El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-02

A LMOST in the zenith hangs the
n beautiful Northern Crown Co
= \ roma Borealis, a constellation so
striking in form that we cannot Won
der at its recognition under the name
of a crown among the earliest peoples.
The Greeks called it Ariadne's crown.
The Pearl" of the crown is beautiful
star Of the second magnitude, set in its
front, which is turned toward the
south. West of the Northern Crown
stands Bootes, with the great Arcturus
gl.ttering like a superb pendant hang
ing from the giants girdle. East Of
the crown is Hercules, clearly marked
by an irregular quadilateral figure
formed by four fairly bright stars
Draw an imaginary line from the star
at the northwestern corner of this fig
Ure to the one at the southwestern cor
ner, and close to this line at about
one-thiFd of its length, viii be seen
faint gllmmerlng Speck- plainly NlSlDle
with an opera glass; this is the cele-
bTated Star Cluster Of Hercules, one OF
the greatest telescope wonders IN the
heavens. Its stars are packed together
as thick as a swarm of bees, and when
photographed il presents an astOnish-
ing spectacle There are probably T.
900 or 5000 suns crowded together in
Constellation Of the Tyre.
Beyond Hercules. still farther east,
CLOVIS the brilliant little constellation
Of the Lyre, whose beauty IS largely
chief star Vega or Alpha Lyrae- In the
beauty of its blue white rays Vega has
few rivals. Look at it If possible with
q telescope. Near Vega are two fourth
magnitude stars which make a little
triangle with their great neighbOr.
Both of these stars telesCOplcaly dOu-
bic, but the northernmost one, Epsilon,
is twice double, j. e., it consists OF four
stars Joined in pairs.
Yet lower in the northeast below
Lyra, appears the conspicuous figure
of the Northern Cross in the constella-
ton Cassieopeia- This lies exactly in
the Milky Way which is very brilliant
here. The bottom star in the foot Of
the Cross is one of the most beautiful
doubles in the whole sky. 1t is named
Beta Cygni, or AlbireO. and consists OF
a small deep blue star Joined with a
much larger golden yellow one The
sly allest telescope suffices to separate
this double. whose cOmpOnents are
more than half a minute of arc apart
East of the Northern Cross is seen
the curious little constellation Del
phinus the Dolphin, sometimes called
Jobs Coffin, while southeast shines
Aquila, the Eagle. with the brilliant
Affair which has a smaller star at
little distance on each side Of il.
The Little Dipper.
In the north the Little Dipper stands
upright on the end Of its handle,
marked by the Pole Star. while be-
tween ii and the zenith curves the
crooked Dragon. The Great DiDper.
bowl downward, is west Of the meri-
dian, and CassiOpeia is near the horizon
in the northeast The Sickle of Leo is
near setting in the west and Spica in
VIRGO CLEANS at a good elevation in the
southwest Almost directly south, rap
idly approaching the meridian appears
ScCrpiO, a very remarkable cOustella-
ton on account both of its striking
shape and the peculiarly fiery color Of
its principal star Antares. In Antares
the observer with a telescope finds an
other exceedingly fine object 1t is a
double, the larger Of whose stars is of
the first magnitude and red, while the
smaller, which is very close in the rays
OF its great companion, is brilliant
green. It requires a telescope Of at
least four inches aperture and of first
class quality 10 show satisfactorily the