from FoInalhaut
to AlJrir and is marked by pair of stars
ranging nearly east and west, of which the
brightest is of the third magnitude. The
horns are marked by a somewhat wider pair
OF stars, both of the third ma gnitude which
range north and south and nearly IT,
line with Affair. \ koen-sighted person
can see that the upper star in this second
pair is double. Ii is a very pretty object
for the opera glass.
An Old Acquaintance.
The two pairs of stars just pointed out
are conspicuous objects in the general pau
city Of stars hereabouts, and enable US
readily u locate the constellation. though
there is little about it to attract attention
except the name Capricorn is an old
school day acquaintance. We recall that
the name is borne by one Of the terrestrial
10
constellation when in the course of it's an
nUal round Of the heavens Ii reached the
sOUthernmost point in its path-a point
midway between the two eQuinoxes, where
IL crosses the celestial equator-and turned
back toward the north. From a Greek
word VIII en- means to turn the name
trop!C was given to the parallel Of latitude
over which the sun was then vertical at
noon, and Capricorn was added TO dis
tingu!sh this tropic from that in the north
ern hemisphere which the sun reach ed
upon entering Cancer. At the present time
owing to a change which has been brought
about IN the positions of the Zodiacal
signs. by the movement known as the
procession Of the equinoXes,' the sun is
at its southernmOst point when ii enters
the constellation Sagittarius which adjoins
Capricorn on the west. though ii is still
said in the almanac to enter Capricorn
at that time. Similarly the sun is said to
enter Cancer when actually it enters the
constellation Gemini.
<ht4JJ-i-il4S capricorn on the east is Aqua
rus. the Waterman Above the tail of
Capricorn inay be seen two stars of the
third magnitude. about far apart as the
two upper stars in the bowl of the Great
Upper They are almost exactly in line
with the pair OF stars in the head of Capri
corn. These stars mark the shoulders of
the Waterman His head is unmarked I'M
less we choose to take for it thrd-magni-
tude star which stands above the right
shoulder and is really-according to the
chart-in the nose of Pegasus The three
stars just noted form an equal-sided right
angled triangle. which is a quite noticeabI
object here The Waterman Is represented
upon the chart by the figure of man in a
decidedly cramped position. pouring water
ron a pitcher, or ever, held in his right
hand- This ever is formed by a small and
very pretty I-shaped group of four small
stars il short distance to the left (the OBJ
serNers lefU Of the star in the right Shout
der The stream which issues from It,
marked by a curving line of groups of small
stars, descends To the mouth of the South
ern Fish As 10 this fish itself there is not
much Of IL visible except the eye-the star
Fomalhaut.
AIgoI.
The peculiarly of the variable star AL
go! the Demon star in Perseus. was de-
scrlpea last month 1t may be repeated
here that at intervals of about three hours
less than three days AlgoI goes through q
remarkable change of brilliancy. falling
in about four hours from the second In the
IOurth magnitude and as quickly recovering
Its brightness. The whole change takes
place in the space of about nine hours
AIsol VIII be at its minimum Of brightness
at about q clock tomorrow night October
p When it first becomes visible il will be
OF about the fourth magnitude but II
watched II will be seen to be Frightening
and by 10 O'Clock it will be shining with H.
usual luster. Other minima at hours con.
venient for observing will occur on tbs
10Th. at about midnight, and on the 22d al
$50 pm.
Mira, the "WonderfuI."
Another very interesting variable star
which is Tow N good position for OBJ
serving, is the star Omicron Ceti better
known as Mira, the Wonderful" The po-
sition of this star is given on the plant
sphere. ObserNe that IL lies cIirAal