The evening times., 1899-11-08

November Is an Interesting month fo
the star-gazer and the anticipated meteori,
showers make 1t this year q period Of uni.
versal importance for those Of an .astronom.
ieal turn Of mind. There will be found
eight stars Of the first magnitude above tn.
horizon. Named in the order OF. their bril-.
liancy. they are: Capella- In the northeast;
Vega, or Alpha Lyrae at about the same al
titude in the northwest; R;gei and Betel.
geuse. the two brilliants of Orion, low In
the east: Aldebaran, In Taurus, directly
above Orion, at one-third Of the distance
from the horizon. Named In the order Of
their west. the principal star in the Eagle;
Fomalhaut, the eye Of the Southern Ffsh,
at about the same altitude as Affair, a lit
tie west Of south, and Deneb Cygni. the
bright star which marks the head Of the
Northern Cross-the tail Of the SWan-now
In midheavens In the northwest.
Casstopeia. easily recognized from the w
formed by the fve brighter stars Of the
constellation, sits erect at her most queen
~ elevation. directly above the Pole Star.
At about the same altitude. south Of the
zenith point, is the great Square of Pegasus.
Only three OF the four stars which form
this Square belong however, to the old
constellation Pegasus-the winged horse
which sprang from the body Of Medusa,
when her head was stricken OF by Perseus,
the steed which was ridden by Bellerophon
In his fight with the hre-breathing Chimae-
IA. and which poets have been supposed
ever since to ride-the star at the north
eastern corner being In the head OF An
dromeda.
Andromeda contains two other stars Of
the second magnitude, the three forming .
curved line. which extende- downward In
the direction OF Capella. The middle star
OF these three, Beta Andromedae. marks
one end Of the maiden's belt; the lower
most. Gamma. is In her left foot.
At the feet Of Andromeda stands her res
cuer. Perseus, brandishing aIoft In his
right hand an invisible sword, and still
swinging in his left hand the frigntful
head OF Medusa. with which he transform
ed to stone the sea monster when about to
make meal Of the chained princess. The
body OF Perseus'is formed by an elongated
group Of six or eight stars the central one
OF which. Alpha Perssi Of the second mag
nnitude, lies on a~continuation Of the curve
Of the three brighter stars in Andromeda
At the right Of Alpha Persei may. be seen
another second magnitude star, which
forms with it aadi Gamma Andromedae
nearly right angiel triangle. of about the
size Of the W OF gCassiopeia. This star,
which stands in the head OF Medusa, is the
famous variable star Beta Persei, better
known as Algol. tie Damon.
Ordinarily Algol As a star Of the second
magnitude, but at intervals of little less
than three days IL undergoes a remark |
able change Of bnlliaucy. falling in the |
space Of about four hours to the fourth |
magnitude. and AS quickly recovering its |
usual brightness. The cause Of this re- |
markable behavior Of the star has been |
found to be the fast that It has revolving |
round IT dark companion, or satellite, |
which. passing periodically between it and |
the earth: cuts on . portion Of It's light.
minimum Of Algol. favorably timed for
will occur On the Goth at 1880
p. m.
The very interesting caTiable star 0mi-
cron Ceti. better known as Mira, the
WONDERFUL is now visible and In q good |
position for observing. The constellation
Cetus, the Whale. now occupies at 3 o'clock
nearly the whole of the hover half Of the
southeastern quadrant of the heavens.
The star Mira, near the centre OF the con-
should be found easily. 1t is
If a decidedly red color. and is now of
lbout the fourth magnitude.
Mira Is one of the long period varia-
,les, the cycle Of its changes occupying
bout eleven months. When at it's faintest
t is away below the reach of the naked
,ye, being then Of less than the ninth mag
litude. Its increase in brightness and its
ubsequent decrease are fairly regular
When at its brightest it is usually Of about
he third magnitude. but occasionally 1t
caches nearly 10 the second, as 1t did last |
ear. while at other times 1t stops at the
ourth. 1t has passed Its minimum for |
his year, and is now on the wane. II a
ratch is kept upon it. II will be found to
e growing fainter from week to week, and, |
fter a while, It will cease to be visible
o the naked eye. though It may be fol- /;
owed with an opera glass for some weeks
onger.
The cause Of the light changes of this
nd similar variables is still q debated
uestion among astronomers. There is
ute long list of stars of which the light
uctuates with greater or less regularity,
,uch after the manner Of Mira. In all q
ases their spectra are crossed by bright
mes. which indicate that their light comes
artly, perhaps mainly, from glowing
ases, Of which one is the everywhere 9
resent hydrogen.
The Leonid meteorss which are due
bout the middle Of this month, are ex-
ected this year to appear in far greater
ian their usual number. A veritable
shower Of them is predicted, such as =
and terrified observers in the !
nited States on the morning Of Novem-
er Is, 1888, and as was witnessed in
urope on the morning Of November
!, 1866. =
On the 9th or 18th Of the month the :,
nth will pass through another interest
lg meteor system-that of the Andro- D
eds, SO called because they shoot from
le direction Of a point near the star
ANNA, in the constellation Andromeda.
hese meteors are thought to be the A
chris of the "lost" comet Of Biela, j,
hich was last seen in 1852. The orbit d
this comet passed very close to that o.
the earth. and annually when the
nth crosses it, near the end Of Novem-
II, meteors are. encountered. which at
tervals Of six or seven years-in the u
.ars in which the comet is due, accord e e
6 to calculations-are remarkably nu- y