El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-12-27
n GARRETr b. SERVES.

" VERY eye is now drawn irresist-
X IDLY to the great constellation
- Orion, situated about an hour east
is one of the most imposing spectacles
that the heavens afford. In ancient
times the appearance Of this conste1la-
ton was always associated with the
coming of the season of storms ana
tempesus. HesiOd wrote;
then the winds war aloud,
And veil the ocean with a sable
The spiendor of his two great first
magnitude stars, Rigel in the foot and
Betelgeuse in the shoulder, Is alone
enough to make this constellation
cvnOsure for all eyes, to say nOInlnS
of the marvellous beauty Of the three
matched stars that form the Delu OF
the imaginary giant high above To-
ward the west biazeS the buli, 1duFus'
with the cleaning cluster OF the Plea
des shaking upon his flank and the
red AIdebaran aflame IN ms eye as ne
Tushes down upon Orion. Lower Unan
Orion in the east appears the unrlvalled
Sirius in the mouth Of the Great DOSs
who follows after orion. As one looks
at the brilliant "DOgstar" flashing all
the cOlors of the spectrum, one cannon
I help recalling the remarkable history
of that star which was WOrShlppeQ on
the banks of the Nile long before Rome
had been heard of, and in whose honor
were erected temples whose magnIfl-
] cence and magnitude produce astonlsh-
ment even in this age of architectural
River in the Sky.
Directly in the south, flowing first
westward from the foot of Orion ana
then turning eastward, is Eridanus, the
River Its stars are so arranged that
/ they produce Enthusiastically the APP
/ pearance of a stream in the sky. Away
over in the west appears Cetus, the
Whale one of the most extensive OF
A,1T nrrH 0rlr 2 ina 10
stars bright enough to attract special
attention The Great Square of Pega-
sus, with Saturn below it is half way
down the western sky. Running east
ward from the corner of the Square
is the row of second magnitude stars
which mark the figure OF 4ndrOmedl-
East of AndrOmeda comes Perseus, and
southeast of Perseus, buried In the
Milky Way, appears Auriga, Ornamented
with the great. white star Capella
Capella is directly north of Orion, anc
about half way from the head of that
constellation to the Pole Star South
east Of Capella come the twins
Gemini, with the brilliant PrOcyOn, in
CAMS Minor, below them Still further
down in the East, below Gemini, is
Cancer, the Crab, remarkable for its
glimmering cluster called the Manager
The Great Dipper.
The Great Dlpper, III UrSa Major,
stands upright on its handle low down
in the northeast while CassiOpeia, which
-
opposite TO the Dipper, is high up in
the northwest above Andromeda.
From all quarters wrote the Greek
poet Aratus whom St. Paul quoted
'the heavens speak to man." and surely
at no season do they speak more plainly
or more elOQuently and imposlngIv
than at this season, when they are
ablaze with their brightest brilHants
At the beginning of January the
earth is in periheliOn, or at its point
of nearest approach to the sun. We
are now 8, coo. 600 miles nearer the sun
that we were in July and yet it is
winter for US, simply because the
northern hemisphere now leans away
from the sun, so that its rays fall
slopingly upon US here, and are con-
sequenUly spread over so much greater
an area that their heating power is
less. In the southern hemisphere the
case is exactly reversed for there the
suns rays now fall more perpendiC-
ularly, and propOrtOnately greater
number Of them are spread over a
given area of the earths surface. Per
petual night now reigns at the North
Pole and perpetual day at the South
Pole.
The Planets For January.
Mercury will not be visible during
January being too near the sun
Venus viii also be lost to view be-
hind the sun this month. Mars presents
most striking appearance, fiery red
IN color, as 1t climbs UP the eastern
sky during January evenings, as it
is now nearest the earth. Aldebaran I
a bright red first magnitude star is
some distance above it, near Saturn.
and attention is called to it so that il
may not be mistaken for the planet
because of its similarity in color Mars
appears larger and is of a deeper red
color Mars rises shortly after sunset
throughout January. On. Jan. 5. it will
be in opposition, that is Mars, the earth
and the sun will be directly in line
with each other The earth moving
faster in its orbit than Mars the latter
appears to move backward westward
retrogade it is termed. Mars viii con-
tinue this apparent backward move
ment until the middle of February
when it viii again resume its eastward
Journey. It will be found interesting
to watch this apparent backward
movement of the planet, which will
carry it ten degrees westward fulIv
twenty moon disks.
Jupiter viii not be visible during
January, being on the opposite side of
the sun
Saturn is grandly in view in the CON
stellatiCn Taurus, its rings being pre-
scented to the earth at nearly their
widest angle. No one should miss this
most favorable opportunity, if possible.
TO obtain a telescope view of this re-
markable planet
Uranus win he lost to view behind the
san this month.
Neptune viii be well placed for OBJ
servation in cancer during January, if
viii be found a short distance east of