Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-09-11


brighter than any of the fixed stars. but
there is no star even moderately bright
In the quarter of the heavens in which the
great planet Is now seen. One or two OF
the five moons attending Jupiter may oc-
casionally be seen by those having opera
glasses. They appear as tiny stars very
near the planet, first on one side and then
on the other, as they continually circle
about the primary body little to the
west of Jupiter Is another star. much less
bright, but still brighter than any of the
surrounding stars. This is the planet Sat
urn, whose mysterious rings are one OF
the most fascinating subjects of specula-
tive astronomy. This easy identification
of the two greatest planets is a very sat
isfactory start toward our survey of the
sky, and we turn our attention to the
never changing stars.
West of Saturn we come to the Milky
Way, and the bright group Of stars partly
in and partly east CT that pathway of
| light Is the constellation Sagittarius. One
of the lesser stars of this constellation is
an opera glass double, or If the night he
very clear. it may be detected by the
naked eye. A search for this object is
pleasant diversion for beginners.
West of the Milky Way, stretching
along the southern sky, is the great con-
stellation, the Scorpion. The brilliant red
star. Antares, Is conspicuous near the
western end, and the line is easily traced
In the bending way along the sky and end
ing in two stars quite close together
Looking upward along the Milky Way we
come to AInila or the Eagle on it's east
ern edge. We nothing to suggest the
origin of the name, but row of three
stars attracts our attention. The middle
and much the brightest Is Altar, which is
rated of the first magnitude Nearby is
the little diamond-shaped figure marking
the constellation Dclphinus. or the Dol
phin, and often called Jobs Coffin. Still
higher and in the thickest portion of the
Milky Way is seen the Northern Cross.
Turning to the north. we see the
W-shapcd figure of Cassiopeia, also in the
Milky Way, and still following that river
of light we come to n bending row OF
three bright stars, which mark the CON
stcllation Pcrseus. The middle and bright
est of these three stars, Mrfac, by name,
is also the first of "a vastly longer row of
| four bright stars, which stretches away to
the east and ends in the Great Square Of
| Pegasus The second star of this row is
named Almaack, the third Merach, and the
fourth AlJheraz. which is in the corner Of
the Great Square. These three stars be-
long to the constellation Andromeda.
| In this constellation is The Great Nebula
of Ardromeda. the only one Of the hundred
million telescope nebulae that is plainly
visible to the naked eye. a little care in
following directions will enable you to
look upon this amazing object, which con-
veys with greater force than any other the
story of the vastness of the visible uni
verse. Look when the constellation Is in
the northeast and find the star Merach as
already shown. Above Merach about six
moon brcadtEs. you will find n star con
siderably less bright. Still further up. at
nearly the same distance from this star,
you will find another faint star very near
to which is the object of your search.
| Viewed with the naked eye it presents a
faint white spot on the sky. Seen through
an opera glass it shows as "A greatly eX-
tended field of light. elliptical in shape,
with the brightness intensified at the CEN
| tire and fading out toward the edges. The
| telescope amplifies this still more, until at
its greatest extent it is five times as great
as the breadth Of the full moon. 1t APP
pears as If made up of ConCentric rings,
the edge being somewhat inclined toward
us, giving the cllptical appearance.
This nebula is situated at distance
from the earth immeasuraby vast. yet 50
enormous is its extent that. occupying the
zenith. it stands at one time directly above
more than 10000 square miles of the earth 5
surface. Light travelling at the rate of
1S6.70o miles a second not only must re-
quire thousands of years to reach the
earth, but thousands of years to pass from
one end of the nebula to the other. 1t is
believed that this great aggregation of
cosmic material is sufficient in extent to
fill up the entire space occupied by the
naked eye stars with which our visible
sky is filled. 1t is contemplati ons like this
which at once reduce TO utter nothingness
our little world and its petty affairs, yet
i give us a new and stronger joy i'll the
thought Of the magnificent universe given
us to know and in which we are to play
| our part.
Astronomers are puzzled as to the ply
steal characteristics of this nebua, which
n of bp 9 o
of both the real gaseous nebulae and OF
| the inconCcivably distant aggregation Of
stars. 1t seems as though the process OF
condensation has far proceeded. but Is not
yet complete. Thousands of millions OF
years have certainly elapsed since the
work began and yet thousands of millions
will be required before it is finished
Below the long row of stars. and form
ing a triangle with Mirfac and Amaack
is the variable star Algol whose strange
periodical changes in brilliancy have beer
observed for ages. September 90 about
p. m. and September 3d. soon after sunset
are the only favorable dates of the month
for observing the star at minimum.
The three stars In Perseus point down.
ward to the brilliant star Capella. which
is one of the brightest in the whole sky
Near Capela is the beautiful little pail
of stars known as The Kids.
The Big Dipper is now at its lowest point
during the early evening. the two stars II
the outer rim pointing out as ever. the
North Star, which marks very closely the
celestial pole. The handle of the Dippcl
prolonged to three times its length points
out the great star Arcturus, now settlins
toward the western sky. Near Arcturu:
:, is the beautiful semi circle of stars form
ing the Northern Crown. West of tn,
Milky Way, near its richest and highes
point, is Vega, the white first magnitude,
star in the constellation of the Lyrc
Mars now rises about three hours ahead
of the sun and may be seen by early riser:
in the northwestern sky, ruddy, fascnat
: ing and mysterious as ever. Venus |.
much nearer the sun, but may be seer
throughout the month. She will be founC
near the horizon shortly before sunrise
Mercury may be seen on the evening Of
September "a and one or two evenings be
fore and after. Go out soon after sunse
, and look to the west in the track of the de
parting sun. The bright star shining
through the mists which lie along the hor
lion is the seldom planet Mercury.
The autumn equinox occurs at p m
on September % At that moment the SUI
stands above the equator and illumines tn,
earth from pole to pole. Incidental to TIL
season is the phenomenon of the Harves
Moon, celebrated by poets and understoo,
by few; yet it Is very simple. The eclipti,
or path among the stars travelled by thu
sun. moon and planets is inclined to TIL,
earth's equator some % degrees. CROSSING
the equator in tho signs of Aries an(
Libra, the former to the north, the latte
to the south. Now in crossing the equato
to the south the sun in Libra natural,
faces full in Aries travelling northward