Evening star., 1899-03-04

MZSS@@E/// the most ancient and
the acknowledged prince of the constella-
tions, In the east. midway between the
horizon and the zenith. is Leo. the Lion,
easy to locate by means of the Sickle"
which forms his bushy head and shoulders,
and in the handle of which is the bright
star Regulus, known also as Cor Leonis
the Lions Heart. At about the same alti-
tude in the northeast is the Great Dipper,
or the Plow, as our English cousins prefer
to call this striking group of seven stars
the Septemtriones Of the ancient Romans
which forms the tall and hind quarters Of
the mysterious Great Bear, or Crsa Major
| Below and at the left of the Dipper may be
traced the tortuous body of the Dragon
Draco-the head of which is now, at the
hour named, on the horizon, its two flaming
'eyes" just peeping above It, but too low
to be visible In the northwest, at about
half the altitude of the Dipper Is the w
shaped figure of Cassiopeia, the Lady in
her Chair. now hanging head downward q
position which. according to the ancient
poets, she is compelled sometimes to as
sumo as punishment for her impious van-
ity.
Interesting Consultations.
The region between Cassiopeia and Orion
is occupied by number of very interesting
constitutions though none of them is
marked by any striking arrangement OF
their stars. First comes Perseus. at about
the same altitude Cassiopeia. swinging
in his right hand he is depicted on the
chart, the sword Gnvisible) with which he
severed the Gorgon's head, and carrying in
his left hand this fearful snaky-locl1ed
head. in the forehead of which stands the
variable star Algol the Blinking Demon"
of the Arabs.
Beneath Perseus and partly below the
&c A,,1r Yeda tnn 10 hfay ~ "a
siopeia, whom Perseus rescued from the
ferocious sea monster. At the left OF An
dromeda and near the horizon. little north
of west, Is Aries, the Ram. constellation
unconspicuous, except for the pair of third
magnitude stars in the head. and interest
ing chiefly as the leader of the twelve con-
stellations of the Zodiac. Between Aries
and Orion comes Taurus. the Bull, the Sec
ond of the zodacal consultations
Taurus contains one star OF the tfrst mag
nitude, Aldebaran, sometimes called the
Bulls Eye" and the finest two nsked-eye
star clusters, the Hyades and Pleiades. AS
constellation It is not particularly strik-
ing figure, yet anciently It was one Of The
most useful of them all. Two thousand
years ago this constellation rose. that Is
to say. it made its first appearance sbo"s
the horizon ut daybreak. about the Grst of
April. 1t therefore served the hUshanamap
as an excellent guide in laying out his
spring work. For this reason Taurus was
said by Virgil to "open the year with his
golden horns" The tips of these horns
and very long horns they ara-are marked
by two stars, one of the second and one OF
tween Capella and Betelgeusa, IN the right
shoulder of Orion The Bull consists in
fact, mainly Of horns and face, the latter
being formed by the V-shaped cluster of
the star Aldebaran- Very likely this 'face"
"a rather suggestive objects all there
was originally Of the Bull. At any rate
although the chartmakers have depicted
also shoulders and forelegs no trace of
these can be found IN the actual skies. The
Pleiades are in the Bulls shoulder.
Rather Far Fetched.
Midway between Orion and Cassiopeie, and
situated now above Taurus and Pereus. is
Auriga. the Wagner. This constellation
Is well provided with stars. containing one
of the first magnitude (Capella, the goa),
two of the second and quite a number of
the third and fourth. Properly looked at II
is the most sensible Of the consultations
within the region above indicated; but 1t
may be a question whether the chartmak-
ers have looked at 1t properly" As rep
resented on the chart. the Wagner is
seated and holds In his hands the reins
with which he carries invisible horses. In
his lap he guides three kids. while the
mother goat represented by the star Ca
pella, chambers upon his left shoulder Ca
neaa marks this shoulder. and the star
Beta, Of the second magnitude, marks the
right. His right foot rests upon the tin of
one of the Bulls horns. A star of the
third magnitude. eight or ten degrees
northeast of Capella, marks his head Civ
ing him an extraordinarily long neck. This
is the charts way of dealing with the
Wagner. But since nobody now knows
exactly how the stars of the several con-
stellations were grouped originally 1t is
not heihous offense to attempt an i'm
provement of the chart. We have ventured
to group the stars of the Wagner differ
emily on the planisphere given herewith.
We have turned his right shoulder info a
head, and we submit to the reader whether
we have not made a better man of him.
Near Capella may be seen a very pretty
triangle of fourth-ma gnitude stars which
Is very likely the original of the three Kids
Castor and Pollux.
About midway between the Aldebaran
and the Sickle" and now very nearly over
head, are the Twins (Gemini). Castor and
Pollux. This constellation is amply sup
Piled with stars, but no imagination can