The Washington times., 1904-01-03
BEAUTIES OF SKIES
IN JANUARY NIGHTS
Consultations That Will Delight Star Gazers.
Points of Doubt in Nebular Hypothesis.

which he attached. as something nom
existent on the earth, the name of he'll
ium. scientists felt puzzled how to
reconcile the existence of an element in
the sun that had never been found in
the earth with the nebular hypothesis.
But about a quarter of a century after
the discovery of helium in the sun an
astonishing discovery was made by
Prof. Ramsey. This happened in the
year 1895. He was examining a rare
piece Of mineral from Norway. From
this mineral (clevite) the professor ex-
tracted little gas which was to him
and to all other chemists quite un-
known. But on applying the spectre
scope to examine the character Of the
light which this gas emitted when sub
mitted to the electric current It yielded,
to their amazement, the characteristic
light of helium. Thus was the sun-ele-
ment at last shown to be a terrestrial
body, though no doubt a rare one.
These circumstances make helium for
ever famous among the constituents of
the universe. 1t will never be forgot
ten that. though henceforth it may be
regarded as a terrestrial body, yet II
was discovered not in the earth beneath
In conclusion of this interesting sub
ject of the nebular theory we may be
permitted To say that the method of in
duction requires great caution. and has
In more than one instance led to erron-
eous conclusions; yet when such a mul-
dtude Of particular facts as in the case
OF the nebular hypothesis have been col
lected in corroboration of the truth OF
the theory the very calculus of prob
abilities would constrain US to accept L
as an established fact-at least in it's
most essential features.
Winter Consultations.
The consultations present a beautiful
picture in any season of the year. but
the palm Of beauty must be conceded to
the winter skies. as the most brilliant
consultations in the whole heavens.
with several others Of great beauty.
send their genial light to us during the
greater portion OF the night One OF the
considerations that about 9 o'clock in
the January evenings are on our merid-
ian Is Perseus. This star group is easily
recognized by extending the Andromed's
handle at the star Gamma Andromedae
in straight line by a length rather
greater than the distance from
Gamma to Beta Andromedae.
The extremity of that prolonged line IS
Alpha Persei the brightest in that con-
stellation- II IS sometimes called Al
genib. but must not be confounded with
the star Of the same name in the Square
Of Pegasus A characteristic configura-
ton Of Perseus is it's segment"
curved line formed by Delta. Alpha.
Gamma, and Eta. which is easily
traced
The most remarkable star in Perseus
is Beta. CT AlgOl. whose vagaries at
tracted notice in early times. In ages
when the stars were wOrshiped as di-
whites II is not unreasonable to sup
pose hat star whose light varied in
any extraordinary manner should nat
uraily be viewed with some degree of
suspicion as contrasted with stars that
dispense their beams with uniformity.
1t was doubtless a feeling of this kind
which rendered Algol a star Of question
able import to the ancient students of
the heavens. 1t was accordingly known
as the Demon Star. for this is the mean
ing Of the name by which we know it,
It's period Of variability is well known.
1t is 2 days 20 hours as minutes 20 Sec
onds- Considering that these changes
can be observed without a telescope. II
is not surprising that they have been
known for centuries.
Constellation of Auriga.
Northeast of Perseus is the fine con-
stellation Of Auriga, the Charioteer. in
stantly recognized by the beautiful first
magnitude star Capelia Cthe Coat, Of
course the Alpha Of the constellation.
Capella is in the northwestern corner of
a large Irregular pentagon, the vertices
Of which are marked by Beta, or Menka-
Imam. east Of Capella, and Theta, Gam
ma. Iota. South of CapeIla are the three
stars Espilon. Eta, Zeta, which form a
small isosceles triangle with a very
acute angle at Epsilon. These are the
"Hoedi" or Kids
Directly south Of Perseus and Auriga
is the Zodiacal constellation Taurus. or
the Bull, distinguished by the first-mag-
nitude star Aldebaran-sometimes called
the Bulls Eye"-and the remarkable
star clusters of the Pleiades and
Hyades. the latter having a V-shaped
figure. Of which Aldebaran forms a part.
The Pleiades have attracted a special
attention from times immemorial. The
name of this group comes from a Greek
word sgnifying Ito SAIL" because at
this season o. the year they were con-
sidered the stars of the ocean to the
benighted mariners. The brightest of
the Pleiades Is Alcyone, which was as
signed, though enormously, to the dig
nifty of the Central Sun" by the Ger
man astronomer Nader.