Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-02
THE SKIES IN. JUNE
There is a Great Deal to Interest
Amateur Astronomers.
LOCATING TEE CONSULTATIONS
PrimevaI Man Used the Heavens as
a Great Timekeeper.
AN ECLIPSE OF THE MOON
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
| The brilliant star which may now be seen
at pm. nearly overhead. as we face the
| south, is Arcturus, the BearWarden usu-
ally accounted the brightest star in the
| northern hemisphere. Arcturus can always
| be identified readily from its position on a
| continuation of the curve of the handle of
| the Great Dipper. Following this curve
| still farther. we strike. about midway be-
! tween Arcturus and the horizon. Spica. the
| Wheat-Ear. the principal star in Virgo.
Spica is g. little west Of south. Still farther
| west, and at about the same altitude, is
ReguIus in the constellation Leo-the jewel
| in the handle of the Sickle. which forms
the Lions bushy head and shoulders.
| These stars are all of the first magnitude.
| Four others of this order of brilliancy are
| now above the horizon at o'clock-Vega,
| or Alpha Lyrae. one of the two rivals of
| Arcturus in splendor. in mid-heavens be-
| tween east and northeast Affair. in the
| Eagle. which has just risen a little north of
! east; Pollux, the more Southerly of the
| Twins. now about setting in the northwest,
| and Capella, the She-Goat. in the constel-
lation Auriga, too near the horizon to be
visible between north and northwest.
The~very brilliant star which now adorns
! the western evening sky. situated near the
Twins. and setting at about 10 o'clock, is
the planet Venus, now shining with its
| greatest brilliancy In the southeast, about
five degrees above Antares. is Jupiter also
| now shining with its greatest briliancy,
| ard no mean rival of the splendid Vesper.
| Saturn Is also now above the horizon two
| hours east Of Jupiter. but too low to be
seen we'll
| The Three Serpents.
Serpents may be traced so easily among
| the stars that 1t is somewhat remarkable
that there are among the ancient constella-
| ton, but fhraa 80
three will be above the horizon at o'clock
| this evening. The Hydra. or Water Snake,
| stretches its enormous length across the
| whole southwestern quarter of the heavens
| Its head being low in the west and the tip
| OF its tail being at somewhat greater alti-
| tGde. very nearly on the meridian. The
| Serpent proper. together with Ophiuchus
| the Serpent-Holder. occupies the greater
portion of the southeastern quarter of the
| heavens while in the north, now at nearly
| Its greatest altitude above. and at the right
or the Pole Star. may be seen Draco, the
! Dragon.
The scarcity of celestial serpents is per-
| haps due to the fact that the imagination
| of the ancient star-gazers required appa-
| rently. that a serpent should have not mere
| ly snaky body. but also a suitable head.
At any rate. the heads OF these serpents
| are the parts of them which are the most
! easy to make out The Hydras head Is
| formed by curying group of three or four
| stars. OF which the central and brightest
|
well for an eye. as 1t probably did in an
| cient times. The head Of the Serpent con-
| sists OF a small triangle of stars of which
two OF the third magnitude make an ex-
ceilent pair OF eyes. while the third of
| the fourth magnitude, Is in its nose or,
perhaps. its tongue. This head will be
| found tonight. at the hour of our observa-
| ton, below and at the right of the Northern
| crown. 1t Is about midway between Arctu-
| rus and conspicuous star of the second
| magnitude, which forms the head of Ophi-
uchus Still more strongly marked is the
| head of the Dragon. 1t is formed by
| trapezfum of four stars, of which two
the eyes'-are of the second magnitude
| one is of the third and one of the fourth
Eyes Have Been Overlooked.
1t Is curious that these quite obvious
points in the makeup of these constella-
tons have been entirely disregarded by the
artists who have drawn their figures for
our modern charts. In none of the fanc!-
| full and usually hideous heads which have
been given these serpents upon celestial
chart have the eyes been put in the right
place. In the case of the Dragon this IS
particularly remarkable. since the monsters
fierce or flaming eyes are repeatedly
referred to by ancient writers.
One of these eyes of the Dragon-the
lower. as we now see him. which Is known
as Gamma Draconis-has an historic in
terest as the star from observation of
which Bradley discovered the "aberra ton
of light, to account for which 1t was neces-
sary to suppose that light travels with a
finite velocity, and Is not shot through
space instantaneously, was then held by
many philosophers to be the case. We now
know that light travels at the rate of
about 10000 miles a second, coming to US
from the sun in eight and Il quarter min
utes from toe nearest of the stars in about
four and third years.
The Zodiac.
The planets Verus and Jupiter and the
stars Regulus. Spica and Antares enable
us tonight to locate readily the "eciiptic'-
the path of the sun and approximately that
of the planets. This great circle of the
heavens, one-half CT which is always above |
the horizon. runs through the midst of the
ZOdiacal consultations. Those which We
may above the horizon, named in |
order from west to east, are Gcmini the
Twins), Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra and 1
Scorpio.
These Zodiacal consultations are particu- |
larly interesting fer the reason that they |
represent the earliest device of our very
remote ancestors for making of the heavens |
a great timekeeper by means Of which to |
regulate their works and days" 1t Is in
this sense that the heavenly bodies served |
p-imeval man for "signs and for seasons" |
The fact that the great sphere Of the |
heavens has an apparent annual, as well as
diurnal revolution. and that the different
seasons of the years are marked by offer |
ent stars or groups of stars-that. for ex-
ample, in the spring certain stars rise with
the sun; that Is, are seen just above the
eastern horizon before the dawn causes
them to pale from view, and that certain
other stars thus rise in the autumn must
have been observed ct period long an