Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-27

shine out the stars Of the constellation
Cygnus, sometimes called the Northern
Cross Low down in the southeast may
now be seen Fomalhaut, the Royal Star,
an intensely white STAR which is nearer
the south pole of the heavens than any
other bright star of the sky ever visible
to US.
The Milky Way.
Perhaps the most beautiful feature of
the September sky is that great multi
tude of countless stars, the
Broad and ample road whose dust is gold,''
which forms a great arch over the heav-
ems from the south to the north. At no
other time of the year is this galaxy SO
bright as now, but to see it at it's best the
observer must be away from the glare OF
electric lights and the sky must be very
clear. If he will examine 1t with small
telescope or a pair of opera glasses he
will discover, as Calico did three CEN
turtles ago, that it is not merely nebu-
lous stream, but vast aggregation OF
suns, which are here and there appar-
emily congregated together in great
swarms and in other parts are scattered
or even absolutely wanting. At these lat
ter parts of the stream we can look
through the Milky Way and see the black
sky beyond. The regions near Scorpius
and Cassiopeia Will especially repay eX-
animation. In the position marked c on
the map is one of the vacant, black spaces
which is known as the Northern Coal
sack
What the true form of this great uni
verse of stars is, what it's size is and how
it's stars are moving, whether they are
gradually drawing together Or scattering
or even revolving about various centers, is
not yet known. It is only known that all
of the brighter stars of the sky, our own
sun included, belong to this enormous
cluster. The discovery of the changes
;.l1
as a whole will be of the greatest
achievements of the astronomy of the fu-
ture.
The September Consultations.
If the observer will face the south he
will find no difficulty in tracing out from
the map the consultations which lie in the
Milky Way. Near the ground is Sagitta-
RUS; above this is Aquila, the Eagle, with
Delphinus, the Dolphin, a little to the
northeast, while directly overhead is Cyg-
nus, the Swan. Now, facing the north
land turning the map upside DOWN, the
brilliant consultations Cassiopeia and Per-
seus are seen, while to the east of the
Milky Way, stretching all the way from
Perseus to Delphinus, are the constella-
tons Andromeda and Pegasus.
Andromeda, the unfortunate daughter OF
Cepheus and Cassiopeia, was chained to
the rocks in exposure to the sea monster In
punishment of her mothers boast of beau
ty Perseus, her rescuer, is represented
by a bright constellation near, and this
is surrounded by the star dust of the
Milky Way he was characterized as stir.
ring up dust in heaven" This group is
described by Kingsley:
High for a star IN the heavens =
Spreading thy long white all night in thu
heights Of the 8ther,
Hard by the sire and the hero, thy spouse, while
near thee thy mother
,t,oir sha V,latt stall
All night long thou wilt shine.
The Nebula of Andromeda
The observer should not fail to look for
the nebula of Andromeda at the point
marked N on the map. This with a pair OF
opera glasses is clearly seen as a small
oval milky-white patch of light. 1t is even
visible to the naked eye, and was de-
scribed as early as the tenth century as
the Little Cloud. This nebula is believed
to be a new and enormous system, some
what similar to the solar system, in process
of formation. There is central condensed
nucleus surrounded by a series of rings
very like Saturn's ring system, and it is
believed that all of the interior part will
condense into one great sun, while the
outer portions will condense into smaller
as the planets of the solar system have
done. There is indeed a round condensed
mass in the border of the great nebula
which is believed to be a planet whose
birth is even now beginning. This study
of the beginnings of worlds. during the for
nation of which countless ages of time
pass away, is one of the grandest concep-
lions of astronomy. But such knowledge
can be derived with far greater certainty
from a comparatively new branch of as.
tronomy known as double-star astronomy
The Double Stars.
Many of the stars of the sky when viewed
with a telescope are seen to be not single
stars, but two sta very close together
They are really two immense suns which
are revolving about one another under the
action of the force of gravity. Many thou
sand such systems have already been dis
covered. A study of the way in which
these bodies move has led to many most In
teresting discoveries. 1t has been shown
for example, that the great law Of gravity
is not peculiar to the solar system, but thai
1t operates throughout the whole universe