Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-11-30
Many Interesting Facts for Amateur
Astronomers.
EHE STARS AND CONSULTATIONS
What is Shown by Further Study
of Nova Persei.
PLANETS OF THE MONTH

written for The Evening Star.
| Orion, with its two first-magnitude stars,
Betelgeuse and Rigel. is now well above
| the southeastern horizon at pm. Direct
| ly beneath Orion, nearly in line with the
Three Kings" which form the belt Of the
huntsman, flashes the brilliant dog star,
Sirius. At about the same altitude-eight or
ten degrees-in the east Is the Little Dog.
Procyon. The three stars Sirius, Procyon
and Betelgeuse, in the right shoulder OF
Orion, form a nearly eQual-sideded triangle.
circumstance which enables one always
to identify Procyon with certainty. Above
Orion, at about the same distance as Sirius
from the Three Kings, stands Aldebaran,
the Bulls Eye" in the constellation
Taurus At the left Of Aldebaran
and at about the same altitude. in the
northeast, is Capella, the She-goat, In the
left shoulder of the Wagner, Auriga- Mid
way between Capella and the horizon, be-
ween east and northeast. are the Twins.
Gimini. the upper of which, Castor, is a
bright second-magnitude star, while the
lower, Pollux, beng somewhat more bril-
liant, Is usually classed as a first-magni-
tude. Low In the southwest stands the
lone star Fomalhaut. the eye of the South
ern Fish, a star Of the first magnitude. but
hardly brighter than Pollux. In the north
west, still above the horizon, but too low to
be visible is Vega, in the Lyre, one of the
two rivals of Capella, the other, Arcturus,
being now below the northern horizon.
Some Second-Magnftude Stars.
Overhead we shall find tonight notable
array of stars of the second magnitude. be-
longing to the consultations Cassiopeia,
Perseus Andromeda, Aries and Pegasus.
We will begin with the great square of
Pegasus, which, at o'clock tonight, will
be found toward the west, nearly midway
between the horizon and the zenith. The
star at the northwestern corner of this
rectangular fgure-the uppermost corner,
as the figure is now posed-is Alpheratz, in
the head of Andromeda. only three Of these
stars belonging properly to the old con-
stellation Pegasus. This winged horse of
mythology is now descending head foremost
to the western horizon. His nose is marked
by star Of the second magnitude, directly
beneath the square. and at distance from
1t about equal to the length Of one Of its
diogonals. Three of the stars of the
Square form his shoulders and wings; his
hind quarters are lacking.
Alpheratz Is the first of four stars Of
about the same brightness-second magni-
tude-and at about the same distance apart,
Of Capella- The second star from Alpine
ratz Is Beta, In the belt of Andromeda: the
third Is Gamma, In her left foot. Like Pc
gasus, Andromeda Is descending head fore
most toward the horizon.
The fourth is Alpha Persei, at the center
Of the constellation Perseus.
The Shifting Consultations.
It may be well to insert here remark
concerning the ever shifting attitudes Of
the consultations. A beginner in star-gaz-
ing Is very apt to note mentally that such
or such star Is above or below, to the right
or the left Of such or such other star. and,
as a consequence, he finds himself contin-
uaIly in perplexity. A group Of stars which
he has learned. while 1t hung above the
eastern horizon, is hardly recognizable
when he sees it in the west. The effect of
the change Of location Is like that of turn
ing q picture upside down. The star which
he had noted as above the reference star is
then below It. and that which was on the
right is on the left. To illustrate. Orion.
when rising, reclines on his right side;
when seen In the south he stands erect;
when setting, he reclines on his left side.
These points seem too simple and too OBJ
vious to require statement; and yet be-
ginner, from neglecting to consider them,
particular star in the wrong place. 1t is
better, therefore, that In making his mental
notes, one should discard the terms up and
down, right and left, and think Of a star
as north or south, east or west, of some
other well-known star.
1t will be found better still to use, in
stead Of the terms east and west, follow
ing and preceding" as Is done by as
tronomers, with reference to the appar-
ent diurnal motion of the stars. One star
follows" another when 1t is east Of it and
H.
pie, one might give the location tonight of
the star Beta Aurigae-the second-magnl-
tude star in the right shoulder of Auriga-
az below CapeIla; but Auriga is sometimes
seen in the west, and then the star Beta
is above Capella. It Is much better, there
fore, to say that Beta stands east of Ca
pella, and better still to say that it s.fol-
lows" It. 80 also astronomers speak of
the preceding" or the following limb
of the sun or the moon. instead of the
western or the eastern limb.
Eta Pegasi.
As Pegasus Ii depicted upon q chart his
fore legs extend from the star Beta, at
the northwestern angle of the Square
north preceding-toward the Northern
Cross (the ancient Cysnus. or Swami. which
now stands erect low In the northwest.
One OF the stars in these legs, Eta Pegasi.
q star OF the fourth magnitude, about five
degrees north preceding Beta, II especially
interesting ~ the first Of some thirty-five
spectro1copic binary systems discovered
by Prof.. W. w. Campbell In the past three
years with the Mills spectrograph of the
LICK observatory. The period OF revolution
OF the system il about two and q quarter
years.
Messrs. Hussey ana Aiken Of the Lick
observatory have carefully examined Eta
Pegasi with the 86-inch refractor but have
been unable to detect the companion star
In this connection It may be stated that
these observers have also been unable to
M he Y - II