The Washington herald., 1922-07-24
MA,eSaaHg
y0es7NMC
o@NGieS
MONDAY. July "a. Iszz.

MONDAY. JULY "a. 1874
BnsGHrEsT STAR
~ THE NORTH.
A little to the east Of the merid-
ian In the early evening hoors ef
July one may see the magnificent
sapphire-hued Vega. whose name 10
derived from the Arabic for fall
ing eagle" II is in the consteIls-
tion of Lyra. the brightest star
north Of the celestial equator. Vega
is exactly equal In brightness 90
Alpha Centauri. which 10 invisible
in our lAtitudes. and NEXT to SIRIUS
and Campus these two starr are the
brightest stars in the hesvenA
Vega is a star Of unusual interest
for several reasons in addition 20
it's being OF exceptional brightness.
1t lies close 10 the Apex Of the
Suns Way" which is the point in
the heavens toward which the solar
system 10 moving. II 10 also one OF
the nearest stars In the heavens.
The most reliable determinations Of
its parallax indicate that its light
takes only about thirty-sight ysars
to travel to the earth The only
bright stars that lie nearer 70 Ne
than Vegas. are Alpha Centauri.
Sirius, Procyon. Affair and Fomsl-
haut at a distance OF "a. 81. IL. Is
and light years respectively.
The procession Of the equinoxes
which causes the pole OF the equa-
tor to describe q circle OF 23h de-
grees radius about the pole OF the
ecliptic in a period Of about $500
years will bring Vega close TO the
north pole of the heavens 1900
years from now. when it will be a
most magnificent pole-stsr.
The position OF Vega IN the hesv-
ems is such that IL is carried by its
eliurnsl motion nearly Through the
zenith OF Washington and all places
in the same latitude. As Il transits
the meridian. then. it passes almost
directly overhead for those who live
close to the thirty-ninth parallel
of latitude.
Vega is one. Of the most easily
recognized stars in the heavens not
only because OF its superior bril-
liancy and distinctive blush color
| but also because IL 10 closely fol-
lowed on the east by two small
stars Of the fourth magnitude
which form with Il a small eou'-
lateral triangle with sides about 2
degrees in extent The northern OF
these two stars is q ouadruple OF
double-double star known ss Epsi-
lon Lyrae, which a sharp eye can
split into two stars without tele-
scopic AID A small telescope shows
that each OF these two stars is also
double. The four stars form a con-
- f~h h. sNn~T.
close pairs revolve about a common
center of gravity Of themselves
with the more distant pair. Vega
also has a small faint companion
which is not physically connected
with il but chances TO lie nearly in
the same line of sight. Such a pair
IS called an optically connected
double. That the two stars do not
form a connected system is shown
by the fact that they are not NOV
| ing in the same direction through
space In actual distance one is
probably many light years beyond
I the other.
Though exact measurements Of
brightness show that Vega is the
brightest star OF the northern hem
isphere. II is very closely rivslled
by Capella. the golden-hued star in
Auriga, now invisible in the even
ing. and by the orange-colored Arc
turus in Bootes. which may now be
seen a little to the west OF the me-
ridian. Capella and Arcturus are
exactly equal in brightness and are
only one-tenth of a magnitude
fainter than NeEa--By Isabel NJ
Lewis, of L. S. Naval Observatory.
The large robber-crab found in
certain Of the Pacific ISLANDS starts
life in the water like other crabs
but later takes 10 climbing coco
palms and picking the coco nuts for
food.
Ten thousand seven hundred and
thirty-one passengers were carried
To and from England last year by
flying machines.
Only about . or per cent ~ the
worlds potential water power has
been developed. Forty-one per cent
Of the developed power is IN the
United States. but over 50 per cent
Of the potential water power OF the
world is in Africa.
w.D.
} n ",H