Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-29
THE DECEMBER SKIES
A Brilliant Spectacle in the
Eastern Quadrant.
STARS AND PLA N ETS
NEW METHOD OF DETERMINING
STELLAR DISTANCES.
Betelgeuse is Growing Brighter-In-
tensity of Sky Light-Con-
stellationS.
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
The most brilliant section of the heavens
tonight-at about 9 o'clock-is the eastern
quadrant. Here we may count seven stars
of the first magntude-one-haf of the
number ever visible to observers in the
mean latitude of the United States-and
eight or ten of the second magnitude, while
the Milky Way, sprinkled with countless
tiny twinkers, forms a splendid setting for
this collection of briiliants. The lowermost
star of the seven, situated exactly in the
east, is Procyon, in the CAMS Minor or
Little Dog. AT the same low altitude, in
the southeast, flashes Sirius, the glorious
Dogstar, in the CAMS Major, nine times as
bright as an average star of the first mag
nitude and five times as bright as Vega or
Capella. Above Sirius reclnes the Mighty
Orion with it's two brilliants, Betelgeuse,
in. the right shoulder, and Rigel, in the left
foot. The three stars in the belt and that
in: the left shoulder are of the second mag
nitude.
Above Orion is Taurus, the Bull, contain
ing the first magnitude star Aldebaran, the
Bulls Eye and marked, moreover, by
the finest two of the naked-eye star elus-
tiers, the Hyades, which form the Bun S
face, and the Pleiades, in his shoulder. On
our left, at low altitude between east ana
northeast. are the Twins, Gemini OF whch
nitude star while Pollux, the lower, IS
commonly classed among the first maSnl-
tudes. Above the Twins, at about the same
altitude as Aldebaran, may be seen Capela'
in the left shoulder of Auriga, the wagon
err Low in the northwestern low TO pc
visible at the hour named-is Vega, IN the
I,yre At about the same altitude in the
southwest stands the lone star fonlalhaul,
in the Southern Fish.
Jupiter is still above the horizon, between
west and southwest, but is too low to be
visible setting on the first of the month at
about $50 pm.
Consultations.
OF the forty or fifty Installations now
above the horizon few only are sufficient
ly well marked to interest the average
star gazer. The great X-like figure OF
Orion is too well-known an object to need
to be pointed out. The Bull-Taurus-
which now stands above Orion, consists Oh
little more than head, formed by the Gus
ter of the Hyades, and a pair of very long
horns each tipped by star, the pair
standing about midway between Betelgeuse
and Capella. Auriga, the WAGNER IS
easily located by means of the brilliant
Capella in mis- left shoulder. me I'VE
brighter stars of this constellation form
pentaeonal figure which is easily recog-
nizabIe Above and at the right of Taurus,
and now at it's greatest altitude, is the very
noticeable pair of stars, one OF the SECOND
ana one OIL Inc liiiu iihS h'suo|'
mark the head of Aries, the Ram. AT
about the same altitude in the north is The
W-shaped figure of Cassiopeia. Between
these two consultations stand Andromeda
and Perseus. Andromeda is marked by
curved line of three second-magnitude stars
Alpha. in her head; Beta, in her belt;
Gamma in her left foot-ope of which.
Alpha, forms one corner of the great
SQUARE of Pegasus now situated in mid
heavens in the west. Low in the north
west standing nearly upright, may be seen
the Northern Cross, known anciently-2nd
still known astronomically-as Cygnus, the
Swan.
A Star Which is Growing Brighter.
According to recent observations of Mr..
D. E. Packer Of Birmingham, England, the
star Alpha Or.onis (Betelgeuse) Is increas
ing in brightness. Although this star has
long been known to be variable, its gen.
eral variations for the past thirty years
have been so minute as to attract no par
ticuiar attention; but Mr.. Packer says, in
a letter to the English Mechanic, that on
the night of October Is the star was dis
tinctly brighter than Capella and only
slightly less bright than Sirius. HerSchel
recorded very marked variations in the
brightness of this star between 1896 and
1910, and Sir William Higgins noticed
variations in it's spectrum during a second
period of variability-1S49 to 1852. The star
is of decidedly reddish color. Its spec
trum differs very noticeaby from that of
the so-called solar stars, being, like that
of all the red stars, crossed by strong car
bon bands, which seem to indicate a tenn
perature much below that of the sun. In