The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1912-02-22
THINGS TO Be SEEN IN
FEBRUARY SKIES
An Astronomical Study. Several
Stars in Plelades.

renew some brilliant acquaintance
before the month of February has
ended. Few of the more interesting
stars have passed out of the nine
O'Clock field-none of the first magni-
tude-and, what the western horizon
/ loses, the eastern more than gains.
AS the month of February closes, De
neb sinks out of sight where the
northern msts hide the foot of the
Milky Way, but, as it disappears, rud-
dy Arcturus swings into view in the
| Northeast
The Milky Way now stretches al
most across the zenith and some OF
the finest asterisms in the heavens
are grouped along its course In the
North are Cassiopeia in her royal
chair; Perssas, with its wonderful
variable star, Algol, and tent-shaped
Auriga. Southwark are Gemini THE
Twins,l Taurus (The Bull, Orion
with his belt of gold" and The Dogs
Greater and Less. In this region, too
are many interesting objects for the
opera glass.
can distinguish six or seven stars in
the group which composes the ia
nous Pleiades. On clear, moonless
night a sharp eye may count as many
as nine or eleven. A good opera
glass, or better still, a field glass, re-
veals as many as forty or sixty, the
faintest ones twinkling in and out of
the limits of visibility in a manner
that suggests the presence of others
lust beyond those limits. Celestial
photography shows that there are
5000 stars in this conspicuous
group, as many as the naked eye can
distinguish in the whole sky at any
time under the most favorable condi-
tons for seeing.
FORM A STUPENDOUS SYSTEM.
Alcyone, the brightest of tho group,
is a star of the third magnitude. 1t
forms the junction of the bowl and
handle of the unprecedented outline.
The German astronomer, Maedler, be-
lieved ii to be the Central Sun" the
axis of revolution of the whole ma
terial universe. The ancient Hundus
are said to have had similar notion
of it's Importance and some occidental
mystics assign to it n high place in
their scheme of things.
Modern astronomers believe that
they have evidence that Alcyone is in
trinsically many times more brilliant
than Sirius, the Great Dog Star, which
is to us the brightest star in the sky
Ball says that many of the stars OF
The Pleiades must be hundreds OF
times more lustrous than the sun
The principal stars of the group are
travelling in parallel lines, which
shows that they make up a connected
system That system must be built on
scale of inconceivable magnificence
glimmering cluster which Tennyson
compares to "a swarm of butterflies
tangled in a silver braid" Photo
graphy shows that The Plelades are
really entangled in a mass of nebu-
lous matter, the remnant perhaps of
that chaos from which the system
sprang.
THE PLEIADES' HALF-SISTERS
The V-shaped cluster of The Hy-
AIDES, which forms the face of the
Bull, is less famous than The PIE
ladies, but no less beautiful. The rosy
tints of Aldebaran are emphasized by
the white glimmer of the smaller
stars near it. The opera glass shows
some beautiful double stars, at Least
two of which are visible to the unaid
ed eye when atmospheric conditions
favor. This would not be often if the
group deserved its poetic appellatioI
of the rainy Hyades, for since
ancient times they have been associa-
ted with rain and storm. In mytho
logy The Hyrades were half-sisterF
of The Pleiades, daughters of thu
giant Atlas.
Across the Milky Way, midway be
tween Gemini and The Sickle in Leo
is Cancer, fifth of the zodiacal con
stellation, rather inconspicuou:
group, but containing one object, The
Beehive, that lends itself especially
well to opera glass observation. TIC
the unaided eye. it appears a nebu-
lous patch of light and it may be-
easily found by drawing line
/ through Castor and PolluX and about
~ degrees beyond, the distance be.
tween The Twins, four and one-hal
degrees, serving as a measure. Tn.
/ der the glass the nebulous patel
breaks up into a group of stars of th'
seventh and eighth magnitudes. Al
many as forty may be counted.
WHAT CALLED SAW.
The Beehive has been known from
ancient times under the name o
Praesepe or The Manager. and the twt
little stars north and south of it'll
Aselli or Little Asses-have BEEF
patiently munching its contents sine
the days of Homer. Praesepe was on
~, rr,1f Oh. oil 10