The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-01

~" 'Ao iAiANtAt6 hes WASn 1eO ana lnc planet Saturn have also risen well above the eastern horizon, the whole southern and eastern heavens will. indeed, be a beautiful and striking sight.
 THE DECEMBER STARS
 Turning toward the west the observ- CT will notice that the reddish Fomal- hault and the interesting summer group or the Eagle, with the curious figure of fainter stars above it often called Jobs Coffin are just sinking below the ground. In fact, these stars always leave our sky just as the Dog Stars are entering it. On the northern border of the the Milky Way we now see the blu ish Vega, still quite far from setting, while in the center of the Celestial River is the beautiful Northern Cross. now resting in nearly upright posi- tion above the ground
 II IS more convenient for the posses sor or Small telescope, especially If this is mounted on tripod, to study and explore the various consultations when these are but a short distance above the ground. rather than when they are high in the sky. But tho see ing Is always better when the stars l are as near the zenith as possible be- cause one then looks through very many fewer miles of air than when his telescope is directed but little above the earth's surface. And it is tho wet and ever-moving ocean ait, at the bottom of which we always are, that causes all Of the blurrIng and bad see ing in our telescopes. Thus. were an astronomer to study the constellation or Cygnus in the early sevening he would, if possible, select the months from August to September to do this, for then this beautiful constellation is nearly in the zenith. But it is Ques- tionable whether the discomfort of looking directly upward does not coun- ter-balance, with smaller telescope, the great improvement which would un- questionabliy be found in tho seeing
 It Is only at this time of the year that all three of the beautiful groups of Lowells oft-quoted lines can be seen above the ground in the early evening: "Orion kneeling in his starry niche,
 The Tyre whose strings give music
 audible
 To holy ears and countless splendors
 more
 Crowned by the blazing Cross high
 hung OCT all"
 And the countless spIendors" are indeed bound to be countless by one who has explored with small tele- scope if only a little way Into the won ders of the heavens
 It will be found that the star at A (Figure 1) Is a beautiful double star, perhaps in its contrasting colors of golden and blue the most beautiful double of the heavens in small tele- scope. About the star, at B, there are beautiful streams of small stars, while by photography 1t Is revealed that both this star and all of the region as far as the white star, at A, are immerse in great, faint, nebulous cloud
 Cygnus is not only very rich region for exhibition tthe position which ex- tends from the star at B to that at A is perhaps the richest region in the en- tire heavens), but 1t is also remarkable for the new stars and the variable stary which have occurred within it's bound aries. There are no less than 12 of the latter well suited tc observation and study with small telescope, while of the former there have been some re- markable examples. So early as June. 1870, a brilliant nova appeared very close to the star at A. while 70 years earlier very remarkable variable was discovered just below the star at B. The former of these remained very eas, fly visible for two years although its brightness varied. the latter remained steadily of the third magnitude for no less than 19 years, after which 1t grew steadily fainter. and finally 1t disap- peared. Forty years lator 1t again frightened. but by the year 170o 1t di- unfinished to the fifth magnitude, and, very remarkably. 1t has remained of about this brightness ever since This is one of the few stars whose light shows them to be gaseous and in whose spectra there arc bright lines.
 Probably best known of all Is the very remarkable variable star, at D, which incl eases In brightness from little below the 18th magnitude to nearly the fourth magnitude in a period of 4c5 days It attained its greatest brightness about April 2b last, so that now it Is only visible in tho largest telescopes. It will again become a naked eye object during noxt June. ANNULAR ECLIPSE OF THE SUN
 On December the moon will pass between the earth and the sun and thus cause true eclipse of the latter body, but at this time the sun will be go unusually near the earth and the moon so far away that the disc of the moon will not appear to us large enough to entirely hide the disc of the sun. Even from points on the earth l--