The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-08-08
THE STARS IN AUGUST.
The Month of Meteors and of Jupiter
in His Glory.
New York Commercial Advertiser.

Inc niohth Oh heteOrs ana OF Jupiter
in His Glory.
New York Commercial Advertiser.
With August here once more the meteors
may be seen flashing their silent but Won
derful message which man was so long
learning TO read. For hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of years the annual fall of the
August meteors has been seen, but for the
greater portion Of that time an ignorant
populace regarded them as stars wrenched
from the armament and cast upon the
earth. In England they were formerly
and in some retired districts still, re-
ferred to as st. Lawrence's tears, from the
fact that the principal shower occurs about
Aug. 10. which is the day given to that
saint. The shower does not reveal itself
in constant downpour, but in the course
of the night a vast number of meteors find
their way into our atmosphere. Any clear
night of the year watchers will observe
meteors. and during the early days Of
August from five to fifty times as many will
be seen as al any other time of the year
Some time in the past. hundreds. thou
sands, perhaps millions of years ago, vast
body of loosely associated particles of mat
ter drifting through space on the travel
of none may tell how many thousands of
years came within the powerful attraction
of the sun. More than a thousand million
miles away each tiny separate fragment
yielded to the summons and began its long
| descent towards the center of the system
| into which it had wandered. Whatever the
| distance which the stones or fragments Of
metal fell during the first second of their
descent, they fell three times as far during
| the next, five times as far during the third
| and SO with ever increasing velocity
| while minutes. days and years went by.
Swifter and swifter they descended through
| the uEresisting ether of space with the mo-
| mentum gathered by long years, falling
| toward body having a gravity of attrac--
ton more than three hundred thousand
| times great that OF the earth. But
| they did not fall to the surface of the great
| body that was pulling them down. All the
| time through more than fifty years OF
| steady descent they continued the slow
| sidewise movement, due to the original i'm
/ pulse which brought them within the limits
Of the solar system. The movement. though
| comparatively slow was yet sufficient 10
| carry the falling bodies millions of miles
| 20 one sue OIL Ihe centraI po9y toWaI9 !
| which they were descending. Having passed
| around to the other side Of the without
| striking, the terrific impetus gained in the
| fall Of thousands of millions Of miles was
| sufficient to overcome the restraining at
| traction of the sun and cause the fragments
! to soar away into space in the direction
| whence they had come.
| In passing around the sun some of the
| little bodies came in collision with the
| earth, and moving many times faster than
| the swiftest cannon ball, they were set on
| fire by friction with the atmosphere. Others
| that did not fall TO the earth were checked
| by its disturbing attraction and continued
| their flight with a velocity and momentum
| little less than would otherwise have
| been the case. Other planets in less degree,
| according to their proximity and mass,
| contributed in varying degree 10 the same
| result. and the meteors, instead of passing
| off into space, lost their momentum and
| fell back again, after rising something
more than fifty years. Ever since that
| time they have been falling and rising,
| falling and rising again, making a COM
plete circuit once in something more than
| a hundred years So numerous are the
little bodies that they are scattered along
the entire course traversed. and every year
the earth passing through the stream,
which it does in August each year, receives
| multitude or these tragmentary relics OF
| some mighty work of the Creator, in an age
| and place Of the universe remote that
! the mind stops appalled, in its contempla-
| ton.
The radiant of the August meteors is in
| the constellation Perseus, which is now
seen in the northwest soon after sunset.
| II is marked by bending bow of three
| bright stars. and in the milky way be-
tween the horizon and the W-shaped fig
| ure in Casseopia. The constellation An
| dromeda lies east and south of Perseus,
and stretches away long row of bright
stars. ending in the great square of Pc
gasus.
The variable star Algol the most won
derful object in the whole sky, may be
found by remembering that it forms a
triangle with Mirfac, the middle star of
| the three in Perseus and Almaack, the first
of the bright stars i'm Andromeda Algo
is usually Of about the brightness of these
other stars, but is OF the second magni-
tude. AT regular intervals Of something
less than three days, however, it sinks to
the fourth magnitude, remaining partially
Obscured for several hours These changes
are occasioned by the passage of a vast
| satellite between the star and our line of
vision Ottener than not these changes
occur at times unfavorable for our Obser-
Vatlon, In the daytime, or in the wee sma'
| hours. Aug. 5, about midnight; Aug g.
| about p. m; Aug. Is, at 10 p. m. Aug
81, at p. m, will be good opportunities
| for seeing Algol at its minimum Of bright
| ness
Jupiter rises as the sun goes down, and
shines through the night. The great plan
ct is now in the most favorable position
of the year, and shines with splendor
FAR exceeding any of the fixed stars There
can be no question of Identity. when the
brilliant and beautiful planet rises in the
eastern sky Equally easy to identify is
Saturn, which is the nearest to Jupiter of
any of the conspicuously bright stars.
| Both planets are In that part Of the sky
| where the sun stands in the winter.
West of Saturn in the Milky Way is the
constellation Sagittarius, with the Little
| MIX Dipper. Still further west the Scor-
| pion stretches its long outline across the
| southern sky. The deep red star Antares
, will command attention from every eye
Vega, the splendid white star in the con
stellation of the Lyre. is we'll up in the
sky, just west Of the richest portion OF
the Milky Way. East of the Milky Way
at about the same distance, is a row OF
three stars which mark the constellation
of the Eagle. The upper star is Alshain
the middle and brightest is Affair and the
lower Tarazed. The line toward the hori-
zon pointed out by these stars passes be-
tween Jupiter and Saturn. Arcturus the
brightest fixed star now in our sky, is wei
toward the west The handle of the Bis
Dipper, extended three times it's owr
length, will point out this star. The bril-
liant Capella rises late in the evening
The three stars in Perseus pointing toward
the horizon show Capela.
Mars and Venus. only two moon breadth.
apart, are in the morning sky. The bright
ness Of Venus is all the identification need.
ed, while the close proximity of Mars rem.
ders him easy of discovery
America an Example
| Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph
Britons- have ALWAYS either the fear ~