El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-09-28
Old Sun Is Now Dragging
Earth Around With It
Like Cat With Mouse.
BY GARRETT p. SERVES.

. q AAAa eAaaAaL AElA QA ALAA2EL - Aala
L brilliant Vega. in the constellation
Lyra. which may be seen slowly
/ dropping down the northwestern quar-
ter OF the sky, preceded by Hercules
and the Northern Crown. and followed
by the Northern Cross, in Cygnus
South Of the Northern Cross and. like
it. immersed in the Milky Way. gilt
tiers Altar. in the constellation Aquila-
The Great Bear. with the Great Dip
per, is under the pole In the north,
and Cassiopeia is high in the east,
southeast OF Polaris Below Cassie
peia, toward the south, And-omeda
lies extended. her head touching the
northeast corner OF the Great Square
OF Pegasus. East OF Andromeda. fol-
lowing her along the path OF the
Milky Way. appears Perseus, brand
ishinE his diamond hilted sword and
carrying the Head Of Medusa, with
the strange winking star Algol in hia
left hand Near the ecliptic, below
Perseus. glitters the Pleiades. just
risen, and north OF the Pleiades shines
Capella. a starry jewel capable %
riyaling Vega itself. but not possess
inE the blue white brilliance OF the
latter In the east. Cetus is seen
rising, and between Cetus and andre
media appears Aries the Ram, the first
LaaAa aE4AasA ANA VI the LA4Aal=
A Lone Brilliant.
Low in the south. east OF the ne
ridian. glows the lone star Fomalhaut.
in the Southern Fish The Milky Way,
now arching across the sky from the
northeast to the western horizon. is
always an object Of great beauty. il
the absence Of moonlight It cannos.
however. be well seen in the cities.
Those who have never seen the Milky
W. o. = nNnrw mfnrfnH ia Ia HHsr~
can have no conception OF its sublime
beauty and Of the thoughts Of i'm
mensity which It awakens. Above the
head OF the Northern Cross the eye
readily observes a dark space in It..
recalling TO some degree the appear
ance OF the celebrated Coal Sack in
the southern hemisphere All along
its course. the Milky Way. composed
Of millions OF stars. too small or too
remote TO be individually evident 10
the naked eye throws itself into vast
loops, garlands and clouds, which I'm
their ensemble produce q most ma
jestic effect. A good opera glass re-
veals many fields OF stars in the
Milky Way OF astonishing beauty. In
the mythologies Of many nations the
Milky Way has been regarded some
times as a mysterious pathway among
the stars. trodden by gods and spirits,
and sometimes as a verirable river in
the heavens, a river composed OF
some ethereal fluid as evanescent as
vapor- But in the eyes OF the astron-
omer the Milky Way Is the framework
OF the universe, and all modern in
vestgations Of the constitution OF the
celestial system are based upon IT,
Our Little Old sun.
Our sun, which Is but a pygmy in
comparison with the greater ones
surrounding It. seems to be situated
not far from the center OF the vast
space which the Milky Way encircles
like starry girdle- But the sun IS
in motion across this comparatively
open space, travelling at the rate Of
about IL miles per second from the
south toward the north. and dragging
the earth and the other planets with
IT, It Is like an Illuminated mote
drifting across an immense apart
ment which is encircled with count
less lamps. Whether it viii go on as
it is now going or viii turn again,
Is something that Its beyond the.
present range OF knowledge.
For the benefit OF those possessing
telescopes. attention may be called 20
a few Of the conspicuously beautiful
double stars now to be seen. One oil
the greatest Of these. one within the
reach OF the most modest instrument
is the charming Albireo, in the foot
star is yellowish white. ard the
smaller deep blue, and their distance
apart is about half a minute Of arc,
or say 1-60th Of the diameter OF the
full moon have separated this star
with powerful fieldglass-
Beautiful star.
Another beauty is the star Gamma.
in Andromeda, the last conspicuous
star toward the northeast in the row
marking that constellation Here
again there is a beautiful double. in
teresting as being the first double
star ever discovered Its duplicity
was discovered accidentally by Robert /
HoOhe in 1854 while he was following
a comet with his telescope. Now
thousands OF double stars are known. /
The double double" star Epsilon. in I
Lyra, the northernmost Of the two
little stars making a triangle with I
Vega. is always an interesting object
TO view with a telescope capable OF I
magnifying $50 diameters. The star
Gamma I'm Delphinus. a Jobs Coffin. /
which viii be seen below CyEnus and I
east OF Aquila. is a beautiful dousle 4
Gamma. the easternmost OF the four 4
stars OF Delphinus shown on the .
chart.
There are many meteor showers
visible in October Mr.. Denning has
identified no less than nine. One OF
them, occurring on the nights OF the
18th 70 the goth. inclusive Is usually
quite briEht. the meteors moving
swiftly and leaving streaks behind /
them. They radiate from n point in /
the feet Of Gemini. the twins. and the /