Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-26

space with a speed Of more than 2OC
miles each second. If we watch this beau
tful star for only minute we know
that during that time it has advanced
1900 miles on its journey, yet 1t is Sc
wonderfully far away that without q
telescope we could not detect that it had
changed its position even If We watched
1t for many years. It's motion is, however,
SO very rapid that in the course of S12
years 1t changes its place among the
other stars by distance equal to the
diameter of our moon. Job sang Of this
star 1000 years ago, but when he looked
at 1t he saw it in the position marked
J in Fig. 1. So great a displacement Is
an enormous motion for any star.
Twelve centuries ago Arcturus was a
guide to husbandmen. Thus Hesiod
wrote:
''when in the rosy morn Arcturus shines.
Then pluck the clusters from the parent vines;
And when Arcturus leaves the main to rise
A bright star; shining in the evening skies,
Then prune the vine"
So that if Hesiod is to be taken as an
authority on agriculture the vines should
be pruned toward the end of February
and the beginning of March.
The poSseSSOr of a small telescope will
find that all of the stars marked B In Fig.
two stars at c. although they require a
moderately large glass, are among the
most magnificent double stars in the
heavens. The stars composing the lower
one Ol THESE are yellow ana purple, re-
spectively, while the upper is made Of
two suns, one of which is described as
being of an orange color and the other
as green. This pair is a superb sight. The
two strangely colored suns probably re-
vOlve around one another in about 1900
years; both are approaching us at the
rate of about ten miles second.
The reader cannot have failed to notice
how rapidly the great planet Saturn has
been leaving the evening sky: already it
is low dnWn In the and hy
the end of the month 1t will have drawn
much too near the sun for satisfactory
observation. Yet it will not actually pass
that body and become morning star
until April 81.
Meanwhile, during this month, the beau
uful Venus will climb we'll up into the
evening sky, and then it will remain our
brill ant evening star all through the
August 10. and not finally withdrawing
into the morning sky until the 18th of
September.
on March % the rapidly moving Venus
and then both bright bodies may be seen
shining out very near together in the
twilight glow for about two hours after
sunset. Venus will lie two and one-half
two planets Of such different color and
luster form most beautiful object for
examination with a small telescope
Jupiter. though very near the evening
sky. is just beyond the borders of our
map in Fig. l. 1t is odd that just as
Saturn leaves the evening sky this year
the greater planet enters it; they are al
most exactly opposite one another on the
celestial sphere. On March l Jupiter will
rise at about 1920 o'clock, and on March
81 at twenty minutes before 9. 1t will
emerge from the ground far in the south
east, a very little south Of the point at
which the beautiful star Spica may have
been seen to rise an hour and q
half before. All night long It remains q
most brilliant and beautiful object in the
heavens.