Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1901-08-02

which is technically called the van
fishing point" The meteors actually
move in sensibly straight and parallel
lines, but, as in the case of the rail-
road track. seem to meet at that
vanishing point, the radiant Meteor
swarms are just as subject TO the at
traction of the sun as the planets,
comets or any other cOsmical body,
and it follows from this that the
earth can encounter them only when
she is on the point where her orbit
intersects the path of the swarm. This
.of course. must always be ON the same
day of the year, except as, in the
course of time. the orbits of the
meteor swarms shift their positions
in consequence Of permrbations. The
Leonids, whose radiant is in the con-
stellation Leo, appear about the 10th
day Of August, at which time we may
expect more than the ordinary num-
Der of shooting stars. August and
November are the two months in the
year when these meteoric swarms or
showers. that since the great shower
.of 1888 have attracted so much atten-
ton and stimulated astronomers to
make careful investigations into these
interesting phenomena, may be ex-
pected, and we recommend to readers
who take an interest i'm the phenom-
ena Of nature to keep a watchful eve
on the skies at those times. We add
here that in the early morning hours
we are far more apt to see a greater
number Of meteors than in the even
ing hours, for the very evident rea-
son that in the morning we are on
the front of the earth and conse-
quently We see all we meet and over
take. while in the evening we are in
the rear Of the earth and consequently
see only the meteors that overtake
us.
CONSPICUOUS CONSULTATIONS.
At about 9 o'clock in the August
evenings we see some conspicuous
consultations on the meridian. Among
Chese is the circumpolar constella-
ton DracO, or the Dragon. This is
characterized by an extensive curved
line of stars between the two Bears,
and extending halfway around the
pole. The monster forms three large
coils. The head is near Hercules. and
is made very conspicuous by four
stars-Gamma, Beta, M and Zeta-
forming an irregular quadrilateral. 1t
is the more easily recognized as it is
always near the brilliant first-magni-
tude star Vega. The star Gamma, or
Etanin, is noted for its connection
with the discovery of a new law in
physics, called the alteration Of light.
1t passes almost exactly through the
zenith of Greenwich.
One star in Draco, Alpha, OF Thuban,
deserves special notice. Connecting
Gamma Ursa MINORS, in the bowl Of
the Little Dipper, with Mizar, in the
handle Of the Great Dipper, by a
straight line, the star Thuban marks
the middle of this line In conse-
.quence of the procession of the equi-
noxes the pole Of the heavens is
slowly changing its position among
the stars. While at present it is very
near POlaris, which it will approach
still more closely, Thuban was the
pole-star 1000 years ago, and then
within a quarter Of a degree of the
pOle-much nearer than Polarfs is at
present, and in fact ever will be. The
pole Of the ecliptic-the circle in which
the earth actually moves around the
sun, or in which the sun apparently
moves north and south in declinatiOn
lis very important It is situated in
this constellation. 1t is between the
quadrilateral in Draco and the north
pole, somewhat nearer the former. If
on a celestial globe we describe from
the pole of the ecliptic as a center a
circle with a radius of about 231s de-
grees, this circle will track out the
path of the celestial pole among the
stars. 1t would be seen that the beau
tiful star Vega is near this circle, and
in fact. in 10000 years hence it will
be the pOle-star The constellation
Lyra. coming to the meridian about
o'clock in the August evenings, is rem
dered very conspicuous by the stan
Vega, whose brilliance cannot fail to
attract the gazer's attention. AL.
though we can as yet make but q
rough estimate of the sizes and dis
tances Of fixed stars. it is a matter d
absolute certainty that Vega is a con,
siderably larger sun than our own
Very near Vega two fourth-magnitud'
stars. Epsilon and Zeta form with
a small but sufficiently plain equilat
eral triangle. A keen eye will notice
that Epsilon is a double star and
large telescope will split each int
two so that Epsilon is in realit
a quadruple star. Here we have am in
stance of two twin systems of sun
moving about a common center o
gravity, and of the respective compo
nents around each other. Not ia
. from Vega in a south-easterly directio
, lie the third-magnitude stars Beta an
Gamma. South Of Ophiuchus and rigl
; ON the meridian is the zodiacal con
stellation of Sagittarius, or the AT
cher. the principal contiguration {
which is an inverted "milk-dipper.
This resemblance makes the conste
lation quite recognizable, though
T, contains no star of the first magn
tude. At present however it presen
magnificent star picture by II
& presence of two large planets Jupit'
land Saturn about eight degrees fro
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