El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-11-27

Il
( capture the whole party and sieze con-
! troll
II was learned that the Germans
We're importing arms in packages Ia
/ belled camera plates and nipple
/ ments.' A schooner is also said to
[ have been seized and rifles and ammu-
| milton found on board. Several OF the
! plOtters are under arrest
| AIaedIer conceived that there was such
I a central sun. the post OF honor being
assigned to the star Alcyone. In the
/ Pleiades, which was regarded as the
center of the universe
This little group OF stars, now so
! finely in view. has strongly appealed
{ to writers Of ali ages, and the myStI-
cism concerning the seven stars goes
back even as lar as the book Of the
prophet JOB The sweet influence OF
I the Pleiades" seems to have appealed
/ 10 all nations and tribes and there is
sister Such a widespread belief must
/ find its true explanation in fact; but
I which, in truth. is the lost Plead is
1 hard to know
Six Visible stars.
I The six stars readily visible are:
Alcyoue. the brightest of the third
magnitude; Electra and Atlas, slightly
Z brighter than the fourth magnitude;
Maia, Of the fourth magnitude. with
MeroDe and Tavgeta slightly fainter.
i
gives but one-third the light OF Tay-
geta, can be readily seen. as can also
Pleione- These eight stars are easily
visible to anyone Moderately keen
! eyes may count nine Pleiades. while
/ exceptionally keen vision reveals Il or
even Il. With q twO-inch telescope
nearly 100 can be counted in the group.
I while modern photographs reveal over
1000
The peculiar character Of the spec
trum Of pleione has led professor Pick
ering to the belief that il formerly
shone with a temporary brilliancv, and
that II is the lost Plead As a ma tier
Of fact, this star is now twice as bright
as III was by Argelander's estimate so
years ago.
All Moving Alike.
Is this interesting group physically
connected in any manner, or are the
( stars forming il at various distances
away. and merely brought INTO line ac-
cideutally with no real connection,
One bond OF union IS found from the
4 fact that they are all moving athwart
the sky in parallel paths. or in other
words. they are all drifting through
space together Other points Of re-
semblance make US sure that they form
really connected group, and not an
accidental one
Observations since MaedIer's time
have not confirmed his hypothesis. and
. there is not sufficient scientific basis
, for the notion that AlcyOne Is the cen
ter Of the universe None the less. IL
viii be interesting to compare cur own
sun with this distant sun, and TO esti-
mate its brightness if il were n the
distance OF the Pleiades- il is generally
conceded that this group is very re-
mote, so far off in fact. that II takes
light travelling at the almost inconceiv-
able speed OF $4,000 miles per second
as much as 1870 years to cross the dis
lance from the Pleiades To Us. Light
with its great velocity takes but eight
minutes of time TO cross the interveu-
ing 93.000.000 Of miles between US and
the sun.
Getting the Light.
If the sun were twice as far from Us
as IL is now. we would receive but one
quarter Of the light we now get With
each increase of distance. its briiiiancy
would decrease as the square At the
enormous distance Of AIcyone. the
light Of our sun would be so feeble
that il could not be seen with the
naked eve. for it would be but Of sc
MAGNITUDE. There is little doubt that
at least 80 Of the Pleiades surpass in
magnitude and brilliancy our own glo-
riOus sun, and Alcyone is at least 40
times as brilliant, The stars are suns
and our sun Is star, but II is a rather
small and insignificant star in the
great universe. Verify, zone star diff
fereth from another in glory"
Planetary COnfiEuratIOn.
December ?, 10 a. m. Mercury in de-
sceuding node.
December s. sos a. m, Mercury and
moon in conjunction Mercury north
degrees min.
December :. 11-2S p. m. Venus and
degree 81 min.
December .. 10 a m. Venus at aphe-
lion.
December 10. s:s4 p. m. Uranus and
moon in conjunction Uranus south 1
degree 81 min.
December u. 6 p me- Jupiter in
quadrature with sun
December b. a II, Mercury in
aphelion.
December 13. 1855 a. m, Jupiter and
moon in conjunction. Jupiter south 3
degrees Il min.
December IS. 3 p. m. Mercury at SUI
perlor conjunction with sun.
December %, 1884 p. M. Saturn and
moon IN conjunction Saturn south 2
degrees Il min.
December y. Sos p. m. sun enters
Capricornus winter commences
December q. 1888 a. m, Neptune
ana moon in conjunction. Neptune
south So min
December 20. 1901 p. m, Mars and
moon in conjunction Mars north
degrees - min.
December Moon Phases.
december 8. lib D. m, new moon
December IS. 4-4S q. m. first quarter
December q, 500 "A. IN. full moon
December %. 6:O9 a. m, last quarter
The Planets for December.
Mercury viii not be visible during
December. being on the opposite side
OF the sun.
Venus is now drawing rapidly away
from the sun and Will be seen low in
the western evening sky II viii set
about an hour and a half after the sun
by the middle Of the month. and two
hours later on the 3Ist
Mars VIII rise in the east about II
D. M and viii he on TIE meridian about
4 a. m Tt IS in the constellation Leo,
near Regulus. and is easily distiu-
punishable because Of its rudy color
j moves about five degrees eastward
during the month. and viii be within
100000. 600 miles OF the earth Through
an unfortunate error in the calculation
OF this planets position for November
II was stated that it would be on the
meridian At midnight on November 1.
II was rising in the east at that hour
Jupiter Most COnsDicuOus.
Jupiter IS still a most consDicu0us
object in the evening sky. but will soon
have 90 give way 10 the superior brill
liancy OF Venus. 1t is in Aquarius and
VIII be on the meridian at sunset It
is in quadratUre with the sun. 80 de-