Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-04
HEAVENS IN OCTOBER
Stars and Consultations Now
Above the Horizon.
ECLIPSE OF THE MOON
WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE NIGHT
OF THE 10TH.
Visible in This Part Of the World
Planets of the
Month.
ECLIPSE OF THE MOON
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star
OF the fourteen stars of the first magni-
tude which may be seen at one time or an
other in the mean latitude of the United
States only five will be above the horizon
at 8 o'clock this evening. They are Vega,
or Alpha Lyrae, in midheavens between
west and northwest; Affair, at about the
same altitude between west and southwest;
Fomalhaut. at a low altitude nearly south;
Capella, still lower in the northeast; Aide
baran, above the horizon between east and
northeast, but too low to be visible.
The very brilliant star seen at a low alti-
tude between south and southwest Is the
planet Jupiter. Farther west and some
what lower is Saturn, appearing as an
orange-yellow star of the first magnitude.
A straight line run from Fomalhaut to
Affair passes through the center Of the con-
stellation Capricorn. This is one Of the
zodacal consultations. the tenth. reckoned
from Aries. The name signifies Goats
Horn" The constellation is associated
mythelogically with the Horn of Plenty
(Cornucopia), which tradition asserts to
have been one Of the horns of the goat
Amalthea, which nourished Jupiter in his
infancy. The constellation was regarded
ancientIy however, as much more than a
simple horn; it was a strange composite
animal, the conception Of which one is
wholly at a loss to account for, having the
head, horns and body Of goat and the tail
of a fish.
Contains Many Stars.
Capricorn is said to contain fifty-one stars
visible to the naked eye, but only six of
them are above the fifth magnitude, and
the brightest three are of only the third
The tail of this monster, at one-third of
the distance from Fomalhaut to Affair, is
marked by a pair Of stars ranging nearly
east and west of which the brighter is of
the third magnitude. The horns are marked
by a somewhat wide pair of stars, both
of the third magnitude. which range north
and south and are nearly in line with AL
tair A keen-sighted person can see that the
upper star Of this pair is double 1t Is
very pretty object for the opera glass.
The two pairs Of stars just pointed out
are conspicuous objects in the general pau
city of stars hereabouts, and enable US
readily to locate the constellation, though
there is little about it to attract Afternoon
except the name. Capricorn is an OLD
school-days acquaintance. We recall that
the name Is borne by one Of the terrestrial
tropics" Ancently the sun entered this
constellation when In the course OF It's an
nual round Of the heavens 1t reached the
southernmost point in it's path-a point
midway between the two equinoXes, at
which it crosses the celestial equator-and
turned back toward the north From
Greek word which means ito turn" the
name tropic was given to the parallel or
LATITUDE over which the sun was then YER
teal and Capricorn" was added to dis
tinguish this tropic from that In the north
ern hemisphere. which the sun reached
upon entering Cancer. At the present
time. owing to change which has been
brought about in the positions of the 20
diacal "signs" by the movement known as
the procession of the equinoXes," the sun
Is at it's southernmost point when 1t enters
the constellation Sagittarius. which adjoins
Capricorn on the west. although 1t is still
said in the almanac to ''enter Capricorn at
that time. Similarly the sun is said to
center Cancer" when actually 1t enters the
constellation Gemini.
The Celestial Waterman.
Adjoining Capricorn on the east Is Aquar
ius the Waterman. Above the tail of Cap
ricorn may be seen two stars of the third
magnitude. about as far apart as the upper
two stars in the bowl Of the Great Dipper.
They range almost exactly with the pair
of stars in the horns Of Capricorn. These
stars mark the shoulders of the Waterman.
His head Is unmarked, unless We take for 1t
the third-magnitude star which stands above
the right shoulder and is really-according
to the chart-in the nose of Pegasus The
three stars just noted form right-angled
triangle with two equal sides, which is
quite noticeable object The Waterman is
represented upon the chart by the figure of
a man in a decidedly cramped position.
pouring water from pitcher, or ever, held
in his right hand. This ever is formed by
a small and very pretty Y-shaped group Of
four small stars short distance to the
left (the observers left of the star in the
right shoulder. The stream which issues
from 1t. marked by a curved line of groups
of small stars. descends to the mouth of
the Southern Fish AS to this fish itself.
there is not much of 1t visible except the
eye-the star Fomalhaut.
Stars of Special Interest.
Eta Pegasi a star of the third magni-
tude, near the northwestern corner of the
Square of Pegasus, stands first On list of
some forty-one stars which have been found
in the last four years by Prof. w. w.
Campbell with the Mills spectr ograph of
the Lick observatory to be "spectros copic
binaries." That is to say. they consist CT
two or more stars which revolve about
each other, but so close together that they
cannot be seen separately with even the
largest telescope. Po!aris the Pole, or
North Star. Is one of these stars; another
Is Beta Capric3rni, the lower and brighter
of the two stars already pointed out as
marking the horns of Capricorn.
Still another of these recently discovered
spectroscopic binaries. and, perhaps, the
most interesting Of them all, Is Capella.
the northern hemisphere, the rival of both
Arcturus and Vega. Each OF these three
stars would be reckoned of the zero magni-
tude were such a class recognized. being
about two and half times as bright as
standard frst-magnitude star. The binary
character Of Capelia was discovered by