The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-04-07
ASTRONOMY FOR APRIL.

| wli,h terms tho Lions al ana tnoilueIS
| and in tic handle OF which Is the bright sta
Ktsuirs
| EctNeep Leo nno the Pole star and nearl,
overhead is tho Ufsu Major. or Great Bear
ghc most conspicuous part Of this large aiit
rather inystiiying constellation is The Grral
I rirptr. which forms tbs Fears hudqlar-
Hers, and his decidedly unLeurlikc tall. rh'
Berr's two hind paws are marked BY tNc
| worry noticeable lairs Of fourth -maenitudc
| starA, situated about midway bctweeii 'us
| bowl OF the. Dippor and tho Sickle. His fore
| pava, which arc together are marked by a
| sinilei pnii OF stars, midway between ths
Pointers In the bowl OF the Dipptr. ana
| tho Twins, Castor and polIux, which VIII nov
/ DO found IN inidhcayoiis IN the west iho
| three pairs Of start above noted lie II line
with one another, and. tnfen Two and Two.
as nj about equal oistanCes apart Win
these bints, tho Bear should be located easily
and il lively imagination may possibly DIS
lhcoytf here some vague likeness 10 the AMI
| mai Whose name the constellation hus porne
| from time immemofial--fr time. appar-
| entity btfcfc the Bear lost his tail, In the way
| Desc itrcd lit German FOLK lore.
Between Leo and the southeastern horizon
IN Virgo, the Maiden, tho sixth OF the zodiacid
| considerations. Virgo contains one star OF the
FIRST n:agnitude, spica, the Wheat, Ear. a. Z
ing With The Grcat Bear. she nov stands
erect, her feet Just above tho. horizon, her
head hall way to the zenith But one looks
III Will mere Tor the anEcflc winged form ue-
pctcd on a celestial chart. The most notice.
abs part OF the constellation Is a Y-shaped
figure, which springs from the star Spica,
as its base the arms being formed by fiNe
stars, four Of the third and ono Of the FOURTH
nintiitude, tho central one OF which Is Cam.
ma Virgins, noted last month as a beautiful
double star
IN Tie cast t.returus, tho splendid Bear
Warden, will ba found a about one-thire OF
the dstGnce from tho lCriaon to the &c
NTH. .hrcturns, Spica. Derebola itho seeonl
ft., ~ tntI ~ N
Carroll On star OF the third magnitude about
isidwut between Arctutiis and the bowl OF
tho nrper, the principal sIst In the hunt
ing Dogs, form together u. large lriepSe-
shaped figure. known AS the Diamond :. OF
Virgo which, hough modern coustclla-
ton, like the Sickle and the Dipper, is ono
OF tic grand landmarks OF the summer even
ms sky.
Wes of Leo are the two Dogs of Orion. .
PIocyon and Sirius and Just above the west
erl horizon rcclines Orion himself, with ms
Risci
\ little north Of west Taurus is setting, its
The horizon: In the northwest about tweitf
dee,eos high, is Cppella, in Anrisa, the rival
Of Aic;urus in brilliancy.
Turning again to Leo, We note that the re-
gioA below this constellation. extending from
VirEo on our left to the Two Dogs on our
right is remarkably devoid OF stars, contrast
inG in this respect strikinely with the west
era quadrant OF the heavens The brlgnles.
star III this extensive region is one of the
Sc ond magnitude, situated some twenty de
gfees southwest of Regulus. This star. con
spiciious IN Its lonclinegs. Is Cor Hydrae, the
livdras Heart, known also as Alphard the
Solitary One.
The greater par, Of this starless region is
whose heart" has Just been pointed out,
constellation remarkably chiefly for its enor-
nous length of over 100 degrees 1t would
aecn ne II the ancient stan gazers. unable to
make much out Of the :ew faint stars con.
tarcd within this region Of the heavens mad
iuu Cd them inso one vast constellation,
which. however, Ii not without some warrcn.,
stncu snakes can be traced anywherc among
Tie stars. The Hydras Head formed by n
short curved groun of three or four stars,
OF which the brightest tic cye--is of the
t'llri rtenltude, is about midway from Reg.
uuf to Procyon and is very pretty otJo't
for on ol.era glass, which reveals, mere quite
a tich cluster IT faint stars. The Hydra $
tail tonchcs the horizon in the southeast
Standing on tho back Of the Hydra ara
two small consultations, the Crater or Cur,
contain between Ihcm nu, ore star which
| at,ains to the full third magnitude, are hoth
vc9y pretty asterisms, particularly when
scnnned with an opera glass. The Cup is the
more westerly nf the two Its bowl is formed
by n scmi-c!rcle of five or SIX stars, of which
the brightest is of only the fourth magn-
tudc short line OF three faint stars Mt thn
right OF these forming tho base, Although u
little lop-sided, the cup thus formed Is very
rass3blc celestial goblet.
The Crow is rather more conspicuous thaii
not 50 like as a constellation. Its four
brighter stars fern. trapcHlhn, or unequal
sided square The brightest Of its stars, OF
the third magnitude, is Il. the lower left
band corner and Is IN the Crows feet. The
others are in the curved body of tho bird.
which appears to be peeklng Mt the iiydrn's
hscN The star in the feet bears the Arabic
name % Alchiba which mcans tent It
Vas doubtless applied originally 70 the whole
constellation. which certainty resembles
ton. quite as closely rs y does Il bra.
SOME STAR DISTANCES.
Cne cy the most Impressive of astronomi.
cul discoveries IS TIA. of the enormous re
uintoross of the stars. We will LOOK from
this point Of Wow a. u few OF tho surs which
may he seen tonight.
Formerly 1t Nas supposed. in tic absence
Of evidence to tn, contrary. that the bright
est stars were the nearest 10 US, This wouId
he the case. Of course were they all Of the
same size and Of the sam intrinsic spendor
But recent inv 'stigatonE have shown ccn-
clitsiyely that this is very far from boiri; the
ease. Ono Of the nearest Of the stars, 81
Cyen is OF only the sixth magnitude. While
Sirius, at distance nj between eight and
nino 'lilht-yaar " according to the deter
ninatiuns of nrs Gin AMI Elkn though The
brightest OF all stars, stands third IN tho or
der of distance sun. It may reasonably be
assumed that on an average the brighter stars
aic the nearer, and that on the whole star
distances increase as star magnitudes dimin-
ISL. 4 knowledge of the average distance
OF the stars Of the first magnitude should
therefore, give us a fairly correct idea OF
the lergth Of the first atags. which we must
tra,H In jcurneylng outward into the region
OF the tclescopic stars.
Some ten ycarn $50 DIR. Eikln made series
OF observations with the heioneter of the
Yale College Observatory for the purpose OF
determining the distances OF the Ton first
mnc,olinGe stars OF tho northern hemisphere.
Viii, pr GIN. 4 the Care Of Good Hope,
henisphero Or. Elkin reached tic roncu-
sim that tho nv rage distance OF these ten
gt9;s is not less Than thirty six aud bali
''liRhl years." That Is to shy, light. which
travels nj the rate Of $4,000 miles second
rpctlns us from the sun IN eight and quar-
ter minutes, requires moro than third OF
a century TO reach us from q point In spacs
n the average distance OF the ten lirstinag-
nitLdl stars OF tho northern Hemisphere. The
snr Removed TO that distance would dwindle
= :. star o. The seventh magnitude, and would
h,eme invisible 70 sn2 naked eye
Tho nearest oi these stars, according TO Dr.
Eikn. Ia Procyon. OF which the distance Is
given as le3 light years. Altar, ono OF tho
ten not visible tonight, comes next, at dis
lance OF lDi light years. Next comes Aide
harap, at IS light years Capola and Regulus
are ~ nearly the mean distance Of a6 light