Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-03-14
WINTER CONSTELLATION.

WINTER CONSTELLATION.
The splendid consultations of winter are
till with US, but evidently are preparing
10 depart. We look south now to see the
NEST of al-the Incompatible Orion-and
Mess we look early VIC shall see him
slowly sloping toward the west" EN-
ept the big Dipper, Orion is. perhaps.
he easiest to identify Of all the bright
onfgura tons of the sky. The bright.
econd- magnitude stars arranged In
ow, each being about three moon
reaths from its nclghbor, form the fam
us belt of Orion, or Yardstick. The lat
er designation no doubt comes from the
hct that, being three degrees IL length,
serves the student excellently for pur
oses a comarson. At distance of
bout ten degrees on either side of the
cit, to make immediate use for our les
on we find a brilliant frst-magntude
tar. while two other stars of lesser mag
itude complete a quadrilateral inclosing
he belt, the two frst-magnitude stars
eng diagonally opposite each other. Of
lese bright stars the one highest in the
Ky is named Bethelgeus, the other Rigel.
he belt points onward toward Sirius In
be constellation CAMS Major, and up
,tion Taurus. These two stars, with
ethelgouse and Rigel, from vast
amord-shaped figure, whose majestic
utlines can be better realized now than
any other time of the year. The color
bntrasts are exceedingly fine. Betel-
euse and Aldebaran being deep red
DIOR while Sirius and Rgel are of the
urest white.
Sirius, also known as the Dog Star, is
be brightest of all the fixed stars. Its
bnstelaton, Carts Major, has number
bright stars but these receive less than
ter due share of attention, because their
bw latitude causes them to skirt close to
be southern horizon. They are now at
eir greatest latitude in the early even
hg and may be studied with. ease
aurus is now moving toward the west
n hour ahead of Aldebaran is the beau
ful little group known as the Pleades
lebaran is at the end Of one arm of the
shaped figure called the l.yades, an
sterism of great beauty and interest
nd containing one of the few naked-eye
bubble stars: that Is. star which on extra
ear nights is seen as two stars very
ose together.
Turning from the south to the north
g see the Big Dlpper east of the Pole
th Its handle pointing toward the
brtheastern horizon. Looking in that
rection when the evening has well adj
inced We see a brilliant star which at
ice couples attention. This is the
ighty Arcturus, the leader of the con-
citations OF spring and summer. The
70 outer stars In the bowl of the Big
nDiDt town ri 10
so near the celestial pole that 1t seems
MAINTAIN the same position all night
rough all the nights Of the wear. The
me stars point backward toward the
eat constellation of the Lion, which
pes not bear any extraordinary resem-
ance to the beast from which it derives
name. 1t contains a group called
e Sickle, however, which is exceedingly
ell named, though unofflcialy So The
light star in the end of the Sickle is
sned Regulus and is interesting as the
ar whose changes of position led
ipparchus to the discovery of the pro-
ssion of the equnoxes.
Near the zenith we find Caster and Pol
X, the Heavenly Twins, and nearby we
I'd the constellation holding as tenn
rary guest the planet Jupiter As this
ahet outshines all the fixed stars there
no trouble about his Identification.
Ign In the sky between Taurus and the
NTH may be seen the constellation Au-
ga marked by pentagonal figure of
ight stars one of these being the first
agntude star Capella. In the west the
installations Of autumn, the Royal Fam
Is sinking into obscurlty.
THE PLANETS.
Or the planets Jupiter is now alone in
evening sky, Saturn, who has borne
m company for two months past. being
w in the daylit sky. Mars rises short
after midnight now, and will no with