Evening star., 1898-08-06

osltlons OF the principal stars that above
md 81. at 8. and
stellation of the Milk Dipper, so called. APP
parently, because ii is In a position to SCOOP
up portion Of the Milky Way, on the
border of which it lies.
Stars of ophiucbus.
Above the Scorpion stands Oph;uehus
the Serpent Holder Ophiuchus is a char
acter unknown to mythology. unless. as
some say. ne represents Aesculapius. and
he see Us TO have been put here FOR no
other frpose than TO hold the Serpent At
any rat, there is little among the stars
here TO suggest the gigantic human figure
depicted upon the chart. The constellation
Is, however, one Of the most ancient being
q e or the few referred to by Homer. Tho
mead of OphiGchus is marked by a briekt
socond-magnltude star situated a. tbrae-
fifths of the distance from Autares t. Ne-
ga. and about equally distant from Vega
and the Northern Crown. In his left Shout
der is a very noticeable pair Of fourth
magnitude stars. and mis- left hand is
marked by second pair. rather brighter
ana wider His right shoulder contains a
star or the third magnitude near which
ere three or four smaller stars He stands
win his left foot on the Scorpion with
these hints the constellation can be located
easily. Its outlines may be left to the i.,l-
aeination. Ophiuchus lies exactly onDosita
Orion on the celestial sphere and like that
constellation. ii is partly in the northern
anu parity IN the southern hemisphere.
The Serpent is rather more easily traced
than ITS holder, though il is not at all a
conspicuous figure Its head consists Of a
small triangle of stars. two OF which are
OF the third-magni.ude. and make an cx-
celient pair of eyes. situated about one
fourth of the distance from the Crown 20
Antares. From this point its sInuous body
can be traced southwark and eastward as
Indicated on our chart. though the tail
portion is rather shadowy.
Meteors
The August meteors. or 'Perse:ds," as
they are now called, frcm the circum-
stance that they all shoot from the dsrac-
tion of point in the constellation Persons.
may oe expected to make their customary
appearance or the nights of the 9th ana
loth Of the month
The nature of meteors is now vel
Understood. They are particles of small
masses of matter-bits of stone or Of
netal-which the earth encounters in her
passage round the sun. and which dasNing
INTO the earth's atmosphere with ve,Cofties
fifty or a hundred times that of q cannon
tau, are quickly heated by the frictior Of
tie alr 10 the melting point and usually
"lthih seconds time have been dissi-
pateG into vapor They appear TO range IN
size from mere grains of sand to lunns
weighing several pounds. and even occa-
sioHalIy. ton or more. in which cases
they are known as meteorites There are
reasons for thinking that this nnota,,rJr
matter pervades all fnterstelIar sDace
within the bounds Of the solar system at
any rate. it is abundant that II has been
esumated that, one day taken with an
other the earth gathers up every tyyaptv-
four hours not less than I5.Os0ogO OF these
tiny bodies.
These meteors appear for the most mart
to be aggregated into shoals or swarms.
which circulate round the sun moytne, in
ellptical orbits with the regularity of plan-
cts, millions of them travelling in essentially
the same path. Many of these meteor
streams CT Oss the earth's orbit and in "a
from this circun stance alone that we have
any knowledge Of them for tha meteor "a
tco small a body to be seen with a tele-
scope, and becomes visible only when, in a
fatal moment, IL encounters the earth and
flashes out Of existence.
The Leonid Meteors
Of the many meteor systems now known
The most important are that through which
the earth plunges about the middle of No.
Nember, giving US the "Leonids" so called
because their tracks radiate from a point in
Leo. and this through which We are now
passing. Meteors belonging 10 this group
may be seen between the middle of July
and the latter part of August but they ara
the most numerous on the nights Just des-
ignated, their maximum of frequency last
ing for about five hours. Their radiant
marked on the pianisphere-is at PM.
about ten degrees below Cassiopeia, in the
northeast Their appearance of shooting
from central point is merely an effect Of
perspective. Meteors belonging to the same
system are all moving in the same direc-
ton, Of course, and their visible tracks in
the atmosphere are parallel with one an
other or nearly so, for they probably glance
more or less. OF late years the annual dis
play of Perseids has usually been very fine
the meteors being frequently of great bril-
hancy and shooting to long distances.
The Planets.
Mercury is now visible as an evening star.
and will continue to be visible until about
the middle of the month. It will b. at its
greatest elongation east of the sun-27 de-
grees % minutes-on the 9th.
Venus has been an evening star since
February 10, and is now a glorious object
in the western sky until about o o'clock,
though she has not yet reached her great
est brilliancy. She is rapidly overhauling
Jupiter, and viii, be in -'conjI notion with
that planet degree IS minutes south of
it-on the 10Th.
Mars has advanced into Taurus and now
rises at about 1870 am. About 10 degrees
IN advance OF Mars is Neptune Invisible to
the naked eye of course.
Jupiter is still fine evening star though
markedly inferior in brilliancy to Venus
Jupiter now sets at about pm.
Saturn is an evening star. in the Scorpion
about 10 degrees northwest of Antares,
crossing the meridian at about pm. sta
tionary on the 9th. Some degrees west of
Saturn is Uranus, shining as a star of b4-
tween the sixth and seventh magnitudes.
and therefore just below the limit of naked