The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-02-06

hatnltIs ~ - All AstD
of Ares, the ram, and its magni-
tude Ia 1. As an example Of the
motion Of the planets referred 70
above, 1t will draw near to Saturn,
passing that planet on the eye>ng
of the 23d.
Distinct from the planets. which
shine by the reflected light Of the
sun, are the stars: distant glowing
suns themselves. Their brilliant
mid-winter display Is now seen IN
full glory. A good way TO find
them In by starting with the three
stars marking orion's Delt. They
are about halfway between Aide
bsran and Sirius. which we al
ready mentioned. Above the belt
of the warrior are his shoulders,
marked by Betslfeuse and Bella
trix. Below IN Rigel. In one Of
his legs.
CAMS Major In one of his dogs.
The other. higher In the sky, 10
CAMS Major. In which first mag
nituds Procyon shines. still
higher are the twins. cemini. with
Castor and Pollux.. Not far away,
to the northwest Of the zenith. In
Capella, Of Auriga, the charioteer.
Besides these orbs in Orion and
his neiehbors one other Of the
first magnitude In seen. This IL
Regulus, In Leo. the lion, which
is In the eastern sky. The star is
in a hook-shaped group. the sickle,
where II marks the end Of the
handle.
In the northern sky. the great
Upper. part of Ursa Major. the
big bear. is swinging high into
the northeast. At the top Of this
figure, as il is now seen. are the
two pointers" the stars which
indicate the direction Of Polaris.
the pole star. On the opposite side
OF the pole star is Cassiopeia.
shaped like q w resting on the
sue, lts Top 70 the riknI
Recently a reader OF these ar
ticles took me to task for an al
legged error. IL seems that, as in
this one, referred TO Jupiter be-
ing in the constellation Of Taurus.
But this correspondent knew bet
ter-he had looked 1t up in an
astrological magazine, and that
said Jupiter was In Gemini, the
twins.
Apparently It never occurred TO
this gentleman to look at the sky
itself-as ] did when j received
his letter. ! had entertained no
doubt a. to where ii would be.
but 1t was with a feeling Of sat
isfaction that / looked at Taurus
that same evening. There was
Jupiter. shining just where ] had
promised 1t would be.
Perhaps some other readers
have been similarly confused. II
so, the fault is not with the sky
itself. but. with the astrologers
who are really a few thousand
years behind the times. II you
have ever watched a spinning top
you have notice that II has an
other movement in addition to the
rapid rotation. This is a ''wob-
bling" motion, in which the sxi,
of the top itself moves around ir
= circle.
The earth undergoes q similar
"wobbling." Every "a hours Il
turns on its axis. And ever,
25.s00 years the north pole anc
the south pole, ends of the axis
swing around in circles. Just now
II happens that the star we cal
Polaris is practically over tbs
north pole. because the axis point.
in that direction. But this Is onl,
temporary. When the pyramids
, were built In Egypt a star calleC
Thubsn, in Draco. the dragon, wa
the pole star. In the year 14,00'
Vega. in Lyra, the Tyre, q sta
now seen in the summer far from
the pole. will have that place o
honor.
This movement, called the pre-
cession of the equinoxes," ais
causes the consultations along tn
suns annual path. the ecliptic. 4
, slip around. A few thousani
; years ago the sun at the begin
{ ming Of spring, which was the
the beginning Of the year, wa
! entering the constellation OF Aries
! the ram. Because OF procession
= however. the sun Of 1912, at IN
beginning Of spring next month
, will be in Pisces, the fishes. 4
! few millenia hence and IL viii b
c in Aouarius, the water carrier.
4 The IL consultations along IN
ecliptic make up the zodiac. an
the sun. moon and planets ar
always in this path They hsv
different areas but. for eonven
fence, the early astrologers, VIII
supposed they could predict tn
, future from the movement OF tn
, planets. divided the zodiac int
u signs" each the same size
, The names Of the signs were tn
same as the corresponding con
stellations.
= CELESTIAL TIME TABLE
February. lS42