The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-11-01
By Dr. c. S. Brainin of the Columbia

By Dr. c. S. Brainin of the Columbia
 University Observatory Staff.
 Though the entire sky Is fairly well Gprinkled with stellar beauty, there is a certain patch of the heavens which seems to be just bit more favored than the rest, and this Is just rising over the horizon at the time of our map. Broadly speaking, this part comprises the neighboring constella- tions, Taurus, Auriga, Gemini Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor, tho latter two not yet appearing on the map. Within these groups are in clc 'ed no less than seven f1rst-mas- nitt. e stars out of the twenty which the entire heavens hold and out of the fifteen which ahe visible from these attitudes. Several of the other mar vels of the sky are included in these groups, but we shall confine ourselves this month to the two groups Orion and Gemini, which are newcomers on the map.
 Gemini.
 Gemini, the Heavenly Twins, con- tains the two stars, Castor and Pol lux, which give the name to the con- stellation, besides several of lesser note. Though, officially Pollux alone is of the first magnitude, Castor is very nearly as bright, and the two certainly seem to merit their name of twins, for they are only 4.5 de- erees apart and are easily recognized because of this proximity. Castor is tn one which is nearer to the North Pole.
 Some 300 years ago an astronomer made a list of stars, and to him it ap- peared that Castor was the brighter Of the two, and therefore he named it Alpha Geminorum, calling PolluS Beta Gominorum- This certainly in- dicates that a change has taken place in the relative brightness of the two staFs, for Castor must have been al least as bright as his twin. We can not presume that the astronomer ir question made a serious blunder: the older astronomers were just as keeE and able as those of today, the diff ference lying entirely in the instru- n:Snts at their disposal.
 As & matter of fact, Castor is really by far the more interesting star ol the two. In a small telescope it vii be seen as a double; but inc specfro- scope further shoys~s.ha each one ot these components is really in itself { double; so that Castor is system O four stars, revolving in pairs abou their common center of gravity.
 Orion, the Great Hunter.
 This group of Orion is withou 4%n Not hoo P1II famous constellation in the entir heavens and It's appearance is sucl as to make 1t exceedingly easy to fl: in ones mind. Look toward tn eastern horizon, and you will see, al most perpendicular to the horizon I three fairly bright stars lying on straight line, with the middle one ex actly half way between the outer two As the sky turns westward the thre stars will take up a position sucl that the imaginary line joining then will be horizontal. This trio consti tutes the belt of Orion.
 To the northward of the belt Is tn reddish Betelgeuzo Cor Betelgeux) an to the south the brilliant white sta RigeL Several second magnitud stars, in addition to those of the bel and a number of lesser ones com plete the group. Betelgeuze mark the Hunters right shoulder and RI gel his left foot. A fainter line 0 stars running off from the belt in tn general direction of Rigel, marks tn jeweled scabbard of Orion's sword.
 The Nebula in Orion.
 Under good conditions of 'visibil ity," even without telescope, a care full observer would immediately nt / tlce that one of the jewels of tH scabbard differs greatly from oth stars; it has a hazy appearance. l telescope one would immediateI recognize in this hay star, one of tt
 -st beautiful telescopic objects 1
 sky, the Orion Nebula, occupyin
 area of sky about a degree suuar
 comparison we may state that tr
 o7's apparent diameter is on fl half a degree. Of cours