The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-04

daens of winterthur. in Germany. but
 nous Danish astronomer four days lat
 CT. as a first magnitude star. When at
 It's maximum brightness it outsisonc Jupi- ter and attained to the briliiance or Se-
 nus when at her best. Within a week or
 two it began to fail. but continued visi-
 ble to the naked eye for fully slxIeen
 months before 1t finally disappeared The
 star of 1894 in Ophiuchus has history
 not unlike Tycho's star. It srew as |.
 disappeared from view. having been ylsi-
 ble throughout tho whole year leo5. The
 star T. Coronae. of 1888. attained the
 greatest brilliancy of any ncr star since magnitude. Readers remember the star
 of 1901, the last of the Novae so far ob- served. On the night of February 2l-22 Dr. Anderson of Edinburgh. noticed a
 previously unknown star of between the second and third magnitude in the con- stellation Perseus. In the course of the
 next two days it increased so rapidly as
 to become about the third brightest star
 n shs ski Then 1eps m ,swy se fade
 away. Early in March 1t was again of
 the third magnitude, and before the mid
 de of April had dwindied to the fifth
 magnitude Nova Persei. its present per
 manent name, Is the brightest new star
 since kepler's star of 1s04 It was forni-
 erly believed that stars of this class were
 new creations which went out of exist
 ence after a span of life which would much less for a star. But. as Simon Newcomb remarks, 1t Is hardly neces-
 sary to say that such view as this
 can find no place in modern history. Sir
 Isaac Newton suggested as cause of
 this strange phenomenon of temporary
 stars the so-called collision theory. which
 certainly deserves attention. It Is almost
 impossible to reject altogether a trcmen-
 ~t - h. <H
 singular phenomena. recent writer.
 says: The Novae are not pilgrim stars.
 just arrived, so to speak. from some ad-
 jacent universe. but genuine blaze stars,
 orbs kindled into brief rnagnificence by
 catastrophcs of fierce violence. but tram
 sitory effect"
 On the sth of April partial eclipse of
 the sun will take place, which. however.
 Is not within this latitude The month is favored with another eclipse. total
 one of the moon, which. like the former. will not be visible here. The beginning of tsis eclipse will he visible throughout
 Asia and the eastern portion of Europe
 and Africa, the ending visible throughout
 Asia, Europe and Africa.
 Some of the popular names Of consteila-
 tions add very much in recognizing them
 in the sky. It really requires vivid inn
 agnation to sec bear in both trsac or a dog dn either Canis, and thus it Is in re gard to d constellation that about 9 O clock on April evenings will be in
 our meridian. Everybody at once recog- nzes In the configuration of its stars a sickle though its scientific name is Leo. or the Lien. Sir John Hersehel makes with reference to the ancient names of the constellation the following remark: ''The consultations seem to have been almost purposely named and deiincatec to cause as much confusion and incon- venience as possible. lnnumerable snakes twine through log and contorted areas of the heavens where no memory can
 follow them. Bears, lions and fishes. small and large. northern and southern confuses all nomenclature. A better sys- tenn of consteilations might have beer a material help as an artificial memory. True: but will the habits of 1000 years be easily changed?
 Leo is & fine constellation and situated almost exactly in the eclptic. The end of the handle of the sickle is marked by Alpha Leonis, or Regulus, sometimes also called Cor Leonis. which Is reckoned by most uranographers as frst-magnitude star About 9 degrees east of 1t is the bright second magnitude star Beta Le- onjs. or Deneboia, which comes to the meridian about l hour and 40 minutes after Reguius. Below Regulus Is bright red star of the second magnitude, called Cor Hydrae, the Heart of Hydra. also AInbard. the principal star in the con. steliation. extending over a vast space | in the heavens. Crater Is little constel- | lation, and Corvus, lying just east or 1t | a sull smaller. but more conspicuous one l since dt contains two second-magnitude and four third and fourth magnitude stars The Twins. .astor and Pollux | Procyon and Sirius are bending toward l the west, Capella and the constellation Orion rapidly approaching the horizon soon to disappear from the nocturna | heavens they have for months adorned | by their incomparable beauty. The spien' | did star Arcturus Is climbing up in the | east, and down In the cast we sec the | beautiful summer constellation Scorpi , rising above the horizon, heralding in the coming sea son of summer.