The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-03-01

Four of the Earth's fe11ow-p1anets can be seen with the unaided eye this month: Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn. The former two are not visi- b1e at the time of our map and there fore, of course, are now shown, but they may be found without difficulty. Venus you will see in the West for perhaps two hours after sunset, near the place where the Sun has just set. The planet will appear well before any of the brighter stars in that part of the heavens and should be imme- diately recognized. Mars and Saturn can be studied at leisure in the even ing hours and readily found by refer ence to the map. To see Mercury this month, however, one must get up be- fore sunrise, as he happens to be a morning star. March is the proper date for this adventure, as the planet rapidly approaches the Sun and a few days later is quite too close to the Sun to be seen.
 New Arch Cancellations.
 The small unimportant constel1a- ton Crater has risen in the southeast, and the greater part of the virgin Virgo can now be seen- Crater is the Bowl or Cup, the Goblet of Apollo Virgo is the constellation the Sun en- ters about harvest time and is readily identified with Ceres, the Goddess of Plenty. There is a theory that the Egyptian Sphynx was meant to repre- sent the head of this Virgin on the body of it's neighboring constellation, the Lion. Astrologica11y the sign of the Virgin was an unfortunate one
 The constellation is also of great scientific interest, as the region of the sphere between Leo and Vir- go is full of nebulae, about 500 having Geld iez in this group a beautiful, white, first magnitude star, which rises just after 3 o'clock in the early part of the month. This is Suica, the ear of wheat the Goddess holds. Many an ancient temple was oFiented in it's da- rectdon. AstronornicaIy, Spice is of great interest, because the spectre scope has shown it to be what is known as binary, i e., a. star really composed of two stars, one revolving about the other. Even in the largest telescopes Spica appears as a single bright star. The analysis of its light by the wonderful spectroscope alone reveals its real double nature Fur ther, this instrument tells that the star is approaching the system of our Sun at the rate of 9.2 miles per sec ond; however, we know nothing of it's distance 1t being too far away to be by instruments for angle
 
 far developed
 To the north of Virgo and just over the horizon is the better known group of Bootes, the Bear Driver, holding in leash his Hunting Dogs, Canes Ven atiC- The brightest of this cOnStella- tion is the admirable reddish, first
 magnitude star ArctuTus which means the watcher of the bear" In addt- ton to its beauty, this star has great scientific interest; although one of the so-ca11ed fixed stars, it has moved it's, position peroepHbly since the time of the great Greek astronomers It's po- sition does not it in with the descr1p- tion given by Ptolomy, and this change is great enough to be detected without the aid of a telescope.
 Arcturus is probably 15O times as powerful g. heat and light producer as our Sun, yet, on account of it's great distance probably O. hundred light about equal to that from a single can He placed five miles away. It's heat 1as been measured by the raddometer made by Professor E. F. Nichols and s one of the half dozen or so stars whose light energy has been thus 'ound. The next brightest star in 3ootes, a second magnitude, shown on 1ur map, is a. beautiful double, and san be well seen as such even in a, small telescope The Hunting Dogs group contains the third magnitude Cor Carroll, Heart of Charles, named 90 dn memory of King Charles the First of England It did not at that lime flash out as a new star, but was anciently one of the stars of the dia.- nond of Virgo. HeveEus gave this small group it's canine designation about 170o. This constellation con- .ains a great spiral nebuIae, which en- ables the possessor ~H even small telescope to see a, world in the mak- ng.
 Coma BereniceS.
 Between Canes Venzltici and the bright star, Denebola. in Leo on a clear night you will find a faint cloud ike patch of light, which is the beau .iful start cluster in the constellation nice. E. H. Burritt tells in his book n the heavens the story of this name: 'Berenice was of royal descent, and } lady of great beauty, who married 2toleny Soter, King of Egypt When le was going on @ dangerous expedi- ion against the Assyrians she vowed 70 dedicate her hair to the Goddess of 3eautf if he returned in safety. Some iIne after the victorious return of her >osited in the temple of Venus, diSap- ,eared. The King expressed great re- ,Tet at the loss, whereupon Conon, his publicly reported that J11- ,dter had taken away the Queens