El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-05-01
BY eARRETT P. sERvIss.

- RION and his great cortege Of
brilliant consultations have now
virtually disappeared from the
evening sky, and the summer constella-
lions ars beginning TO take their
places. The whole length OF the enor-
nous Hydra can now be seen, stretch
ing across the southern sky, starting
with the diamond-shaped head under
the Beehive cluster in Cancer and
running under Leo. Crater, Corvas and
Virgo. nearly to the eastern horizon.
His brightest star, the lone Alphard, ex-
hibits a reddish color. Below the cen
tral and fore parts Of his elongated
body may be seen some of the stars in
the rigging Of the ship Argo, and be-
low his tail some Of the stars Of Cen
taurus Virgo is very conspicuous In
the southeast. especially on account OF
the beauty Of its chief star. the pure
white Spica. The situation Of the cele-
brated binary. Gamma Virgins. is IN
Dictated on the chart. This is well
worth looking at with telescope
The two stars composing It are each
OF about the third magnitude, and their
distance apart is a little less than six
seconds OF arc. They revolve about
their common center Of gravity in
little less than geo years 3-inch
telescope shows them beautifully
Above Virgo the glimmering cluster In
Coma Bernices is conspicuous. and east
Of it glOws great Arcturus. one OF the
most brilliant OF the fixed stars and
the brightest in the constellation
BoOtes. the Bear-Driver. who seems TO
be pursuing the Great Bear, Ursa Major
fthe Great Dipperl. around the pole
Everybody must sympathize with the
exclamation of Carlyle about the delight
of watching "BOOtes driving his hunt
ing dogs across the zenith In their
leash Of sidereal fire"
Dogs In the sky.
The dogs are represented by the lit
tie consultations Of Canes Venatici
under the handle Of the Great Dipper,
which is now almost overhead north Of
the zenith Among other consultations
particularly beautiful at the present
time is Corona Borealis. which may be
seen. with its almost perfect circle Of
stars. northeast OF Arcturus- Away
over in the northeast Lyra is seen rls-
ing with the glittering Vega, which IS
a bright as Arcturus, but strlkingly
different in color. its rays being blue
white while Arcturus is orange, or al
times almost red
Both OF these stars are OF immense
actual magnitude. Arcturus probably
exceeding our sun at least 1000 times
in brightness while Vega is hardly less
enormous But Vega is apparently
young in the order Of evolution, ana
Arcturus is old. older than the sun
Between Corona BOrealis and Vega ap-
pears the constellation Hercules, for
ever memorable from Sir William Her
scheFs discovery that it lies ahead Of
US in the path which the Solar system
is pursuing straight toward the north.
at the rate OF more than 3OOOOOOOt
miles per year. Later studies have
shown that the real direction Of this
vast flight is rather nearer to Vega
than to the central Fart OF Hercules
Hercules Constellation.
There is q good deal Of mystery
about the origin Of the constellation
Hercules Among the ancient Greeks IL
was called The Phantom" and The
Nan Upon His Knees" Leo. in mid
heaven, is wei placed for observation,
the figure Of the Sickle is clearly
marked and the leading star Regulus.
at the lower end Of the handle. is not
only bright but it is important, being
one Of the nautical stars" employed
by sailors in finding their longitude a.
sea There is a well known meteor
shower in May, known as the Aquarids,
because they radiate from the cOnstel-
does not rise before midnight these
meteoTs. If any are seen in the evening,
viii appear shooting up from the hOri-
z0n in the northeast They are visible
from the LIST to the 6th OF the month
They move swiftly, making streaks in
the sky. which usually vanish almost
instantly. Bolides, or firebalIs. not be
longing to any meteor shower may
make their appearance at any time. 4
most wonderful one was seen in Eng
land on the evening OF Feb 22d last
1t left a glowing trail which remained
visible more than two hours
Planetary COnfiEurHtion.
May ], 400 a. m. Mercury at supe-
riOr conjunction with sun
May 2, 500 p m Mercury in ascend /
ing node.
May .. 1900 p. m. Uranus and moon
I'm conjunction. Uranus south min.
May s. 1000 p m Uranus at quadra-
ture with sun
heliOn.
May S. 1901 a. m. Jupiter and moon /
I'm conjunction. Jupiter south s de-
srees 81 min.
May II. 2:is a m. Venus and moon (
I'm conjunction Venus south de-
grees. IS min.
May II. $40 d. m. Mars and moon
in conjunction Mars south degrees /
IS min
May H. 500 a. m. Venus and Mars
I'm conjunction. Venus south IS min.
May 10, 7:18 a. n. Mercury and I
moon in conjunction Mercury south I
degrees 81 min.
May Il. $50 a. m Saturn and moon /
In conjunction Saturn south de- .
grees IS min.
May II. 800 p. N. Mercury greatest /
neliOcentric Lat. north.
May 10, 4-45 a m Neptune and 4
moon in conjunction Neptune south !
degrees % min.
May p, 500 p. n. Venus greatest
Lat south.
May 81. 7:00 a. m. Mercury and
saturn in conjunction. Mercury north
degrees 90 min.
May 81, goo p m Mercury greatest