The evening times., 1900-06-30

pha Ophiuehi. or Ras Alaghus, the other
two being Beta and Kappa. Alpha forms,
with Vega and Altar. an equilateral trian-
gle. The highest star in the Serpent is
Alpha SerDentis. or Unuk, of the second
magnitude. Thu straight line drawn fioa'
Alpha Serpentis 10 Zeta Ophiuchi contains
five stars which in combination with two
other stars on each side of it form char
acteristic confguration resembling
hanging lamp" so very much as TO de-
serve the honor Of being a separate and
particular constellation of it's own, called
by that name. II is certainly one OF the
most striking confgurations Of stars in the
summer sky.
Hercules.
North OF Ophiuehus. between it and the
zodiacal constellation Draco. is the fine ard
I~~ge constellation Hercules, whose most
characteristic co1hguration is a large tri-
Gngle and nOrth of ii a somewhat s-laller
quadrilateral. The southernmost vertex In
the triangle is marked by Alpha Herculis,
CT Ras Algethi, in the head OF the de-
migod. triangle Is marked by Alpha MeT-
culis. or Ras Algethi. in the head OF the
dumi-god The two others are Beta and
Delta. Alpha is a fine double star Of the
second magnitude colors orange and blue.
The fo:r stars Of the quadrilateral are
Epsilc Zeta, Eta. and Pi. with the faint
. SLaI IsnO near tn- last \ lulIu ol the way
On the diagonal Of the quadTilateral, be-
tween Eta and Zeta. the former in the
northwestern and the latter in the south
western ccrneT. Is situated the cluster,
Messier 13. perhaps the finest star cluster
in the heavens, though scarcely visible 10
the unaided eye The constellation Hercu-
les is Of special interest for US terrestrial
inhabitants, since it has conclusively been
proved that the sun with all his splendid
cOrtege of planets and their satellites
moves toward a certain point in that con-
steliaJion known by the name OF the
"apex OF the suns way
Erecting an equilateral triangle on the
line Joining ri with Delta as base to-
ward the east, the easternmOst verteN
very nearly comedies with this remarkable
point toward which We are sailing @i;h
q velocity Ct more than million miles
year. Some have maintained that this
swift motion of the sun affects the rela-
tive moticH OF sun and planets. Tbs,
however 1la.sible as il might appear at
first. is altogether an erroneous notion,
for they leave out OF account that the
reesl motion OF the planets in space has
just as little TO do with the relative mo-
tion of sun and planets the relative
position OF a person walking on deck OF
ship 10 the different parts Of the ship
with her motion.
little way south OF Beta Opiuchi there
are five small stars in the Milky Way.
I formi ~ a V-like shape, like the Hyades.
which in the latter part Of the past cen
tUry were proposed as a rev constellation
-" Poniatowski's Bull" Although still
/ found in many maps. It is now dlscredited
I By most uranogr2phers-
Brilliant First MaSnitudes-
| Very near the meridian is seen the con-
/ stcllatiOn Of Lyra with the splendid star
f Vega Aquila with the irst magnitude
I star Affair, Is rising higher and higher in
/ the east and east Of Il the constellation
CygnCs IS rising up BoOtes. with the
magnificent star ArcturUs. and Corona
{ Boreaiis. that beautiful semi-circle OF
StaIs. are slowly bending toward the
vest. Virgo is halfway between the me-
ridian and the western horizon and Leo Is
low down in the southwest. Th- spring
. considerations are making room IOI those
. that characterize the skies OF the summer
. season.