The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1918-03-31
THE STARRY SKIES IN APRIL


Leo, the last of the bright winter train.
is exactly the meridian in the south.
where the perfect outline of the Sickle
forms a striking figure in the evening
heavens.
Meanwhile the whole eastern half of
the heavens is becoming covered with
the fainter consultations of summer. The
whole of the very long group, Virgo, has
now emerged from below the ground. the
Balances haveN appeared, and the head
| Of the Serpent is seen. though it will not
! be until June that this very long, wind
| ing constellation will have completely
risen. In the south the extended Hydra
| now reaches almost to Sirius, though the
| star marking the end of the tail of the
Water Snake has not yet risen above
the ground.
! THE APRIL STARS
| There is no better time of the year
than this for the student to become
| thoroughly acquainted with the beautiful
constellation Leo which is now on the
meridian in its highest position in the
| heavens. Even to the naked eye the re-
| gion from the eastern horizon to the
meridian is a most beautiful and inter-
estng sight. and though, on the whole,
! the star groups now there are rather
/ faint, there are many bright stars
among them. Arcturus and Spica and
| the star at A, Figure ], form a nearly
| equal sided triangle, and this, together
with the lines joining the star al A and
B, is known as the Diamond of Virgo.
! Even to the naked eye, Spica, Regulus
and the star at A are seen to be of a
much bluer color than Arcturus, which
| is golden, while the star at . is usually
described as white. This last is a most
| interesting object, having what is de-
| scribed as a pale lilac companion 20
| seconds away, which is a beautiful OBJ
ject in a small telescope.
| The constellation Leo is of great an
tiquity, and indeed is prehistoric in it's
origin. Some believe that the Sphinx
represents Virgos head on Leos body
| to represent the passage of the sun
! through these considerations at the time
of the rising of the Nile. Pliny, indeed,
stated that the Egyptians worshiped the
stars of Leo because the rise of the great
| river occurred when the sun passed
! through this constellation. The principal
star of this beautiful figure is Regulus,
the Ruler so called because for 5000
years it was believed to rule the heav
ems. Four thousand years ago its longi-
| tude was measured by Babyonia. and
| 20 centuries later Hipparchus, the Father
/ of Astronomy, from observations of this
star and of Spca, made the wonderful
discovery of the procession of the equi-
noxes. At the time of the first observa-
| ton mentioned Regulus was almost ex-
actly at the summer solstice. so that the
sun passed before it at the time of the
| longest day. Now the sun almost covers
the star. which lies very close to the
ecliptic, on the goth of August; the
| change of date is owing to the slow mo-
ton westward of the autumnal equinox
lat C, Figure y, which is known as the
procession of the equinoxes.
| Regulus has deep blue companion
about III seconds away, which is itself
double. while the stars at d, and
| are all doubles also. The first is de-
scribed as the finest double star of the
northern sky, the brighter star being of
i white and the companion of lilac
color.
! Having thus studied the constellation
| Leo the observer may next turn to
group of equally great antiquity, the CON
stellaton Virgo, which though not quite
50 high in the heavens, is still well above
| the ground in the southeast. This con-
oscillation is filled with objects of in
terest. The region between the stars II,
| X l. and A is more crowded with neou-
| las than any other region or the heaV-
| ems more than 500 have already been
found in, this little space, any of which
| can be seen with a small telescope.
There are many interesting double stars
/ of which that at M is composed of two
| suns revolving about one another in the
least circular of all orbits known in dou-
| ble-star systems, the time occupied by
one revolution being 100 years
THE PLANETS IN APRIL
| Mercury will attain it's greatest dis
I lance east of the sun on April Z, and
| this will be the most favorable time OF
the present year to look for TINS nttie
planet 1t will then be well north OF the
| equator, and as the moon Is put three
4 days past the last quarter our sateillte
| will have set before sunet The observer
should look a little north of the west
point of the horizon about three-quarters
/ OF an hour after sunset, when he Will sec
1.-THE little world shining brightly In the
! twilight glow. The planet. in TACT sets
more than an hour and one-half Sfte'
the sun, but it Is more difficult to see as
LIT approaches the ground. and therefore
| the observer should begin to look for II
| as soon as the greatest brightness Of the
4 twilight glow has passed. On the eve
ming OF April IL the narrow crescent OF
| the new moon, by this time arrived eas'
| of the sun, will draw very near 10 the
planet though it unfortunately VIII nor
| pass it until the next morning. IL Is
possible that il the weather is favorapie'
! Mercury can be followed from elonga-
ton until this time, when the two op-
iects will form a beautiful figure In the
northwestern sky.
| Venus reaches it's greatest distance
west of the sun on April 20, when IL
will rise three hours before sunrise
Those who Are up before dawn nave
| doubtless noticed how very brightly
| cleared the ground when trouble came.
| The plane crashed. killing the civiliah
! and injuring the aviator.
( An aviator from Ellington field. Hous-
! ton. recently ran out of gasoline short
| distance from Bay City and telephoneo
! for fuel An automobile mechanic, VINO
] brought the gasoline. persuaded the pilot