Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-03
THE SKIES IN MAY
Facts and Figures for the Use of
Amateur Astronomers.
How TO FIND THE CONSULTATIONS
Direction in Which the Sun is
Travelling Through Space.
THE STARS AND PLANETS
HOW TO FIND THE CONSULTATIONS
THE STARS AND PLANETS
Written for The Evening Star.

iIiSIi stars Oh llle nTSI MAGNITUDE VIII De
above the horizon at . o'clock this evening.
Named in the order of their brilliancy they
are CapelIa, low in the northwest: Arc
tUrus, well up toward the zenith little
south of east: Vega. low in the northeast;
Procyon, in the west; Spica. east of south
at two-fifths of the distance from the hor-
lion to the zenith; Antares, barely above
the horizon in the southeast; Polux, the
more southerly of the Twins (GeminD
about midway between Procyon and Ca
rella, and Regulus, in mid-heavens in the
southwest
Directly overhead is the Great Bear
fUrsa Major}. easily located by means of
the Great Dipper. which forms the tail and
the hindquarters of this somewhat mys-
tifying celestial monster. The rough fig
ure given on the planisphere will aid in
finding the remaining stars which belong
to this constellation. Observe that the
Bear 5 nose is about midway between the
bowl Of the Dipper and CapeIla and that
his paws are marked by three pairs of
small stars. Of which the rair that marks
the foreoaws is midway between the
Pointers in the Dipper and the Twins
and those that mark the hind paws are
midway between the bowl of the Dipper
and the Sickle in Leo.
Easily Located.
Leo, the Lion. is as easily located as the
Bear, and is, on the whole a more salts
factory constellation. since it imposes less
strain upon the imagination. The blade of
the Sickle forms the outline of the Lions
bushy head. His nose. turned westward is
easily imagined though not marked by any
stars A group of small stars al the right
OF ReguIus forms his fOrepaws. which ex-
tend forward. His headquarters and tail
are marked by rectangular figure of
about the size of the bowl of the Dipper
formed by four stars. of which the bright
est. Denebola, at the lower !eft-hand cor
ner of the figure is in the Lions tail. His
hind legs stretch downward across the
celestial equator, his hind paws being in
the southern hemisphere. The Lion APP
pears upon the celestial chart in the atti-
tude of springing on his prey, and when
well drawn is a very animated figure.
Leo is one Of the twelve consultations of
the zodiac. as are also Virgo, Libra and
ScorpiO, which follow it in succession. Can
Ger and Gemini westward from Leo, are
the remaining two of the six zodiacal con-
stellations now above the horizon at the
hour of our observation.
Constellation of Virgo.
Virgo, the Maiden, Is by no means
striking constellation. It is one of those
which it Is quite impossible to discover with
out the aid Of a chart. The bright star
Spica. very nearly at the center Of the con-
stellatiOn. marks the Wheat Ear, which this
invisible maiden is supposed to carry in her
left hand. On chart We find her depicted
wings, and since reference is made to these
by Aratus they belonged APP
parently to the original constellation; yet
It is difficult to imagine in what they con-
sisted, unless, as seems not unlikely. they
were formed by the two forks of the large
Y-shaped figure which we may see between
Spica and DenebOla. Spica forms the base
of this Y. Its central star, nearly midway
from Spi2a to Denebola. IS Gamma Virgin
ius a star of the third magnitude. This is a
fine double star, within easy reach of
small telescope, ard is particularly inter
eSting as one of the first double stars of
which the compliments were found by the
elder HerscheI TO be revolving round each
other. constituting what is called bin
ary' star. to distinguish such objects from
the greater number of double stars of which
the cOmpOnents are not known to be physi-
Caily connected with each other.
Form the Diamond.
Spica Arcturus and Deuehola are about
equally distant from one another. form
ing together a large, equal-sided tri-
angle. fourth star, Cor Carroll, of
the third magnitude, about equally dis
tant from Arcturus and Denebola, to-
ward the north, completes a lozenge-
shaped figure known as the Diamond Of Nir-
go. Although not one of the ancient con-
stelIations this figure is one of the grand
landmarks of the modern star-gaZer. In
the upper part of this diamond. about mid
way from Denebola TO Cor Carroll, Is d
Sprinkling Of forty or fifty small stars
which form the constellation Coma Bere-
uices. or Berenice's Hair. An opera glass
will do good service here. A large telescope
shows that this little patch of the armament
not only abounls in stars, but is also ex
Ceptionally rich in nebulae.
At about One-third of the distance from
Arcturus TO Vega is the Northern Crown,
a nearly complete oval figure formed by
five OF six stars of which the brightest
Alpheta sometimes called the Pearl IF
the Crown is of the second magnitude
Alpheta. Arcturus and Gamma Bootis-in
the left shoulder of the herdsman-form an
egual-Sidcd triangle. at the center OF which
is Epsilon Boots, Of the third magnitude,
an exceedingly pretty colored double star
the components of which are yellow and en-
erald green. The pair is quite close one
and is used as a test object for small tele-
scopes. The figure formed by these four
stars quite closely resembles the already
pointed out in Virgo.
body of Hercules.
Midway between the Crown and Vega IS
a quite conspicuous trapez!um of four third
magnitude stars, which forms the body
or the lower part of the body-of Hercules.
With the aid of the rough delineation on
the planisphere this old-time constellation
the kneeler, as ii was most ancienty
called-shou.d easily be located. Hercules
* interesting 10 us mainly because it is
toward this constellation that, according
to the observations of Herschel, the sun
and its family of planets travelling i'll
space. The precise spot fixed upon by
HerSchel. near the star Lambda Herculs,
the apex of the suns way is marked
on the planisphere by small dotted circle
and the letter H. \ similar circle, marked
S, shows the location of this point accord
ing TO StruVe. Several other astronomers
have worked at this problem of determining
the direction in which the sun is travelling.
and there is d general agreement that it
Is toward this part of the heavens, though
no two astronomers have fixed upon pre-
cisely the same point One OF the latest
and most careful determinations has placed
II very nearly at the center of the Tyre.
The rate al which we are supposed to be
travelling thitherward is about 40, 00o0pU
miles = year.
The PlanetOid Eros.
The astero:d or planetod discovered last
NATs