El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-03-27
ats PM APR Il 800 Pm. APR Is. 200 Pm. APR. 3d.
By GARRETT P. sERVIss.

By GARRETT p. SERVISs.
T THE HOUR represented in the
~ chart the great consultations of
1 \ winter. under the captainship OF
orion. are seen as it were in flight. and
inst about to sink behind the western
horizon. Their line stretches from
Argo Navis, in the southwest around
through the east, 20 Cassiopeia, far IN
me northwest And behind them from
one end Of the vast column 10 the otileL,
Ga0rs like a cloud Of sunliu dust aDoNs
the retreating host, the gauzy scar O
fhe Milky Way. over in the east. as
81 in pursuit, come Ihe sIeS- 81, s.,
stars and considerations, leo Dy S2lCes ~
Inc Virgin. Arcturus in the Bear-DrlFeE
fBootes). and Vega in the Tyre
Between the two hosts the cen Il Il -. a
part Of the sky is relatively barr en-, Leo
kf0b IN the south, and the Great Dippef
nearly overhead. being the only conslel-
1sfious TO attract much Afternoon mere
The huge serpent, Hydra. Win nus oLd-
--o-d-SRaped head under the Beehive
cluster in Cancer, stretches easLM aLu
beneath Leo, Crater, COrFus ana lfEO'
but with the exception OF AIphsrQl ne
has no bright star. coma befsh.Css'
above virgo and between Leo and arc
f1lrrfs cleans with a silvery Ulster de-
lived from its multitude Of small stars,
and presents an admirable oDJSCI AOi
f{ffis later in the evening, as Sirius
sinks behind the western horl1on- fssA
begins TO glitter with diamond DIl5ile-
ness above the northeastern horizon.
ssnica in the meantime, advances from
tie east and prOclaims herself me
oueen star Of the spring, Ior WINE she
q Less brilliant than Arcturus ABOVE
- d. f555ss-ssse5 singularly pure
white ray, which Is hardly matched IN
beauty BY that OF any other star IN the
Surrounding the group OF stars in the
western part Of Virgo Is the celeb rateQ
Field Of the Nebulae, where about 5U0
of those mysterious objects are scat
tered thiclZly on the sky. But unIor-
runateIv they are only TO be seen with
TELESCOPES. Yet IL is worth while 70
know where this starry meadow lies,
for IL Is a true symbol OF SPRING me
uebulae being. in certain sense the
seeds Of Vet uncreated suns
The first star to the west OF Splca IN
the chart, lying almost on the Equator:
is the famous Gamma Virgins. one OF
the first true binary stars 70 be dis
covered A binary" as distinguished
from a double" star means one whose
components are known to be IN reTolu-
tion about their common center me
period OF revolution Of Gamma Virgins
is something less than 200 years Inc
Two stars composing Il are nearly equal
IN brightness, their magnitude being
the third. and they are about six sec
onds Of an arc apart 20 that the small
est Astronomical telescope easily sepa-
rates them. There is q notable meteOric
shower on the goth OF April, known as
the Lyrids, because they radiate from
the constellation Of Lyra, near the star
Vega They follow the track OF a comet
that was seen IN 1851, and are swift IN
DiseoTsry Of Comet 1s16a CEeMsh).
The following interesting Circumstances IN
comet are related by Nj Mellish IN The
Monthly Register OF the Society for Prac-
tlcaI Astronomy:
sfTThils hunting for comets on the morn
ing OF February sth, 1918. with the 16-inch
reflector, I found four nebulous objects not {
given in my star atlas. As I did not have
found because 1t soon became light, / had Z
10 let them all 60 until the next clear night
The morning Of the 10th was clear. and the .
last object found proved 70 be a comet I Z
first Observed Il was 16h C. S T.. but was ]
not Ears whether IL had really moved in the I
lat fWenty-four hours since got confused {
IN The adfoIning stars. and had 70 make a /
rev chart Of the surrounding region But /
At 17h I looked at the object again, and I
found some motion east-at least there I
seemed 20 be some motion, but the comet [
vas moving very slowly. By In 45m. It i
had moved its diameter, or very nearly, I
Knee l6h- It's position was then about r 4
A. 1Th o2m, Dec. plus deg IS min. Il 4
was roughly min. Of arc in diameter, and !
bright with what seemed 70 be a spread- {
ing tail Ike a fan and very short
The comet seems 20 have Travelled only I
one-third OF a degree in "a hours, nearly !
hat q four inch refract0r with q power OF Z
50 viii show g."
John E. Lellish.
Cottage Grove. Wis, Feb. 10 1915.
Harvard Bulletin $50 March l. gives the
Ephsmeris for the Neilish comet r.
for March computed BY Profs Crawford
and Miss Young. Of the studentS Observa-
Right Ascension Deeiination
March IN s1n SIS y. deg. % min
S S#:::s \ &: i + $s
Cambridge, Mass. March 4.-Mellish's
somet. which is visible in the morning skies
through a small telescope. IS Increasing in
lrilnancy and will make its periheliOn pass
-ge around the sun on July 20.
Through the courtesy OF Hugh Eazelton.
Z Zoe Broadway. New York City, we are
permitted 20 make the following interesting
late Of March 3, from Mr.. Mellish regard
ne the comet:
The comet seems to be a giant. but #
riu never come nearer 20 US than GO mil
ion miles and $50 million miles from the
I'm, so So will not appear very bright
II Il was as near as Halley's comet Il
would be % times as bright In June It
viii be nearly 40 times as bright as It was
Then found it, and then will be plainly
isible TO the naked eye. but during June It
VII 90 south and out OF our sight
II is now about degrees south OF p
'phiuehi and st viii move very slowly
I have seen it only three nights. Feb. sth.
9th and 18th. Moonlight will hide It now
OF time"
Planetary Configuration.
April 3. 200 ?. m--Nercury and Mars IN !
onjunction- Mars south 1 degree Is min
Aprn . 500 p Mars In periheliOn-
earest point to sun.
April s. 4.52 p m--Urauus and moon in
CONJUNCTION Uranus north IS min
april 8 500 ,. Neptune stationary.
april 10. 1;5b p MENUS and moon in
on1uncuon- Venus south degrees SO min.
april IL sol a. m.-Jupiter and moon in
Jupiter south degrees & min