Evening journal., 1898-03-04

south OF the Great Dog. Those stars in !
70 which are visible in our latitide ano |
not conspicuous, but one of Them
Zea, OF Naos-has been mentioned in
previous article I'm connection with
the description of the Egyptian X Of
which it forms the southeast extremity.
The largest star in Argo Nayis Is call
cd Alpha Argus, or Canopus, the
brightest fixed star after Sirius itself.
Since its declination is SO degrees S., it
cannot be seen in amy of the states OF
the Union north of South Carolina.
This constellation contains one OF the
most remarkable OF That CLASS of stars
called variable It's name Is Eta, but IL
is not visible in our latitude. 1t was OBJ
served in 1917 by famous English
astronomer as q fourth gnitude star.
Between that year and 1900 II oscn-
lated between the fourth and second
magnitude; then IT rapidly rose TO a
first magnitude star and between 1910
and 1850 It exceeded in brightness all
other fixed stars except Sirius. Since
1865 II has been sinking to the bright
ness of a seventh-magniulde star 80
that It is not visible to the naked eye.
It is not yet certain whether this sim
gllar star belongs to that kind Of stars
the fuctuatlon of whose brightness ia
periodic If so, It Will before long in
crease in. brightness and in time form
a beautiful object IN the skies. The
reader undoubtedly has noticed that
the names Of almost all the conEtella-
/ tons in the heavens arecOm1n emoratiye
OF the NEUROLOGICAL legends OF ancient
| Greece. Some centuries ago am att
tempt was made of changing thesa
! inytho.ogical names into Biblical ones.
! For instance the ship Argo WIS % be
charged into NOah's Ark. All these
fttempts, however, have proved futile,
and it admits scarcely of amy doubt
/ that for all time to come the starry
heavens will remain a picture-bOok OF
Grecian legendary lore A change OF
nomenclature, even n the habits OF
thousands of years could be infringed
upon. would be entirely unnecessary
and injudicious.
Cancer, or the Crab, is tina fourth OF
the zodiacal considerations. 1t contains
no prominent star, but IL may be easily
recognized from it's position between
the prominent consultations OF Gemini
and leo and by a nebulOus cloud, CALI
Cd Praesepe, or the Manager, sometimes
also the Beehive The nebulous cloud
can be resolved by means OF a small
| telescope. The star Alpha lies in q
rortheasterly direction, and at no long
| distance from PrOcyou, in the Little
| Dog. North Of Alpha there are two
stars Delta and Gamma at a very short
| distance from each other, which are
| known by the name of Aselll, or the
| Donkeys, a singular name Of more re-
| cent origin. Orion is rapidly approach
ing the horizon, beneath which II will
| soon vanish from the nocturnal skies.
Also, the two Dogs are bending toward
| ihe west though they will yet be seen
| during the month before midnight.
| Taurus, too. viii yet present itself to
/ the eve. While these splendid Winter
| consultations are coming nearer and
nearer The western horizon. the fine
constellation of the Lion is rising
higher and higher in the east, and
| those consultations are making their
| appearance. which may be considerd
as the heralds of the beautiful season
Of Spring